3.1 Within this section of the guidance, we outline the approach which should be adopted at programme level to assess whether privately financed solutions such as NPD would be a suitable procurement option for policies involving significant capital investment. This section reviews the approach to the qualitative assessment, quantitative assessment, and finally how the combined results should be assessed.
3.2 This stage will be carried out as part of the overall investment programme planning. In most circumstances, this stage will be undertaken centrally by the Scottish Government, normally as part of the Spending Review process. A programme is defined as "a portfolio of projects sharing a number of common characteristics, selected, commissioned, planned and managed in a co-ordinated way and which together achieve a defined set of business objectives".
3.3 The aim of this first stage is to confirm that there is an appropriate understanding of the procurement routes best suited for particular capital investments or investment programmes and that there is a close match between the requirements of each investment or programme and the capability, resource and market capacity to complete each investment or programme.
| Stage 1 Programme Level Assessment outcomes:- • provide an early assessment of whether alternatives to conventional procurement, including NPD, are likely to provide VfM for a programme of investment in public services • help indicate which procurement route should be used within an overall programme (e.g. private finance / NPD in whole or part or not at all) • assist budgeting between revenue and capital impacts • ensure investment programmes are affordable • give an understanding of how risks apply, or can be managed, in respect of different procurement routes • increase transparency and improve deal flow • ensure that necessary frameworks are in place (structure, skills, resource) to implement a programme |
3.4 The assessment at this stage may assume that there is already a prima facie case for selecting a privately financed / NPD procurement route, for example in a sector which has a track record of delivering effective revenue financed projects above a certain capital value. Appendix A provides details of the features that make a project suitable for a privately financed solution. A checklist review of these areas must be completed.
3.5 Depending upon the sector and how investment decisions are made a Programme Level Assessment may not be required. Alternatively, a series of individual Project Level Assessments may be more applicable. If this is the case, the requirements and disciplines required at the Programme Level Investment Review stage should be encompassed and rolled into the Project Level Investment Review stage. It is expected that "unique" or pathfinder projects within a Programme will be tested individually.