Workshop representatives came from the 12 case study projects, that included 20 school sites, which were in operation from about three to 15 years. Overall, the feedback from workshop participants was very positive, particularly when they got over some initial local frustrations and started to reflect on their overall experience with the quality of their PPP facilities and services compared to traditional procurement. The total number of positive comments made in the workshops exceed the negative comments, with:
• 145 positive comments (or 53 per cent of all comments42), and
• 129 negative comments (or 47 per cent of all comments).
Given there were 12 projects across multiple sites operational for up to 15 years, the number of negative comments received were particularly surprisingly, in the opinion of the authors, few indicating the contracts are working well. However, the research did not have a control group, that is, 12 case study projects, including 20 school sites, which were in operation from about three to 15 years and delivered and operated under traditional models. Therefore, the authors cannot comment with any certainty the comparable positive or negative comments arising from a similar sample of traditionally procured case study projects.
Details the themes that emerged from the workshops on the operation of the PPP projects researched are provided below. For completeness, both significant and minor themes and sub-themes are reported.