Relevant generic issues arising from this case study are:
- Employee capability and expertise. Limitations relating to the structure and resources of public partner oversight can impact upon its ability to manage its contractual agreements, fulfil its ministerial reporting obligations, and may, in some instances, put public safety at risk. Moreover, a lack of public partner employee skills can impact upon the overall quality of its advice and lead to corporate memory loss.
- Conflict management. Conflict can arise between the partners over information requests. Although the private partner is legally obligated to share operational data with its public partner on its request, it may not do so willingly and deploy tactics to discourage the public partner from obtaining information if consortia believes it may be financially or commercially disadvantaged. Failure to acquire and act on such information may have a detrimental impact on achieving VfM outcomes.
- Contract variation. New legal requirements such as those relating to public safety or the proposed introduction of new services (or enhancements to current services), may lead to existing agreements being varied. VfM outcomes may be impacted if the selected option for implementation (as with other options considered) is not based on, for example, clearly defined project benefits, properly justified costs / needs analyses, or assessments to determine consortia capability of providing the services in the most effective way possible.
- Reputation damage. Government may decide it is necessary to intervene in situations where there is a public perception that operators are treating their customers unfairly (even when consortia are acting within the terms and conditions of contractual agreements). Under such circumstances, the public partner may, as a means to deflect unwarranted, negative media attention directed towards government, negotiate with the concessionaire to discount / waive service charges for a limited period of time. Government may also conduct awareness raising campaigns (at its own cost) to inform users of the conditions of service.
- Availability (and integrity) of performance data. Service providers use their own performance data as a basis for decision-making. Hence, there is potential that data will contain errors or omissions either through human error or from wrong-doing. If public partners are not vigilant in providing adequate oversight, operators could use inaccurate data for decisions that could lead to, for instance, user over-charging or the creation of unnecessary operational risks.