Private sector participation raises accountability questions because partnerships place certain responsibilities, normally carried by the public sector, in the ambit of private operators.5 This has raised fears that the democratic control of local electorates may be compromised. There are also concerns that if privately provided services are disrupted, the public's hold on the service providers may be weakened.
As we have seen in Chapter 6, it is critical to define responsibilities very clearly and establish mechanisms for ensuring clarity even as roles develop, so that partners can be held accountable for their performance. Chapter 6 develops the discussion on the potential roles of the private sector, civil society and municipalities, and Chapter 7 stresses that the goals of a partnership and the expected outputs must be articulated clearly if such accountability is to be established. It is also essential for the municipality to put in place effective ways to monitor the achievement of goals over the duration of the project. Effective partnership contracts with the private sector thus tend to address standards and quality, continuity, termination, regulation, cost recovery, assets, maintenance and expansion of infrastructure, compensation for public sector failure, new connections, and monitoring mechanisms (see Chapter 8).
Accountability is closely linked to creating incentives for the different parties. Elected councils have the incentive of meeting voter demands. Municipal officials may be encouraged through performance measurement that is linked directly to successful delivery through the partnership. The private partner has the incentives of maintaining a sustainable business and winning future contracts. Such incentives should be carefully considered during the negotiation of a partnership contract. Often, accountability is reinforced though penalty clauses applied if contractors fail to meet the expectations set out in the contract.
Mechanisms that allow rapid response to customer needs also facilitate accountability. Customer complaint handling systems is one important element, and the introduction of the necessary support systems should enable service providers to function with sufficient accountability. Such systems enable end-users to make known what they require from the service industry, and help service providers to respond to those requirements. Throughout, it remains important for a local council to make the best use of its links to the community that elected it, as a primary channel to gather information and to continuously convey customer views on the quality of services.
Complete transparency throughout the process of establishing and implementing a partnership builds public confidence and counters concern that the partnership will lead to corruption. The experience of Gweru City Council in Zimbabwe shows that effective consultation with interest groups creates a supportive environment for PSP. Once the council had agreed with the general principle of private sector participation in water and sanitation services, the municipality went about establishing the partnership in as transparent and accountable a manner as possible. This meant ensuring that the choice of a private sector partner was made with the people, for their benefit. This was not only desirable but essential in the context of Zimbabwe, where a relatively active civil society exists, consisting of ratepayers' associations, trade unions, cooperatives etc. It is common to seek a consensus between the municipality and civil society through discussions (particularly at ward level), consultation and public debates. The role of the councillor is critical to this end, consulting with different organisations in policy development and listening to the grievances and aspirations of the people. This process has helped to ensure that local government is responsive to public demand. Both the political and administrative arms of the GCC have therefore fostered a series of relationships with key individuals and groups within the community. It is argued that the fear and scepticism that characterised the attitudes at the outset have gradually been replaced with the support of most stakeholders. This high level of transparency has created confidence and ultimately shielded the municipality from criticism. The relationship with the trade union, has been treated as important throughout the process. A number of lessons have been learnt in relation to dealing with trade unions, and many of the hardest lessons were learnt on other privatisation initiatives within the municipality. To some extent, the municipality and the unions had undergone a massive learning curve by cutting their teeth on the contracting-out of the theatre and security services, and commercialising the distillery. As a result, the Municipal Workers' Union has been involved in all parts of the process, and the municipality has nurtured that involvement and respected the concerns of the employees. The preferred contractor, SAUR UK, has also played an important role in building confidence and providing guarantees from the private sector perspective. The trade union has been present at negotiations with the private sector and at the tender presentations. It has met separately with SAUR UK and has heard from all parties that: • all staff will be given jobs within the operating company - there will be absolutely no job losses; • the terms and conditions of employees at all levels will improve; and • management staff will be offered incentives (overseas travel and work opportunities) that are unlikely in the public sector. The relationship with the chamber of commerce was also treated with great importance. Little work needed to be done to encourage Gweru business, however, and support from the chamber of commerce has been unanimous from the outset. While it is reported that community leaders have participated in discussions and presentations, there is little clarity provided on the community consultation process. The community representatives are community leaders or those known to be influential; there is no indication of any grassroots participatory process. This may be something to be taken up with other pro-poor initiatives in the future. The municipality stresses that a key lesson was that community support can be easily achieved if leaders are involved from the start. A number of officials highlighted the importance of NGOs (mostly church groups) in the process through their public support. Apart from this 'spiritual' support, there is no defined role for NGOs in the forthcoming partnership. In the cultural context of Gweru, the support of the churches was important to underpinning community support for the process. The actors selected by the GCC to describe their consultative process include a range of governmental (central level), business and NGO stakeholders. The GCC has always stressed the importance of involving central government representatives at key steps in the process. This has had the added benefit of linking the local process in Gweru with policy-making on partnerships at central level, and a process of lesson learning that stretched beyond Gweru itself.
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