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This article considers the utilisation of the UK’s Prudential Borrowing Framework (PBF) and the associated Prudential Code for local government capital finance. It finds that the increased flexibility and local freedom are at the cost of less financial certainty in terms of the risks borne by local authorities and local tax payers. The PBF seems to encourage a less formal approach to risk, being considered inevitable and handled if and when adverse risk outcomes occur. Consequently capital projects may lack affordability, sustainability and prudence. The Prudential Indicators required by the Code are not easily understood by non-specialists and their calculation cannot be used to replace sound judgement or to identify the best financing option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about the complex interplay between quality and risk in the context of care for older people in Scotland. We review relevant theoretical literature underpinning the concept of ‘quality’ and its relationship with ‘risk’ to discover a wide range of regulatory challenges related to issues such as an increasing number of older people; intense press scrutiny; private care home provision; and, healthcare professionals increasingly shifting focus from generic care needs towards a personalized approach focusing on the care needs of the ‘individual’. In this environment, risk control must be ‘negotiated’ against resultant impact on the quality of life for individuals. We relate the existing literature to the approach devised by the Care Commission for Scotland to enforce published government standards: the adoption of a modern risk-based approach to regulation involving the use of a risk assessment scoring tool to determine and justify the level of regulatory intervention; and the development of a quality assessment framework that articulates the existing government standards. We conclude that if regulation and quality assurance are to concern themselves more with risk, then this will best occur within the context of integration and simplification rather than increased complexity —; perhaps with a unified set of care principles and quality themes that make direct provision for the management of risk. While this is of specific relevance to the regulator in Scotland, the principles we discuss have application to other parts of the UK and to other countries that face similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public Private Partnerships / Private Finance Initiative (PPP/PFI), play a significant role in the renewal of the UK's public services. For some commentators, the policy has been associated with poor value for money for the public sector while the private sector is virtually guaranteed steady profits over extended periods of time. This paper explores a policy aspect which so far has not attracted so much attention; that of the PPP/PFI market and more specifically the possibility of failure of private sector companies which have undertaken responsibility for the provision of public services. It concludes that the long term success of PFI projects is linked to the sustained involvement of the private sector companies. Failures of private companies can result in service deterioration, disruptions and increased costs to the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Examines the risk and project management practices used by Scottish local authorities in large-scale, multi site Private Finance Initiative (PFI) school projects. Characteristics of the PFI procurement projects; Risks in PFI procurement; Discussion on the government reviews of PFI procurement practices; Overview of case studies on PFI procurement projects.

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Best Value policies were introduced by the UK government as part of a drive to improve public service provision. Both Best Value and PFI focus on harmonising the interaction between the public and private sectors in the context of public private partnerships. Based on 68 interviews with representatives of the main stakeholder groups involved in PFI procurement and development in Great Britain, this paper analyses practitioner views on the problems encountered in implementing these schemes. In this context, it is noted that there is considerable disagreement with regard to the sources of, and solutions for, current difficulties. Amongst public sector respondents, there is a view that PFI procurement has to be standardised further in order to become more cost effective, and to allow for easier manageability. Private sector respondents, meanwhile, emphasise the need for clients to adopt a commercial ethos and to acquire a greater degree of expertise with regard to managing market-based solutions. Both views are indicative of an ongoing uncertainty amongst PFI stakeholders with regard to the levels of risk identification and management that are required for the successful implementation of PFI projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]