Many governments are turning to P3 projects to provide public facilities and services for their citizens. Several OECD countries have used the P3 model to finance, build, and maintain new social infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools, housing, prisons and leisure facilities, while leaving core services within the public sector. With many of the early projects now successfully completed and in operation, it is becoming clear that most are working well and delivering significant benefits for public authorities and service users alike. It is equally clear that the value created by P3 projects is maximised when public-private relations are underpinned by a properly designed contract management framework, which outlines the service standards that the authority requires, the P3 performance reporting methods, and the regime under which the payment due to the private partner is determined. The key to successful partnering is to ensure that the legal requirements of the contract are translated into a performance management system which is clear and operationally relevant to all users.
The performance measuring system (PMS) allows public authorities to measure and monitor performance and/or quality of service delivered by the private partner against the standards set out in the output specification. P3 performance reporting deals with what is being measured (in terms of the authority’s requirements) and how it is to be m