We undertook interviews with 40 local government officers representing 24 waste disposal authorities. Interviews were semi-structured. The Department was able to provide up to date contact details for all projects. The majority of interviews, 16, were conducted face-to-face, with eight telephone interviews conducted. One local authority completed a postal return as they were unable to divert resources away from their procurement. Each interview was attended by between one and four interviewees and typically took around two hours. The face-to-face interviews were all conducted at local authority premises. Topics covered included:
■ Rationale and justification for a PFI solution;
■ Partnership working;
■ Affordability concerns;
■ The procurement process, including:
■ Level and nature of competition;
■ Evaluation of bids;
■ Skills, experience and resources;
■ Delivery of the project, including:
■ Delivery of assets;
■ Site acquisition and planning permission;
■ Satisfaction with contractor performance;
■ Support from the Department, Transactors and others;
■ Lessons learned from the process; and
■ Any other issues relevant to the project
The interviews were annotated and used to populate a matrix of issues. The questions were initially derived from the issue analysis but were updated as the audit progressed.
We also conducted interviews with the private sector, covering the same topics for the six projects, whose documentation we reviewed in more detail. These interviews involved one or two representatives of the main contractor. Interviews were also semi-structured and lasted around one hour.