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. A row of international flags flying in the breeze outside a building in Paris on a sunny day

    Diversifying diplomacy: UK strategy in a fragmenting world

    How the UK might build more durable international partnerships in energy, defence and technology.
  2. A 'To Let' sign outside a row of houses on a residential street, UK

    High housing costs in the private rental sector: The case for action

    45 per cent of all private renters in the UK have unaffordable rents. It's time for the government to act to limit rent increases.
  3. A wide shot of several large commercial vessels, including oil tankers and a survey boat, floating on turquoise water. In the background, an industrial shoreline with numerous smokestacks and refinery infrastructure is visible under a cloudy sky. Concept of global logistics, maritime industry, and international trade.

    Price caps and economic stability: How to manage the Iran war energy shock?

    The Iran war energy shock will impose significant costs on the UK economy, even if the government does not offer a universal support package.