PFI, Public-Private Partnerships and the Neglected Importance of Process: Stakeholders and the Employment Dimension

• Published in: Public money & management Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 171 - 176
• Main Authors: Fischbacher, Moira, Beaumont, P. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Taylor & Francis Group 01.07.2003; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Bids; Employment; Feasibility studies; Finance; Health services; Hospitals; Interest Groups; Labor unions; Liberalization; Policy implementation; Private sector; Public administration; Public finance; Public private partnerships; Public sector; Public Sector Private Sector Relations; Public Services; Public-private partnership; Quality of service; Stakeholders; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0954-0962; 1467-9302
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9302.00365

The prominence of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) policy and practice is growing as a mechanism for improving resources available to, and value for money throughout, UK public services. This interest has not been accompanied by an appropriate level of academic scrutiny, nor by depth of insight into the impact of the PFI/PPP process upon public sector organizations. The authors draw on the experience of a National Health Service PFI project to examine key aspects of the PFI process, in particular, structural characteristics affecting design and implementation of PFI projects, financial and other organizational costs, and the nature of stakeholder involvement and the wider employment dimension. The article concludes by reflecting on implications for PFI/PPP policy, management and research.