Vol. 514 No. 3
268 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the structures in place in his Department, and the number of staff involved, in the handling of public-private partnerships; the areas of infrastructural development publicly handled by public-private partnerships; the proposals, if any, he has in any other area of policy for the use of such partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4378/00]
In January 1999, a dedicated public private partnerships – PPP – unit was established in my Department to promote and develop the PPP approach in sectors where infrastructure or service provision takes place. The unit is headed by a principal officer and has five staff, one part-time. Other line sections in the Department overseeing capital investment programmes are also involved in the delivery of the PPP programme. In addition, the National Roads Authority which has responsibility for the development and delivery of the PPP programme for roads, recruited a dedicated PPP manager during 1999.
Effort is being concentrated on the development of PPP projects in the roads, water services and solid waste sectors. The national development plan has set a minimum target of £1.55 billion for PPP projects involving private finance in these sectors. Other forms of public-private partnership arrangements which do not involve private finance will also make a significant contribution to the delivery of the national development plan. Work is progressing on a series of pilot projects in these sectors which will allow us to develop guidance and standard documentation to facilitate the more general use of the PPP approach.
