The government's Partnerships Victoria policy includes specific coverage of governance, probity and compliance. Aspects of the policy's governance provisions highlighted to the Committee included key decision points requiring Cabinet approval, assignment of ultimate responsibility for projects to the relevant portfolio Minister, and clarity of roles allocated to project staff.
From evidence presented and from its own research, the Committee is aware of concerns about governance arrangements for major infrastructure projects in Victoria. These concerns relate to the size and complexity of available guidance material, the lock-in effect of long term contracts on the decision making capacity of future governments, the inadequate balancing of commercial and social interests, and the difficulties in comprehending voluminous contractual documentation relating to PPP projects in the absence of concise summaries of contractual arrangements.
There is also concern that government and other participating parties are becoming increasingly reliant on a limited pool of external high-fee advisors and professional experts, giving rise to potential conflicts of interest that may impede the integrity of decision making. These features of the PPP environment reinforce the importance of the government building and retaining sufficient levels of expertise in strategic and operational project management.
Apart from the United Kingdom experience, there is an absence of publicly available information on PPP evaluations. Victoria needs a program of regular evaluations and the results must be made available for public consideration.
The use of commercial in confidence reasons by government to limit public and parliamentary access to key information on major PPP contracts has diminished the accountability of government to the Parliament for substantial state expenditure.
Public confidence in PPPs depends on a strong transparency and accountability framework. The Committee considers that the Auditor-General has a major and ongoing role in informing Parliament and the community on the effectiveness of PPPs in Victoria.