ABSTRACT There is a growing need to maximise the social benefits achieved from public investment in infrastructure, particularly with the transition to net zero economies. Infrastructure projects around the world contractually define roles and responsibilities for project partners via Project Delivery Models (PDMs). PDMs can underpin social benefit realisation, but the processes used to select them are largely opaque. This paper explores how social considerations inform PDM selection and how this is facilitated by policy. We interviewed senior procurement professionals about how social benefits and risks are considered, and analysed auditing guidance documents to examine how the regulatory environment supports social considerations. We found that decisions are based on risk minimisation rather than benefit creation, but social risks are inadequately considered. This situation is linked to an entrenched gap in social expertise and inadequate information handover between different teams over project lifecycles, often resulting in an operational disconnect between project phases. This ‘compartmentalisation’ presents challenges for inclusion and transparency in decision-making. Current auditing processes provide little incentive for social benefit consideration and reinforce a risk focus. We offer important insights into this early project stage and distil five recommendations for improving social benefit creation from infrastructure investments, particularly in developed economies.
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