At the end of the preliminary assessment stage, a joint agency/Department of Infrastructure and Planning/Treasury submission will be presented to Cabinet Budget Review Committee. This submission seeks:
∙ initial determination of priority and affordability of the potential project
∙ approval to proceed to the public private partnership business case development stage (stage three)
∙ allocation of appropriate resources to undertake stage three.
The submission should summarise the characteristics of the project, the risks at play, any industrial relations considerations and report on the outcomes of the economic, policy and financial assessments undertaken. Cabinet Budget Review Committee's decision should provide the agency with a clear mandate to progress to stage three.
If the initial analysis of project delivery options indicates that a public private partnership arrangement is not likely to offer better value for money for government, existing infrastructure analysis processes would then apply (in place of the full public private partnership business case approach). It is important that the rigour applied to the analysis of a traditional delivery option should not be less than that applied when exploring a public private partnership delivery option. In practice, traditional delivery analysis should require an investigation of risk management and whole of life modelling that would mirror the construction of a public sector comparator model.
Cabinet Budget Review Committee's decision at this point does not constitute funding approval for project delivery. Such approval will be made on completion of the public private partnership business case development stage and, consistent with government budget policy, will be made as part of the normal budget process.
Where the proposed timing for completion of the public private partnership business case does not coincide with the normal budget process, Cabinet Budget Review Committee may, at its discretion, base its funding decision on a partly developed public private partnership business case, provided that it is sufficiently robust. The funding of the proposed project should be reconfirmed following completion of the public private partnership business case.