6.5 Stakeholder Involvement

One of the more important considerations the project team must address is the preparation of a well-conceived consultation program with key stakeholders. The potential for successful implementation of a public private partnership is greatly diminished if such a program is poorly conceived and executed. The benefits of involving the stakeholders early, as well as throughout, the process are many.

• The fear of change and the unknown can be managed by providing an open, transparent process where stakeholders are involved in a meaningful way.

• The public private partnership proposal can be shaped to better meet the needs of the end users as well as to reflect the concerns of other stakeholders.

• Innovative and cost-effective ideas and concepts may be identified in the course of the consultation program.

• The "other" partners - namely the end users and those involved in providing the service - are brought into the process and their objectives, concerns and needs can be identified and addressed in the public private partnership.

The project team should prepare a consultation and communications strategy that involves all of the key stakeholders at appropriate times in the process. Key stakeholders include:

• Councils or Boards

• local government staff

• the public or end users of the service

• specific user groups

• unions

• approval agencies

• other agencies involved in the provision of the service (e.g., lending institutions)

The strategy should facilitate two-way communication between the local government and the affected stakeholders. Various methods of disseminating information and receiving responses should be provided in the strategy. The strategy should include the following:

• objectives of the consultation and communications strategy

• identification of key stakeholder groups and their interests in the project/servicing initiative

• the key milestones in the project/servicing initiative where consultation and communication is required or desirable

• the timeframe and points in the process where the involvement of various stakeholders is required

• the overall approach and methods to be used for informing the stakeholders as well as receiving input from them (an overview of possible methods is provided in Figure 6.5.1)

• the involvement of the media in the communications process

• how statutory requirements will be met, including notification, advertising, disclosure of agreements, counter petition and elector assent

The extent of the consultation program should reflect the scope of the project and the existing or expected interest in it by stakeholder groups. Larger, more controversial projects should be accompanied by an extensive consultation program that incorporates a variety of approaches and methods over an extended period of time. Smaller or less controversial projects may not require the same level of effort.

Stakeholders should be involved as early as possible in the process to avoid difficulties at later stages.

(Fig. 6.5.1) Methods of Public Involvement