Involving services users and other stakeholders directly in developing and monitoring a PPP project can improve project design and performance.
During the PPP project development stages, stakeholder consultation is an important part of the PPP development process, allowing the concerns of potential service users and others affected by the project to be taken into consideration when structuring and implementing PPPs. Section 3.3: Structuring PPP Projects provides more guidance on carrying out stakeholder consultations as part of developing a PPP.
Once the PPP is in place, user feedback can be an important aspect of PPP performance monitoring. Firstly, some projects involve user feedback as an efficient, decentralized mechanism for collecting contract monitoring information. Second, an effective mechanism for resolving grievances may be an important aspect of project design. Ultimately, the purpose of the PPP is to provide services to users-in this respect, user satisfaction, or whether services meet users' expectations, can be an important (albeit subjective) measure of PPP project performance alongside more technical or functional attributes.
User feedback mechanisms can be structured in various ways, as described further in Section 3.7: Managing PPP Contracts-some projects provide a web portal for continuous user-based input, others conduct regular user surveys. A specific mechanism may also be needed for user grievances.
| Key References: Transparency and the Role of the Public | |
| Reference | Description |
| World Bank (2013) Disclosure of Project and Contract Information in Public-Private Partnerships, Washington, DC | This report reviews disclosure practices for PPP projects and contracts from 11 jurisdictions at the national and sub-national level, representing 8 countries, and presents recommendations on proactive disclosure |
| Key References: PPP Legal and Regulatory Frameworks | |
| Reference | Description |
| Anton Eberhard (2007) Infrastructure Regulation in Developing Countries: An Exploration of Hybrid and Transitional Models, Working Paper No.4, World Bank | Provides an overview of different regulatory models and the advantages and potential pitfalls of each model. The paper also provides recommendations on how to improve the performance of regulatory models |
| Alexander, I. (2008) Regulatory Certainty Through Committing to Explicit Rules - What, Why and How? Paper based on a presentation made at the 5th Annual Forum of Utility Regulators (AFUR) conference, Accra, Ghana | Focuses on the establishment of predetermined rules committing regulators to future actions |
| Alexander, I. (2007) Improving the Balance Between Regulatory Independence, Accountability, Decision-making and Performance. Paper prepared for 4th Annual Forum of Utility Regulators (AFUR) conference, Livingstone, Zambia | Focuses on the importance of investor confidence in the regulatory regime |
| Tonci Bakovic, Bernard Tenenbaum & Fiona Woolf (2003) Regulation by Contract: A New Way to Privatize Electricity Distribution? World Bank Working Paper 14 | Describes the key features of "regulation by contract"; how different countries have handled some key regulatory issues through this mechanism; describes the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, drawing on international experience |
| Schwartz, Corbacho & Funke (eds, 2008) Public Investment and Public-Private Partnerships, International Monetary Fund | A collection of papers on managing the fiscal impact of PPPs, drawing form an IMF conference held in Budapest in 2007. Part Four: PPP Accounting, Reporting, and Auditing examines the role of different institutions to ensure accountability |
| India, Comptroller and Auditor General (2009) Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Projects: Public Auditing Guidelines, New Delhi | These draft guidelines outline the regulatory framework in which the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit PPP projects. It first provides a justification for audits under the PPP law and then provides an overview of the methodology and evaluation criteria for the audit |
| International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (2007) Guidelines on Best Practice for the Audit of Public/Private Finance and Concessions (revised), Vienna, Austria: General Secretariat | Provides guidelines on best practices for evaluating PPP project throughout the entire lifecycle. |
| South Africa, National Treasury (2004) PPP Manual Module 7: Auditing PPP Projects, Johannesburg | The comprehensive PPP manual outlining the PPP procurement process for South Africa, such as the approval process It also provides technical guidance for value-for-money and affordability analysis. Module 7 provides guidelines for auditing PPP projects |
| Australia, Audit Office of New South Wales (2006) Auditor-General's Report Performance Audit: The Cross City Tunnel Project, Sydney | This report from the Auditor General of New South Wales, Australia evaluates a tunnel project through Sydney against the criteria set in the PPP guidelines |
| United Kingdom, National Audit Office (2010) From Private Finance Units to Commercial Champions: Managing complex capital investment programmes utilizing private finance, London | National Audit Office in partnership with Infrastructure UK identified a best practice model for departments engaged in PPP/PFI programs |
| United Kingdom, Comptroller and Auditor General (2011) Lessons from PFI and other projects (HC 920); the content of the report is discussed in House of Commons (2011) Lessons from PFI and other projects, HC 1201, London | The National Audit Office has published an extensive review of the PFI program and other large infrastructure projects to evaluate value-for-money of the program and the performance of government units |
| United Kingdom, National Audit Office (2010) The Performance and Management of Hospital PFI Contracts, London | National Audit Office's report on the performance and management of hospital PFI contracts |
| United Kingdom, National Audit Office (2006) A Framework for evaluating the implementation of Private Finance Initiative projects: Volume 1, London | This report provides a more specialized project performance matrix for PFI projects. |