• Skip to content
  • Skip to navigation
Global site
  • Global site
  • Algeria
  • Botswana
  • Cameroon
  • Egypt
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Guinea
  • Kenya
  • Libya
  • Malawi
  • Mauritius
  • Morocco
  • Nigeria
  • Namibia
  • Senegal
  • South Africa
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
  • Anguilla
  • Antigua
  • Argentina
  • Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Maarten
  • Barbados
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Canada LLP
  • Canada RCGT
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras
  • Mexico
  • Montserrat
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Puerto Rico
  • St Kitts
  • St Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Trinidad & Tobago
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • Turks & Caicos
  • Afghanistan
  • Australia
  • Bangladesh
  • Cambodia
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Malaysia
  • Mongolia
  • Myanmar
  • New Zealand
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam
  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Channel Islands
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Italy - Bernoni
  • Italy - Ria
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Netherlands
  • Northern Ireland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Slovak Republic
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • UK
  • Uzbekistan
  • Bahrain
  • Egypt
  • Jordan
  • Kuwait
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Yemen
  • Lebanon
Grant Thorton Logo

Grant Thornton Logo Grant Thornton logo

  • Meet our people
  • Insights
  • Services
  • Industries
  • Careers
  • Locations
  • Business advisory services
  • Financial advisory services
  • Tax
  • Audit
  • Operational advisory
Business advisory services Home
  • NZTE support for businesses impacted by COVID-19
Financial advisory services Home
  • Asia Services Group
  • Business valuations
  • Capital markets
  • Complex and international services
  • Corporate insolvency
  • Debt advisory
  • Expert witness
  • Financial models
  • Forensic and investigation services
  • Independent business review
  • IT forensics
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Raising finance
  • Relationship property services
  • Restructuring and turnaround
  • Transaction advisory
Tax Home
  • Corporate tax
  • Employment tax
  • Global mobility services
  • GST
  • International tax
  • Research and Development
  • Tax compliance
  • Transfer pricing
Audit Home
  • Audit methodology
  • Audit technology
  • Financial reporting advisory
Operational advisory Home
  • Business architecture
  • Internal audit
  • IT advisory
  • IT privacy and security
  • PCI DSS
  • Process improvement
  • Procurement/supply chain
  • Project assurance
  • Risk management
  • Robotic process automation (RPA)
  • Energy and resources
  • Financial services
  • Food and beverage
  • Health and aged care
  • Media and entertainment
  • Not for profit
  • Professional services
  • Public sector
  • Real estate and construction
  1. Grant Thornton New Zealand
  2. Press releases
  3. 2014
  4. Budget 2014: Time for greater PPP investment in education sector

Budget 2014: Time for greater PPP investment in education sector

16 Apr 2014
  • 2014

With the successful opening of the first schools built under a public private partnership model (PPP), Hobsonville primary (2013) and secondary (2014) schools, the Government should take heed of this success when considering this year’s Budget.

While the Ministry of Education will shortly be seeking Expressions of Interest from the market for the design, construction, financing, and maintenance of Aranui Community School and Rolleston Secondary School in greater Christchurch, Wakatipu Secondary School’s new site in Queenstown and a new school in Auckland to be confirmed at a later date, there is still scope for the Government to be much more active on this front.

New Zealand faces an educational challenge with our present system coming up short for one out of five school-aged children. 

From the world of IT we know that good hardware supports the effective operating of good software. So if the software in education is its leadership and quality of the teaching and the hardware is its physical infrastructure, then what type of hardware would best support the software?

Recently announced initiatives have focused on the software, i.e. leadership and the quality of teaching – to address the identified learning gaps.

What could further support this would be to have the issues associated with property ownership managed by the private sector under PPP models. Why should our best leaders and teachers have to deal with property issues?

In a PPP arrangement, a private partner is responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining the school property for the term of the contract (usually 25 years from the opening of the school). The private partner works with the Ministry and the Establishment Board of Trustees to ensure the education vision for the school is captured in the design of the building.

The Ministry of Education pays the private partner quarterly and this payment is reduced if the school facilities do not meet the standards specified in the contract. This effectively provides a 25-year guarantee on the buildings, unlike schools procured under traditional procurement models. The Government then retains ownership of the land and buildings throughout the life of the contract.

Labour maintains that PPPs will end up costing taxpayers more. National, in response, will say the idea behind PPPs is to bring innovation and this is likely to reduce the total cost of ownership.

The Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, has advised that the use of PPPs for the recently announced four schools could deliver savings of between 2% and 8% over traditional procurement by the Ministry. She has also said that the use of PPPs for new school projects is a key part of the Government’s plan to achieve high-quality infrastructure to get the best learning outcomes.

These trials are welcome arrangements. However, the Government must ensure, through measures taken in the upcoming Budget, that they are equipped to manage these arrangements and to ensure that the promised savings are realised. There also needs to be sufficient transparency regarding the results.

The initial stages of the two Hobsonville schools were delivered on time and a high quality modern learning environment was created. Let’s feed on this initial success and let results rather than politics dictate the approach to acquiring educational hardware.

Further enquiries, please contact:

Alastair Boult
Grant Thornton New Zealand National Director, Government Advisory
T: +64 (0)4 495 1724
E: Alastair.Boult@nz.gt.com

  • Follow us on Instagram
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Twitter icon
  • Facebook icon
CONNECTclose
  • Contact us
  • Make an enquiry/submit an RFP
  • Meet our people
  • Careers
  • Alumni
  • Locations
ABOUTclose
  • About Grant Thornton
  • Insights
  • Press
LEGALclose
  • Privacy
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap

© 2021 Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL) - All rights reserved. "Grant Thornton” refers to the brand under which the Grant Thornton member firms provide assurance, tax and advisory services to their clients and/or refers to one or more member firms, as the context requires. GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. GTIL and each member firm is a separate legal entity. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL does not provide services to clients. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another’s acts or omissions.

    • EN