Summary of the impact

King's was vital to the innovative development of a research based model, termed `dialogic evaluation', which reshaped the practice of Performance Audits on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) undertaken by national audit offices in the UK, and particularly, in Australia. `Dialogic evaluation' introduced a theoretical model for evaluating the value-for-money of the post-decision operational stage of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Performance Audits. Building on research and impact with the UK National Audit Office — the British agency — mandated with evaluating public spending — research on Australian PPPs in collaboration with partners at the University of Sydney and the Victorian Auditor-General's Office (VAGO) in Australia itself reshaped VAGO's practice. Whilst PPPs are used in many countries, the UK and Australia are world leaders in these arrangements. In the UK alone, by 2007, more than 870 projects worth £65.5bn had been procured as PPPs. Yet, the national audit offices in both these countries faced considerable challenges in their attempts to judge value-for-money of PPPs over their lengthy (25+ years) contract period. The theoretical evaluation model provided a way to resolve these problems and was adopted by VAGO, the national agency for the evaluation of public (government) spending in Australia.