Ep 63. Can we make public–private collaboration work this time?

Public Sector Executive Podcast

It would be naïve to say that major infrastructure projects in the UK have a successful history of being delivered on time and on budget. Whilst there are many good examples of projects that have been successful in this way, the UK is still underperforming when it comes to delivery, with one of the most notable examples – the High Speed 2 rail link – still causing controversy seven years on from its commencement.

In order to explore why major infrastructure projects are failing, and how the issue can be resolved, MIGSO-PCUBED’s David Whitmore joined us on the latest episode of the PSE Podcast. David outlined the evidence that exists to support claims that the nation is underperforming when it comes to infrastructure, saying:

“There’s quite a bit of evidence, unfortunately. Probably the main piece of evidence is that the Infrastructure and Projects Authority carries out an annual review of the performance of public sector projects in the public interest, and we’ve seen consistently over the 10-12 years that they’ve been doing that review, more red in the performance of the projects and less green.

“It’s not just that our baseline performance is worse than it was 25 years ago, it would appear to be getting worse every year.”

David was also asked about the UK’s place in the world, and whether an inability to deliver major infrastructure projects was a UK-specific issue. Bringing in the example of the far-east, David said:

“For me, it’s very much a UK issue – you might argue it’s a western world issue.

“If you take the example of the civil nuclear programme, that – for me- is probably the starkest example… About 2007 we embarked on a new nuclear programme to build 16 gigawatts of additional capacity; around the same time, the UAE started a programme to build four nuclear reactors. No contest, we’ve got 100,000 engineers and we’ve built loads of nuclear reactors, clearly we’re going to win that race.

“But here we stand today, we’ve built zero gigawatts out of that 16, two of the three projects that started have failed and are no longer in existence… yet in the UAE – using Far East partners and forming relationships with South Korean companies – they’ve built their four reactors.”

To learn more about how major infrastructure projects can be delivered successfully, listen to the latest episode of the PSE Podcast now.

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