British Alumni Society - PPP Conference

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Public Private Partnership Conference 2009

How can we benefit from PPP?

During a debate devoted to public-private partnership, organised on 25 March by the British Alumni Society, Polish and Scottish experts talked about benefits for the economy which can be derived from implementing PPP projects.

The purpose of the debate was to present the best British and Polish solutions and experience in public-private partnership. The conference participants included representatives of the Scottish Government, members of parliament as well as representatives of local governments and private investors interested in implementing PPP projects. The sessions were chaired by Scottish and Polish experts in public-private partnership.

Both in Poland and in the United Kingdom PPP projects are introduced not so much for budgetary reasons but because of other measurable benefits that such projects bring. As Michał Bitner of Warsaw University pointed out, “local governments in Poland are among the least indebted local governments in the European Union; an average debt of a local government unit amounts to less than 27% of its annual income.”

A former director of the Scottish Government Financial Partnerships Unit, Sandy Rosie, said, “Scottish experience shows that PPP practices bring tangible benefits, including 10% increase in investment projects as compared to traditional methods of budget financing.” Applying PPP solutions also raises the level of innovation. Completing projects on time should not be underestimated, either. In spite of local differences, as the panellists emphasised, the global experience in PPP shows that the importance of such projects in the global economy is growing.

As Roy Newey from the Management Board of A4e Group pointed out, also in the sector of social services, “partners of the organisations which carry out PPP projects have a substantial role to play in consolidating the transfer of knowledge and the sustainability of the labour market around PPP processes.” Thanks to PPP projects not only the quality of infrastructure improves, but so does the situation of the local communities. Among other things, the importance of PPP for the proposed anti-crisis action in the US, the UK and other countries was stressed. In spite of the changes in the distribution of power and “nationalisation” of the banking sector, the benefits of implementing local projects following the PPP principles can still be seen. What is important here, is not only the financing model itself, but the organisation of the process. PPP improves the quality of qualifications in the public sector through its very rigorous approach to the management of projects funded from public funds. “The most important aim of PPP is to improve the quality, especially in the health care system”, said Mike Baxter, the Acting Deputy Director (Property and Capital Planning) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates. “The point is to create new, better standards and not to duplicate the old model of the provision of public services.”

In the Polish reality, PPP projects had been carried out, as it were, “aside” from the parameters set by the previous law. The participants agreed that there is more value in setting standards for procedures than in producing standard documents, although legal solutions should be harmonised with the level of market development. Flexibility of procedures, their adjustment to local needs had so far worked well in the Polish conditions, as Michał Kurzyński of Chadbourne & Parke LLP pointed out. Poland might benefit from introducing and improving PPP process by drawing from the experience of other EU member States, however, in the opinion of Maja Koźmińska of PwC Poland, it is not worth copying blindly projects or solutions implemented by others.

In the discussion panel summarising the conference, during which Alina Sarnacka of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Michael Dembinski of the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce joined the other panellists, the debate focused on specific examples of PPP development in Poland. The panellists agreed that the municipal agglomerations had so far been the boldest in implementing PPP projects. The Scottish visitors suggested that, apart from developing commercial advisory services, Polish government should also support the development of knowledge of PPP in the public sector. The panel moderator, Leszek Jędrych, a member of the British Alumni Society, noted that better knowledge among local governments of the possibilities offered by PPP would help eliminate fears of using this method of investment financing and would give Poland a chance to plan its strategic and sustainable development.

The PPP debate was sponsored by the British Embassy and the British Council and the project partners were Polish-British Parliamentary Group and the British-Polish Chamber of Commerce.