Chapter 1 set out how the infrastructure challenge faced by the Government has evolved since 1997. Over the same period, the range of procurement tools and approaches available has also evolved, giving both the public and private sectors the ability to leverage the knowledge and experience accumulated through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and elsewhere. In some cases, these emerging alternatives to both conventional procurement and PFI may offer more effective and efficient means to build the next generation of infrastructure and provide improved levels of public service delivery. This chapter: • identifies what characteristics can make procurement complex and so potentially suitable for the greater range of approaches; • explains the role of risk allocation and management in infrastructure contracts; and • outlines examples of public private partnership (PPP) approaches. The purpose is to assist procuring authorities and to encourage dialogue around these alternative approaches in order to apportion risk effectively between the public and private sectors. The Government does not intrinsically favour any one approach to contracting and risk sharing over any other. Its central objective is to secure value for money for the taxpayer. |