A new investment advisory group is set to drive forward the next generation of local infrastructure projects. Local Partnerships, which launched this week, will offer councils and other public sector agencies support and advice for PFI, PPP and other funding mechanisms. It will take over after the decision by the LGA, HM Treasury and CLG to merge 4Ps and part of PUK to create a single public sector body to advise on capital expenditure. The big change will also take forward the Total Place plan to get local government partners to work closely and innovate with the services they provide. This will include PCTs, probation boards and police authorities as well as third sector organisations, social enterprises and sub-regional groups. Local Partnerships chief executive, Richard Buxton, explained: ‘If multiple government organisations are working together there is less risk. Local Partnerships will act as a single source of expert advice on projects and infrastructure delivery at a time when decentralisation, joined-up working and greater efficiency are increasingly important.' He explained how Local Partnerships would work. ‘We will give authorities the intelligence they need to understand all the ramifications of what they are doing. A local public sector organisation only goes through a major tendering process occasionally, so staff don't have that specialist expertise. Partnerships do it all the time – and we are still part of the local government family,' he said. He was also upbeat about the impact of the global financial crisis on funding which some experts had feared would hit crucial government programmes. Mr Buxton said: ‘Deals have still been closed. Funding is available.'
