I do. My position on P3s is that they're not inherently bad by any means. I think the rules of engagement are key. If you can have the framework for engagement play to a degree of transparency, then that's a huge start.
If you look on our own doorstep, we recently had the Lansdowne development in which public engagement was legitimate and yet it was essentially cut short to push something through that was sole-sourced and was also unsolicited. It seems to me that if we enter into projects like that, then the mistrust of P3s will continue. Of course a degree of commercial confidentiality is required, but we're putting in agreements here that go on for 20 or 30 years and don't come up for renewal every four years at the electoral cycle. I couldn't believe that we allowed something like Lansdowne to go ahead in a capital city that is supposedly in one of the best countries in terms of governance. Yet we've allowed that to go through.
I was looking for a quote. This is something that—if I can find it. It's essentially the Asian investment bank that says under no circumstances.... This is advice given to Pakistan and Afghanistan, that on no account should you allow a sole-sourced public-private partnership. They are absolutely streng verboten, yet that's exactly what we've allowed to happen.
I was pleased to see there are lots of examples whereby provincial governments are trying to firm up this framework so that P3s can be seen as trustworthy, transparent, and so on. With legislation, they've asked for clear and concise transparency from P3s and accountability-focused situations. In particular they ask the P3 to conduct a detailed risk and value for money analysis to determine if a P3 arrangement provides the best value for money, again something that was not done here in the city.
Consult with the public prior to initiating the bidding process. That's the key—not after the bidding process. Appoint an independent, external fairness monitor to oversee and review the bidding process. Publicly report the terms of the P3 contract. Obviously we shouldn't have to say these things, yet we do.