IAARA::Specialized Course on Municipal Financing for Capital Projects

Ramin Keivani
Research Director, OISD-ILM Oxford Brooks University
Globalisation and Urban Competitiveness
This presentation provides a brief introduction to economic globalisation, its impact on city economy and urban development. The presentation will provide a broader reference point for the workshop as a whole. It includes discussion of different factors including infrastructure and capital projects that are important to urban competitiveness and enhancing city capacities for attracting international investment. It will also examine the need for strategic planning and vision building to guide future development and capital programme in the city.

Richard Grover
Principal Lecturer, Oxford Brooks University
New Public Management
The “New Public Management” is a term that has been applied to a number of developments in the management of public services and public assets since the 1980s. Although these developments are particularly associated with some of the more wealthy economies in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), such as USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and France, they have also been used by middle and low income countries, such as Latvia and Tanzania. Throughout the world governments are faced with the problems of inefficiency and corruption in public services and public assets. Inefficiency arises as public servants are using “public” money rather than risking their own as entrepreneurs do. Corruption can arise because of opportunities for abuse of office, such as requiring citizens to make payments for services they are entitled to expect free of charge. The OECD countries have traditionally resolved these problems by tight government controls over public sector budgets and rigorously enforced processes and procedures. This approach enables these countries to score very highly in terms of their governance so that corruption, abuse of office, and theft of public assets is at a low level. This success has been bought at a price. Rigorous controls over budgets and processes prevent abuse but also stifle initiative with the result that productivity in the public sector tends to be poor. What the New Public Management tries to do is to create an environment in which there is much greater devolution of operational control to front-line staff providing public services and managing public assets whilst retaining accountability so that budgetary control is not weakened or abuse of office take place. This involves new structures for managing public services and assets that are closer to a publicly-owned company than a traditional civil service department but the use of a wider range of key performance indicators alongside strict financial reporting. This session examines the type of measures used and gives examples from a range of countries that have experimented with the New Public Management and seeks to draw conclusions about how successful the approach has been.
Investment Appraisal in the Public Sector
The public sector undertakes a range of investment activities, such as the construction of new schools, roads and hospitals, carrying out energy efficient upgrading of social housing, and purchasing new equipment and buildings to improve the delivery of public services. These investment activities require significant expenditure now that is expected to generate benefits in the future such as service improvements or cost reductions. When the private sector makes such decisions, for example, whether to invest in a new machine that can generate profits in the future, firms make use of investment appraisal techniques. This session examines the best approaches to investment appraisal for the public sector. It draws on the experience of the UK other OECD governments. The approach they have adopted is to use discounted cash flow investment appraisal techniques which place the initial expenditure and the future benefits on a time equivalent basis. They also involve the setting of target rates of return for the investment and the use of life cycle costing so that the costs and benefits over the whole project are considered and not just initial costs. They also involve the use of methods of risk analysis so that decision makers are able to judge how likely it is that the projected benefits will be received

Arman Farahmand Razavi
Associate Director, Ramboll WhitbyBird Consultancy
Introduction to Different Municipal Financing Methods
The session provides an overview of different methods of municipal financing currently used in UK and other countries in the west. In particular the session examines different ways of private public partnership schemes that allow governments and municipalities to tap into the resources of different groups of financiers. Utilising different case study examples the overview explains the basic principles and applications different schemes including:
Design, build, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT)
Equity partnership
Municipal Bond/ Prudential Borrowing
Development taxes
Private Finance Initiative

Neil Monaghan
Head of Property, Oxford County Council
Financing Capital Projects in Oxford County Council
This presentation provides a detailed examination of Oxford County Council capital projects. It begins by providing review of different capital projects undertaken by the County Council. The presentation will then give a detailed review of the sources of funding and reasons for their adoption. It will then provide an examination of the five year Capital Strategy for the County Council, the Capital Programme and prioritisation

Nigel Harris
Professor at University College London
Returning to Globalisation and City Economy
This sessions will provide a concluding session to our discussions. We will return to the broader urban economy and competitiveness agenda and examine the way municipal financing and more broadly international investment impact the city economy in a rapidly globalising world. Following a short introductory lecture the sessions will provide opportunity for more detailed discussions and debate on issues raised.

Lesley Dunstone
Clinical Lead, Relocation Project, Churchill Hospital
Case Study Visit to John Radcliffe/Churchill Hospital Extension
This case study provides the opportunity to visit a major PFI capital build scheme in Oxford. This is comprised of two PFI agreements (worth about £245 million) that aim to develop two sites at John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals for providing regional new services including a specialised head and neck unit and cancer centre.

International Art &
Architecture Research
A s s o c i a t i o n