About us:

Partnerships Bulletin and P3 Bulletin provide intelligence to leaders in the public and private sectors that form partnerships to design, build, finance, operate and maintain public infrastructure. 

Through our editorial coverage, database and market-leading events we provide platforms to learn about the projects, partners and policies that will shape the transport, social and utility infrastructure sectors.

Our Editorial Values:

Impartial

We’re independent from the sector so we offer an accurate and balanced perspective in all our reporting.

Expert

With years of expertise we ask the right people the right questions leading us to the exclusive angles and in-depth coverage that our readers value.

Accessible

We put complex information into context clearly and concisely, avoiding the use of confusing jargon and clarifying it when required.

Agenda-setting

Our global reporting team uses its expertise to focus on the issues today that the public-private partnership industry will be talking about tomorrow.

Trustworthy

All content is subjected to rigorous scrutiny, analysis and fact-checking, a dedication to accuracy that our reputation was built on.

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We report what’s important when it matters to ensure our readers have the right information when they need it.

More information about what we cover:

The definition of a PPP / P3   or public-private partnership is a collaboration between public bodies, such as central government or local authorities, and private companies to finance, build, and in some cases operate or maintain an infrastructure project such as a road, school or hospital.

Once the asset is built, it is maintained for usually between 20 and 30 years by the private sector contractor, after which it returns to public ownership.

What is Public Private Partnership?

In trying to bring the public and private sector together, supporters argue the management skills and financial awareness of private investors will create better value for money for taxpayers. PPP / P3 are meant to transfer certain risks to the private sector, such as construction risk, which it is felt are better borne by the private contractors and are therefore able to reduce the costs to the public purse. However, opponents have questioned whether any risk is in reality transferred away from the public sector, and argue that using PPP / P3 has been a way for governments to hide spending off their balance sheets.

What are Some of the Purposes of a Public Private Partnership ?

In the UK, the private finance initiative or PFI model was created in the early 1990s and many governments around the world have interpreted the delivery mechanism in line with their own legislation and infrastructure needs. PPP / P3 has been seen as a solution to the funding shortfall experienced by many Western governments since then.

As a result, PPP / P3 are now used in more than half of the world's countries with PPP pipelines identified and new pilot projects considered every year.

The model is well-established for the construction of economic infrastructure such as;

  • Roads
  • Bridges
  • Public transport systems

but it is also used for social infrastructure such as;

  • Schools
  • Prisons
  • Hospitals

In countries such as Canada (where PPP are known as P3s ), Australia and parts of Western Europe, governments have embraced the PPP / P3 model and it is widely seen as first choice for large public projects which require significant investment and facility or cost management over the duration of the contract.


Where do you find Public Private Partnerships in Operation?