While many of the required areas of expertise may be represented within the organization of local government, staff may require additional training in key areas to allow them to be effective in initiating, negotiating and implementing public private partnerships. These areas include:
• negotiation skills
• mediation
• arbitration
• contract law
• project management
• performance auditing and quality control
• public process
• private sector finance
• risk management
The most important consideration for local government is the development of a leader within the organization who has the ability to understand and manage the complexities and dimensions of public private partnerships. While many other types of expertise can be secured from outside the organization, the development of leadership for public private partnerships must come from within the organization.