Private Finance Initiative Projects Research Articles

Value for money (VFM) in private finance initiative (PFI) implementation in Malaysia

PurposeDrawing on institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006; Lawrence et al., 2011), this study aims to explore how the concept of value for money (VFM) is understood in terms of the private finance initiative (PFI) implementation in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews with 25 actors involved in the implementation of PFI projects at two public universities in Malaysia were conducted. The interviews focused on the ways in which participants in the projects make sense of VFM in their ongoing involvement with the projects. In addition, a review of publicly available documents was conducted to understand the ways in which the notion of VFM is reflected in the policies and procedures of the government. Data from the interviews and documents were analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsIt is found that the advocacy work of macro-level actors, as well as micro-level actors, has promoted PFI implementation to achieve VFM. However, to the micro-level actors, VFM is just a concept that carries different interpretations, depending on how PFI fits their everyday functional discourses. In addition, direct negotiation and lack of commercial appreciation are disruptive not only to the achievement of VFM but also to the public sector reform agenda of the country.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the discourses on the concept of VFM that is assumed to be inherent in PFI. The findings are based on micro- and macro-level actors and cover both advocacy and disruption of VFM achievement.

Communication Challenges in Private Finance Initiative Projects at Facilities Management Stage

Facilities management is one of the scopes of work under the Private Finance Initiative Projects. The success of the facilities management work depends on various factors. Communication is among the factor. This paper will highlight what are the challenges faced during the communication between the client and facilities management managers in UiTM projects and also ways to overcome the challenges. The research is carried out by using the qualitative method. The interviews were done with the engineers and facilities managers. From the interviews, the challenges are the breakdown of communication, human error, lack of understanding, time-consuming, and misunderstanding. deal with lack of understanding, it is best to deal with it through meeting or discussion, inspecting the real problem, and issuing a letter or reminder. To sum up, these strategies are being used because to clarify the root cause of the lack of understandings and to get rid of disputes that happen between both parties. To ensure smooth communication when conveying information during the operational and maintenance, the following item suggested being done by the respondents; verification from the end-user, conducting a technical meeting, following the procedure in executing works, and having a good relationship between both parties. To improve communication, the suggestion is the use of the mobile application, integrated system, roles of the concessionaire in understanding the Concession Agreement, minimize human error and improvement of CFMS as well as preferably direct communication using instant messages.

일본 민간투자법제에서의 불가항력에 관한 비교법적 연구

Recently, many unexpected variables have occurred in public projects-such as COVID-19 and weather changes caused by climate change. The representative of these unexpected variables is force majeure. Force majeure means an unexpected event regardless of the responsibility of the parties to the contract. Force majeure is a matters, especially when public projects are performed by Private Finance Initiative(PFI) scheme. This is because PFI is performed over a long period of time(approximately 20 to 30 years), so there is a high probability that force majeure occurs during the project.
 Force majeure hinders the implementation of PFI projects, making it difficult to properly provide public services to the people. In this reason, we can say that the discussion on force majeure has an important meaning, especially in PFI projects. In addition, force majeure itself damages PFI projects, but it also causes legal disputes over force majeure, which hinders the implementation of the project. Therefore, in order to reduce legal disputes related to force majeure in PFI projects, it is necessary to clearly determine the following matters. First, which event will be viewed as force majeure, that is, the reason for force majeure. Second, when damage or additional costs occur due to force majeure reasons, how the public sector and private sector will share and deal with them, that is, force majeure risk sharing and handling.
 In this motive, the writer compares force majeure in PFI legal system between Korea and Japan so that it can quickly and stably provide public services to the public. To this end, the contents of the reasons for force majeure in the PFI legal system of Korea and japan and sharing and handling of force majeure risks are compared, and implications of the Japanese PFI legal system are derived.

Facility Management in Private Finance Initiative Project in UTHM Pagoh Campus

Facility management (FM) in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) involved a long-time process and duration in improving the infrastructure and associating the facilities. FM will give a support role or service within an organisation that have been strategically integrated approach to operating, maintaining, improving, and adapting the buildings and supporting services in order to create natural environment. In a long-term relationship, facility management need to evolve to a higher strategic level in compliance with the organisation’s strategy. At the end of the process, it will achieve best value and performance on delivery of support services. In this research, direct observation has been done to analyze facility management provided in UTHM Pagoh Campus. Furthermore, the satisfaction level of building occupants also was investigated by using different measurement factors in a structured questionnaire to measure the effectiveness. Hence, the results concluded that the total overall satisfaction of users towardsfacility provided by private sector are mostly satisfied among building occupants. From the results obtained, outdoor area was ranked first out of eight measurement factors. An interview has been done in order to clarify the success of facility management. It can be summarized that all the facility supplied by private sector were meets Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), by meant it also need to improvise their services provision.

Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation of the Critical Success Factors for the Sustainability of Public Private Partnership Projects in China

Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects have attracted wide attention from academia and industry over the past 20 years, however, they have been plagued by certain factors. This study identified, classified, and evaluated the success factors that may affect PPP projects for achieving sustainability. First, a list of 32 critical success factors were categorized into 3 groups, then a questionnaire survey was conducted, with 108 responses received from experts, researchers, and PPP project managers in China. Second, using a fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method, stakeholder relationships (A1–A10), external environmental (B1–B8), and project management of a special purpose vehicle (C1–C14) collected data at three different factor group locations in PPP projects were used in this evaluation. The results obtained nine top factors: private sector financing capacity, government credit, government commitment or guarantee, completeness of legal framework, available financial markets, the feasibility study report and implementation, effectiveness of risk management, project investment, and cost control and revenue distribution. It was demonstrated that fuzzy synthetic evaluation techniques are quite appropriate techniques for PPP projects. The research findings should impact on policy development towards PPP and Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project governance.

Exploring Private Finance Initiative Implementation Issues in Malaysia Construction Projects: A Way Forward

Private Finance Initiative (PFI) was introduced in 2006 aimed at achieving value for money. Nevertheless, most of the PFI projects in Malaysia are currently facing difficulties in meeting the expectation. Therefore, a brainstorming workshop involving 69 PFI practitioners from diverse backgrounds was conducted to investigate the implementation issues at the operational level and strategies towards achieving the project goals. The results showed that skills and knowledge, procedures and implementation, challenges in project management, and conflict on documentation were among the issues debated among workshop participants. “Loopholes” were identified to facilitate the improvement of the PFI project implementation in Malaysia. Keywords: Operational Performance; Private Finance Initiative (PFI); Issues; Strategies. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bsby e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI3.2531

Accumulation of Knowledge by Strategic Public Procurement through Public-Private Partnerships for Service Innovation in Japan

<p>This study focuses on how governments strategically procure public service through Public–Private Partnership (PPP) – or more specifically, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangements. PPP/PFI is recognised as a key element of demand-oriented innovation policy in the field of social infrastructure. However, owing to the considerable uncertainty of each project, the benefits of PPP/PFI are subject to debate, as is the role of public procurement in fostering public service innovation. The purpose of this study is to examine how governments strategically procure public services from construction firms in Japan. We conduct a comparative case study of two waste-to-energy PFI projects to clarify how governments improved the public procurement.</p><p>The results suggest the following: first, municipalities utilise a greater extent of other municipalities’ experience through external experts (i.e. Ministry of Environment, advisors, committee members and potential bidders) and standardised service criteria. Second, the codification of tacit knowledge, which both public and private entities have gained from previous projects, is important for securing a robust and routinised service level and reaping the benefits of the scale of repetition. Third, interaction with private companies in the bidding process with an appropriate manner would foster public service innovation. Governments' capability development through the use of internal and external resources can create space for private companies to provide better service by accumulating tacit knowledge within the projects.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Keywords: Public procurement; Public–Private Partnership; Private Finance Initiative; Service innovation; Construction firm; Waste-to-energy</p>

Risk mitigation in PFI/PPP project finance

Purpose Earlier studies on risk evaluation in private finance initiative and public private partnerships (PFI/PPP) projects have focussed more on quantitative approaches despite increasing call for contextual understanding of the bankability of risks. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perspectives of UK PFI financiers’ regarding the bankability of four critical risks (construction and completion risk, operations, supply and offtake risk) in PPP projects. Design/methodology/approach Multiple case study strategy was adopted to investigate the phenomenon within real-life context of PFI/PPP projects in UK. Using purposive sampling approach, the study examined school and road PFI/PPP projects through interviews, documentations and focus group discussions. Findings Results from the study unravelled 36 suitable bankability criteria and some mitigation strategies for evaluating the four critical risks in PFI/PPP during due diligence appraisal. Further evidences from the study also show that, financiers’ bankability criteria, when paired along with corresponding risks and mitigation strategies within with a single framework, provides a quick and effective view of bankability of risks in PFI/PPP funding application. Research limitations/implications In order to ensure generalisability of findings, only projects with similar nature were selected from just two sectors of the UK economy (road and education sectors). The context of the study is also based on UK’s PFI/PPP and Construction Industry, as such, other geographical regions in Europe and beyond have not been contextualised in this study. Due to the significance of finance in PFI/PPP contracts, only the perspective of project financiers have been explored in this study. Practical implications This study provides a less complicated but useful understanding of how risks in PFI/PPP projects may be packaged in a bankable manner to secure the confidence of project financiers. By presenting a qualitative framework, the study addresses concerns of over quantification of risk analysis in PFI/PPP appraisals and provides a relatable approach useful for non-finance oriented PPP practitioners. Social implications This study addresses the social concerns of too much complexity and ambiguity in PFI/PPP structuring especially regarding factors that could make a project acceptable to lenders. Originality/value The study proposes a “Bankability and Risk Qualitative Framework”, which presents bankability information on critical risks in clear manner and represents critical parameters for winning financiers’ funding approvals for PFI/PPP projects.

Influential factors of life cycle management in education PFI projects

PurposeIt has been claimed that the private finance initiative (PFI) provides value for money in the overall life of the project through the lifecycle costing (LCC) process under the umbrella of lifecycle management (LCM). The available literature points to the fact that LCC is very important in getting value for money from PFI projects. However, there is no literature available on the effect of the use of LCM in PFI projects in the UK. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence the success of LCM in educational PFI projects.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a post-positivist approach to literature review. Purposive sampling is utilised with a mixed methodological approach. 6 qualitative inductive interviews offer key themes, which are further investigated using quantitative deductive questionnaires, of which 35 were issued and 26 were returned.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights about the key success factors of LCM in the education sector. The results highlight the necessity of quality standardized data collection in a big data form. It highlights the need for a cultural shift from short- to long-term profit maximisation and service provision by the use of LCM in the PFI education sector.Research limitations/implicationsA purposive sample was used to maximise the validity of data collection. Although this method has garnered concise and clear results, it is understood that this study is limited into a niche sector and a set of subsequently niche professionals. It is recommended that a larger sample be utilised and the spectrum of PFI sectors be opened up to further explore the topic.Practical implicationsFurther investigations across different sectors of PFI project may be viewed as a good comparison, sectors such as health, accommodation and prisons. Gathering responses across all sector types could have resulted in a greater number of responses received and offer greater validity to this study.Social implicationsWhile key success factors are clearly identified, fragmentation is seen as a barrier to the wholesale collection of such data. The responsibility, obligation to collect data for the benefit of future projects is not a priority for SMEs with little or no incentive to consider the progression of the sector. Albeit, there is evidence of one particular successful constructor/SPV, which is consolidating their business and are experiencing greater and sustained success.Originality/valueThis paper identifies previously unknown key influencing factors of success for educational PFI projects in relation to LCM.

Influences of Knowledge Sharing in Improving Facilities Management Performance of Private Finance Initiative Projects

Influences of Knowledge Sharing in Improving Facilities Management Performance of Private Finance Initiative Projects

Maintaining and widening the M25 motorway, UK: a private finance case study

The M25 motorway around London, UK, is one of the busiest in Europe. The current contract for maintaining the route, including widening some sections, was awarded in 2009 under a private finance initiative project amid the global financial crisis. This paper reports on the initial funding challenges for the design, build, finance and operate contract under a traditional private financing arrangement within a constrained financial market. The concerns of the UK’s National Audit Office are discussed together with the approach taken by financial advisors, Highways England and the preferred bidder, Connect Plus. After studying recent developments, it is argued that private financing is an attractive procurement route for infrastructure. The lessons learned and benefits of this financial structure are outlined at a time of decline in projects procured under private finance, particularly after the UK government’s latest infrastructure programme ends in 2021.

The Execution of Key Performance Indicators in the Operational Phase of PFI Projects in Malaysia

In Private Finance Initiative (PFI), payment for services is based on pre-determined standards and performance. Thus, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been used to measure this performance. However, lack of an effective KPIs was identified as a core criticism towards the execution of PFI projects. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to determine the importance and challenges of KPIs in measuring this performance. A qualitative approach via semi-structured interview was adopted. The findings discovered that the current KPIs do not meet the criteria and this can lead to the difficulties in measuring the performance of PFI projects. The outcome of this research can serve as a theoretical base for the development of an effective KPIs for PFI projects implementation in Malaysia.

Critical Success Factors in Operation Phase of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Projects

Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a collaboration between private and public sector in procuring public infrastructure projects begin with designing until the operational phase. The notion has existed in Malaysia since 1980s and trend would have been maintained to the present day. The schemes have unveiling by Malaysian government with aimed to enhancing the efficiency and quality of public infrastructure projects. However, there are some criticism arises during the operational related to the quality of the service delivery had been provided by the facilities management Contractors (FMC). Hence, the aim of this paper is to cultivate the significant success factors in operation phase in order to upsurge the effectiveness of PFI projects. Nine critical factors of operational phase has been identified through in depth analysis of case study via semi structured interviews. The research output is expected to assists the FMC to identify success factors during the operational phase, which could be reinforcing the quality of the service delivery performance of PFI projects.

AN 'AMALGAMATED-MODEL' OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT FOR PRIVATE FINANCE INITIATIVE PROJECT IN MALAYSIA

In Private Finance Initiative (PFI), payment for services is based on pre­determined standards and performance. Thus, Key Performance Indicators (KP ls) have been used to measure this performance. However, in Malaysia, the absence of an effective KP Is is identified as one of the core criticisms for measuring the PFI projects performance. Therefore, two objectives are established which are; to investigate the implementation of various PFI performance measurement models across the globe and how these models can be adopted within PFI in the Malaysia s context. Finally, an 'Amalgamated-Model' of Performance Measurement approach for PFI Project in Malaysia is proposed for measuring the project performance. The outcomes of this research can serve as a theoretical base for the improving performance measurement model in monitoring and measuring PPP projects performance in Malaysia.

The Implementation of Key Performance Indicators in the Malaysian Private Finance Initiative Projects

In Private Finance Initiative (PFI), payment for services is based on pre-determined standards and performance. Thus, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been used to measure this performance. However, lack of an effective KPIs was identified as a core criticism towards the implementation of PFI projects. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to identify the importance and challenges of KPIs in measuring this performance. A qualitative approach via semi-structured interview was adopted. The findings discovered that the current KPIs do not meet the criteria and this can lead to the difficulties in measuring the performance of PFI projects. The outcome of this research can serve as a theoretical base for the development of an effective KPIs for PFI projects implementation in Malaysia.Keywords: Challenges; Importance; Key Performance Indicators; Private Finance Initiative.ISSN: 2398-4287© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

Geographies of Swimming Pool Provision: Lessons from Glasgow 1804–2014

ABSTRACTSwimming is a popular form of recreation and exercise in the UK and US. Swimming can take place outdoors but, particularly in the UK, largely takes place in designated indoor pools. Existing research tends to focus on ‘public’ or ‘municipal’ pools leaving broader spatial geographies of swimming pool provision under explored. In response to concern about swimming pool closures, this paper draws from extensive archival research into all swimming pools in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, since the first opened in 1804. Formal and informal programmes of pool building and closure were revealed. Rather than decreasing, public provision has remained constant for the last 100 years but become progressively more spread out in relation to the city’s changing size. Broadening exploration beyond the ‘public’ category exposed a vast drop in school pool numbers around the year 2000 due to a Private Finance Initiative project that consolidated the secondary school estate and outsourced school building management. The lessons: researching all types of swimming pool through time greatly enriches understandings of the changing meaning and extent of public service provision.

ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ УСПІШНОГО ДОСВІДУ КРАЇН ЄС ДЛЯ ЗБІЛЬШЕННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ РЕАЛІЗАЦІЇ ПРОЄКТІВ ДЕРЖАВНО-ПРИВАТНОГО ПАРТНЕРСТВА

The article considers the tendencies of applying the successful experience of EU countries to increase the efficiency of public-private partnership projects, solving the main problems of their development in socio-economic spheres, as well as to upgrade the infrastructure of countries. Emphasis is placed on the main features that characterize public-private partnership projects, in accordance with the provisions of the Green Paper of the European Union. It is substantiated that the leading countries in the implementation of large-scale public-private partnership projects are the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and the most common areas of application of these mechanisms are transport and social infrastructure. According to the results of 2019, the total value of public-private partnership transactions in the European market was almost 10 billion euros. It is determined that one of the forms of cooperation between public authorities and representatives of private business in developed countries is the mechanisms of public-private partnership, which contribute to more efficient and rational implementation of large-scale projects of national importance. It is substantiated that one of the most common forms of partnership, interaction between public authorities and private business representatives is the private finance initiative, which is actively used by the British government. There is no legal framework in this area, so in practice, the regulation of the implementation of private finance initiative projects is based on internal directives of the UK Ministries of Finance. The essence of the mechanism of private financial initiative is to combine the state procurement program, when the authorities purchase capital construction projects from representatives of private business with the conclusion of an external contract for the provision of public services.

Public sustainable-energy requirements and innovation in UK PFI school projects

In a bid to understand the relationship between public sector clients’ sustainable energy requirements and innovation, this paper describes a study examining the requirement development process in four private finance initiative (PFI) school projects. A case study approach was adopted to enable a greater understanding of the public sector clients’ activities at the front end of the design process, particularly focusing on requirement identification and the effect of the requirement on private sector actors’ pursuit of an innovative sustainable design. The findings have shown that incentive effects of the requirements are often weak in PFI projects, particularly in relation to the requirement’s specificity and achievability, the inability of requirements such as BREEAM to promote energy efficiency and the low weighting of environmental sustainability on PFI bid evaluation criteria. Taken together, these results offer insight into public authorities in relation to the necessary conditions for the use of requirements as an effective contractual mechanism to encourage innovation for sustainable energy.

Financing Preference Behaviour for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Projects

Project Financing Initiative (PFI) projects require the private sector to invest an enormous amount of capital for the development of public projects. The private sector has to seek cost-effective financing sources for their survival in the long-term concession. Conventional financing uses widely; however, Islamic financing promises better financing through profit and loss sharing. This paper reviews financing preferences for PFI projects and the factors influencing the choice of funding. The results show that religious perspective, quality of services, financing facilities and reputation are the factors that are expected will influence the financing preference behaviour, either Islamic or conventional finance.

An Investigation into the Improvement of Tendering Processes and the Level of Competition for PFI Construction Projects

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) since its inception has grown in its use particularly by the UK government. Despite its popularity it has been considered controversial. The focus for this research is the practical issues associated with PFI at the pre-construction stage. The research derives its data from interviews with nine people from the construction industry with experience of PFI tendering. The research investigates issues relating to the PFI tendering process and the bidding strategies of main contractors within the PFI market. It evaluates the impact they have on the public sectors ability to generate greater competition for PFI projects. The results confirm that many of the issues highlighted in the literature still remain. These issues include the poor performance of the public sector team during tendering and the lack of political support for some projects. The research confirms that there are typically considerable economies of scale in relation to tender costs when compared to the capital value of PFI projects. The research also identifies that certain main contractors do not necessarily use all available opportunities to exhaust the funds available to bid on PFI projects. The research also discovers that construction companies often use market intelligence to avoid bidding for PFI projects with intense competition. The research concludes that the use of the competitive dialogue procedure for projects such as PFI can do little to increase the levels of competition due to the construction industry’s ability to regulate the competition levels. A return to the former negotiated procedure system is recommended if after the selection of the preferred bidder costs can be controlled more effectively.