Don Dunstan Foundation, University of Adelaide, Australia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Financing Infrastructure in the 21st Century The Long Term Impact of Public Private Partnerships in Britain and Australia Dexter Whitfield Dunstan Paper No 2/2007 Dexter Whitfield Dexter Whitfield founded the European Services Strategy Unit (continuing the work of the Centre for Public Services) in 1973, now based in the Sustainable Cities Research Unit, Northumbria University. He has undertaken extensive research and policy analysis of regional/city economies and public sector provision, jobs and employment strategies, impact assessment and evaluation, marketisation and privatisation, and modernisation and public management. He is the author of New Labour’s Attack on Public Services: How commissioning, choice, competition and contestability threatens public services and the welfare state: Lessons for Europe (Spokesman Books, 2006), Public Services or Corporate Welfare: The Future of the Nation State in the Global Economy (2001), The Welfare State: Privatisation, Deregulation & Commercialisation (1992) and Making it Public: Evidence and Action against Privatisation (1983). He was one of the founding members of Community Action Magazine (1973-1995) and Public Service Action (1983-1998). He has published many articles in journals and delivered papers and advised public bodies and trade unions in Europe, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Sustainable Cities Research Institute Northumbria University 6 North Street East Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST England Tel +44 (0) 191 227 3500 FAX +44 (0) 191 227 3066 Email: [email protected] Web: www.european-services-strategy.org.uk DUNSTAN PAPERS The Don Dunstan Foundation was established in 1999 with a view to perpetuating the memory of Don Dunstan, former Premier of South Australia and reflecting his life’s work. The Foundation fosters research, education and discussion on the broad range of issues associated with Don Dunstan’s leadership. The Foundation is a public charitable trust and enjoys the support of the South Australian Government, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University. The Foundation seeks to foster innovative ideas about reshaping our future, to facilitate debate and action to enliven participatory democracy, and to build bridges between academic analysis, government policy and the people. The Foundation’s values centre on respect for human rights and individual freedom, the celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity, justice in the distribution of global wealth, respect for indigenous people and protection of their rights, and democratic and inclusive forms of governance. The Dunstan Papers are published by the Foundation to assist its pursuit of these aims and purposes. The Papers will seek to contribute to progressive policy debate, and to facilitate exchange between researchers, policy makers and the public. They will disseminate work on social, cultural, environmental, economic and other public issues related to the Foundation’s objectives and values. The focus will be on issues at all levels – local, national and international. Editors Associate Professor Lionel Orchard, School of Political and International Studies, Flinders University Dr Sophia Matiasz (Additional editorial assistance for this paper provided by Associate Professor John Spoehr, Australian Institute of Social Research, Adelaide University) Editorial Board Hon Neal Blewett AC Associate Professor Murray Bramwell, Flinders University Professor Julian Disney, University of New South Wales Professor Carol Johnson, The University of Adelaide Professor Alison MacKinnon, University of South Australia Gay Thompson MP, South Australian Parliament Senator Penny Wong, Australian Parliament The Dunstan Papers are published four times a year. ISSN 1833-3613 Copyright © Don Dunstan Foundation for the Dunstan Papers Series, Dexter Whitfield for this Dunstan Paper. Contacts Dunstan Papers Associate Professor Lionel Orchard School of Political and International Studies Flinders University GPO Box 2100 Adelaide AUSTRALIA 5001 Ph: +61 8 8201 2860 Fax: +61 8 8201 5111 Email: [email protected] General Don Dunstan Foundation Level 3, 10 Pulteney Street The University of Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: +61 8 8303 3364 Fax: +61 8 8303 6309 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dunstan.org.au 2 Contents page Executive summary pp 1. Introduction and overview pp 2. Deconstructing the economic and political rationale for PPP/PFI projects pp 2. The longer term implications of PPP/PFI pp 4. Refinancing PPP/PFI projects and growth of a secondary market pp 5. PPP/PFI performance pp 6. Democratic accountability and transparency pp 7. Impact on jobs, terms and conditions pp 8. Alternative public sector investment strategies pp 9. Conclusions and recommendations pp Appendix 1: European Services Strategy Unit and Centre for Public Services reports on PPP/PFI pp References pp List of Tables 1. Development phases of PPP/PFI 2. PPP/PFI in typology of privatisation and marketisation 3. Public private partnership investment in developing countries by region 1990-2004 (US$billion) 4. PFI Signed Deals in UK, March 2006 (HM Treasury) 5. Regional analysis of signed PFI projects in UK 6. Strategic Service-delivery Partnership projects in Britain (2000-06) 7. Local authorities which adopted in-house option instead of an SSP 8. Completed and planned PPPs in Australia 9. Components of neoliberalism 10. The additional stages for profit in PPP/PFI projects 11. Analysis of PPP/PFI documentation for long-term impact analysis 12. Sharing of gains on refinancing PPP/PFI projects 13. London Underground PPP – Metronet performance to 31 March 2006 14. Summary of Employment Risk Matrix List of Figures 1. General government debt ratios in OECD countries in 2005 2. A framework to assess the long-term impact of PPP/PFI 3. Organisational structure for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) PPP/PFI projects in Britain 3 List of Abbreviations ALMO Arms length Management Organisation BSA Building Services Association BSF Building Schools for the Future CBI Confederation of British Industry CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DBFO Design, Build, Finance and Operate DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government DfES Department for Education and Skills DH Department of Health DSO Direct Service Organisation DWP Department for Work and Pensions EIB European Investment Bank EU European Union FM Facilities Management GATS General Agreement for Trade in Services ICT Information and Communications Technology IMF International Monetary Fund JVC Joint Venture Company LEA Local Education Authority LEP Local Education Partnership LIFT Local Improvement Finance Trust LSP Local Strategic Partnership MBC Metropolitan Borough Council NAO National Audit Office NHS National Health Service NSW New South Wales NOMS National offender Management Service OBC Outline Business Case ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OGC Office of Government Commerce OJEU Official Journal of the European Union PbR Payment by Results PCT Primary Care Trust PFI Private Finance Initiative PfH Partnerships for Health PfS Partnerships for Schools 4 PPP Public Private Partnership PSC Public Sector Comparator PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers RCE Regional Centre of Excellence SMIF Secondary Market Infrastructure Fund SPV Special Purpose Vehicle SSP Strategic Service-delivery Partnership STEPS Strategic Transfer of the Estate to the Private Sector TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 VFM Value For Money WTO World Trade Organisation 5 Executive summary The Private Finance Initiative/Public Private Partnership (PPP/PFI) debate is locked into technical issues about financing, on/off balance sheet accountancy, risk allocation, efficiency, narrow value for money matters and the procurement process. This report draws together the recent experience, trends and developments of PPP/PFIs and Strategic Service-delivery Partnerships (SSPs) in Britain and the development of PPPs in Australia. The objective is to generate a wider debate on the longer-term issues of accountability, sustainability, the future of public services, the role of government and the provision of the social and economic infrastructure. The early PPP/PFI projects were usually major transport infrastructure schemes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, PPP/PFI was soon extended to other types of infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, prisons and courts. A number of ambitious ICT projects were developed in the mid 1990s but after a series of long delays, cost overruns and service failures, ICT projects were excluded from the PPP/PFI programme. The introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) Local Improvement Finance Trusts (LIFT) and Building Schools for the Future (BSF) models further embed private finance and private provision within the public sector. None of the reforms of PPP/PFI such as reducing the scope of facilities management contracts, seconding rather than transferring staff, making the procurement process more participative, increasing community benefits obtained in the procurement process and limiting the scope and powers of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) or Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) have little bearing on the critique of PPP/PFI and the analysis of its long-term impact. Radical reform of risk transfer and value for money criteria would mean that most PPP/PFI projects never proceed beyond the options appraisal stage. A four-part typology