Public Private Partnerships and CSR

This paper calls into question, the consistency of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) with Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR). It looks at examples of where PPP’s have not worked well and suggests the introduction of CSR measures.

The paper highlights that the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) are one of the hot government procurement topics of the decade. However, the author argues that PPP is not consistent with CSR and calls for an ethical code of practice to enhance PPP’s responsibility.

Key points include:

• In a PPP, if the shareholders of a parent company, who would have benefited if things had gone well, are legally under no obligation to do anything at all. Shareholders of a PPP should be ethically bound not to allow a public service, such as a school, to fall by the wayside when they are both financially capable of delivering help and surely morally obliged to do so
• Trade Unions justifiably fear that PPP is an excuse for reducing pay, inflicting poorer working conditions and cutting staff levels. PPP should stand on its own heads, not on workers heads
• PPP has gained an ugly reputation for cutting corners wherever possible.  There must be room for a Code of Conduct
• CSR companies behave responsibly in all their negotiations and contracts, which is why, in the long run, they keep their clients – and their reputations to be on the safe side. PPP industry globally needs an ethical code of practice urgently before the whole procurement method of PPP is discredited