Field, C and Davenport, D (1999) PFI policy since 1996 and the implications for small and medium sized enterprises in the UK construction industry. In: Hughes, W (ed.) Proceedings of 15th Annual ARCOM Conference, 15-17 September 1999, Liverpool, UK.
Abstract
Since 1996 and despite initial problems, the UK labour Government has continued to support the PFI as one of the main mechanisms through which public sector provision can be achieved in partnership with the private sector. The Bates Report recommended the establishment of a Treasury Taskforce to become the main source of information and guidance for all PFI activities and addressed the problem of high bidding costs incurred by the private sector. Indications are that, despite continuing problems, there is a slow growth in private investment in public sector projects with an accompanying decrease in public investment, since 1996. PFI policies since 1996 are examined and reveal that there is no evidence that they allow increased participation in PFI for UK Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry. The major share of PFI project values, 94%, fall within cost ranges of +£10 million, a factor which restricts participation of SMEs. At a time when both the UK government and the European Community is actively promoting the competitiveness and participation of SMEs, there is no evidence of a distinctive coherent strategy to encourage SMEs to bid for PFI projects whose inherent risks and requirements for expertise, make them suitable only for larger contracting organizations. The paper is a qualitative study which reviews and critically analyses policy documentation and data and commentary from learned papers and journals.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competition; private finance initiative; SMEs; value for money |
| Index terms: | journal, public sector, documentation, small and medium sized enterprise, partnership, private sector, strategy, qualitative study, competitiveness, evidence, competition, private finance initiative, value-for-money, private investment, bidding, construction industry, contracting organization |
| Subjects: | evaluation and assessment methods, research dissemination and communication, organization, research design and methodology, practitioner, bidding, contractual arrangements, economic analysis, management, professional development, evaluation, partnership management, market analysis, administrative law, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Procurement, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Information Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Value Management, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here