Benchmarking and the Bottom Line. A proposal to improve infrastructure value for money in Britain

Article

Matti Siemiatycki's entry to ippr's Britain's got Brains competition outlines a scheme to reduce the amount of public money wasted on massive public contracts. Contracting out big infrastructure projects wastes millions of pounds of public money every year: £11bn was spent on constructing new transport, water, waste, school, stadium and hospital facilities in 2007, but seven in ten government construction projects are completed over tender price, and seven in ten are delivered late. For example, the total cost of delivering new roads between 1998 and 2006 was £489 million - 40 per cent - more than initially estimated. Matt Siemiatycki has proposed a new benchmarking scheme for construction and service companies that tender for government projects which would keep a record of which companies go over budget so they are not used again.

A submission to ippr's Britain's Got Brains competition.

Matti Siemiatycki's entry to ippr's Britain's got Brains competition outlines a scheme to reduce the amount of public money wasted on massive public contracts. Contracting out big infrastructure projects wastes millions of pounds of public money every year: £11bn was spent on constructing new transport, water, waste, school, stadium and hospital facilities in 2007, but seven in ten government construction projects are completed over tender price, and seven in ten are delivered late. For example, the total cost of delivering new roads between 1998 and 2006 was £489 million - 40 per cent - more than initially estimated. Matt Siemiatycki has proposed a new benchmarking scheme for construction and service companies that tender for government projects which would keep a record of which companies go over budget so they are not used again.

Related items

  1. Two male construction workers in high vis jackets laughing together in a van

    Mission-driven industrial relations: The case for fair pay agreements

    How fair pay agreements could support the government’s mission-based approach by resolving labour market challenges.

  2. Women in Scotland: the gendered impact of care on financial stability and well-being

    Women in Scotland are far likelier than men to take on childcare and other caring responsibilities, which puts them at an economic disadvantage. 
  3. One person handing a blue UK passport to another

    Citizenship: A race to the bottom?

    The ability to move from temporary immigration status to settlement, and ultimately to citizenship, is the cornerstone of a fair and functional immigration system.