ippr’s commission on public private partnerships ran from 1999 until 2001. It brought together leading figures from business, government, academia and the trade unions to try and forge a consensus on the role of the private sector in delivering public services. Its objectives were to:

• Provide an independent, comprehensive and forward-looking analysis of the use of PPPs
• Influence the Government’s use of PPPs and inform debates on the use of PPPs within the public sector, private sector, voluntary and not-for-profit sector
• Stimulate an informed public debate on the use of PPPs.

The final report of the commission, Building Better Partnerships , was launched in June 2001.

The executive summary (pdf)of the report is available for free download, with a number of working papers and supporting material produced during the commission, including  PFI: Saviour, Villian or irrelevance? (pdf).

Further ippr research built on the commission's findings, resulting in Three Steps Forward Two Steps Back , published in January 2004.