No such change has been made in the classification of public capital programme expenditure for which my Department is responsible. The main elements of the public private partnerships, PPP, programme were set out in the national development plan in 1999. The plan sets a minimum target of 1.968 million for privately financed projects included in programmes under the aegis of my Department. Most of these privately financed projects will be in the national roads, 1,270 million, and waste management, 571 million, sectors with a smaller target for the water services sector, 127 million. In addition, a considerable number of PPP arrangements will be wholly financed by public capital, particularly in the water services sector for the design, build and operation of waste infrastructure.
Since the publication of the plan, consideration has been given to the potential for PPP arrangements in some other areas, where this would provide additional value for money, scope for innovation and accelerate delivery of projects. For example, in August 2001, local authorities were invited to examine the potential for PPP projects within the housing sector. In addition, a fund of approximately 5 million has been established for a three year period from 2000 to provide local authorities with start up funding for PPP projects outside the main capital programmes.
