Accelerating Investments
Accelerating investments is perceived as an important tool throughout the Netherlands for boosting the economy. A mix of focused actions and projects is required in many areas. For example, (1) infrastructure and residential development, (2) labour market, education and knowledge, (3) sustainable economy and (4) increased liquidity for business are spearheads for the Cabinet. Similar priorities are being considered at the regional level as well. Altogether this is expected to lead to investments in the order of hundreds of millions of euros.
And everything must be started up in short order. Cutting through red tape is part of the process. At the same time it is important to score and avoid ‘panic and a bunched up allocation of resources’. In brief, how do I set up processes and procedures in such a way that results are actually achieved over the short term? Indeed, this is what it is all about in the first place.
If you are a manager, programme manager or policy advisor, we would like to help you ask questions that ‘matter’. Questions that our clients and consultants encounter in accelerating projects.
Bas Meijer, Consultant, Management in the Public Sector at Berenschot: “Berenschot has provided support to local and provincial governments during priority-setting meetings and cost-saving initiatives in a wide range of projects. Questions that regularly rise to the surface include: ‘Where are we heading as a municipality?’, ‘What are the associated tasks?’, as well as, ‘What are the areas in which we no longer are going to invest any money?’. Difficult questions! Answering them is however unavoidable for developing a future-oriented financial policy. Berenschot is in a position to assist you in answering these and other questions and to consequently free up resources so that in particular, you can advance more rapidly.”
Rolf Schooleman, Consultant, Mobility and Infrastructure at Berenschot: “Acceleration is collaboration. To ensure that all interested parties in a project are able to communicate their interests and ambitions from the very beginning and fit them in. This helps avoid potential obstacles or to identify them at an early stage. Important success factors include: involve all parties in a project at the very beginning of the project, define common goals and then strive to achieve them, and constantly work on creating good mutual relationships and team spirit. As an independent player, Berenschot is clearly well-positioned to operate as a neutral party in projects that involve major interests, and to motivate involved parties to work with a clear focus on a commonly agreed upon end-goal, with due consideration to everyone’s responsibility. As a result, decision-making processes can be accelerated.”
Jan-Hendrik Leopold, Consultant, Mobility and Infrastructure at Berenschot: “The time for tackling one issue at a time has passed. Thinking from the perspective of the traveller means thinking in terms of chains and junctions that are consistent with spatial development. We expect that successful public transportation initiatives such as the integrated bus/train Valleilijn, the ‘new’ cycling approach and the involvement of the demand side (employers/employees) in the development of such concepts, will furthermore lead to increased public and business value. In terms of the process, a new reference framework and significant focus emerged. Together with the team’s motivation, this also gave the coalition vitality. An important impact furthermore included the acceleration of the decision-making process, since people after all are able to shift gears more rapidly than organisations.”
Nicolette Oud, Consultant at Berenschot: “Chain partners can make or break the effectiveness of the approach used in a certain policy domain. Government should organise collaboration with chain partners in such a way that coordination does not mean doing things yourself, but rather that it becomes only natural to follow a properly secured continuous process of logically sequential links. Synergy during development and speed during implementation are the tangible results.”
Floris Bannink, Managing Consultant at Berenschot: “The tasks performed by local governments are continually expanding and the quality criteria to which delivery is subject are becoming increasingly severe and are accompanied by increasingly larger investments, including ICT investments. By bundling forces and smart partnerships, local governments can within their scope of autonomy meet these expectations at lower overall social costs. We perceive significant opportunities in various areas, including: shared services centres, collaboration in areas of taxation, environmental services and social affairs.”
Philippe Sprenger, Senior Consultant at Berenschot: “The issue for the government and semi-government sector centres on questions such as: What is our added value? What does society expect from us? The sector, from housing corporations to municipalities, is faced with the task of more clearly explaining this to its stakeholders. A clear vision that also identifies the things that will not be done, clearly defined partners and clarity concerning investments and revenues, clear the way for efficient and effective action.”
Mark Hecker, Consultant, Mobility and Infrastructure: “Accelerating means investing. Investing at the front-end of the project. But it is important to be pragmatic, however! Many recommendations tend to want to involve the entire world. By involving all kinds of stakeholders without setting any limits (including public participation), it is possible for opposition to become institutionalised. Trading off one interest for another is not indefinitely possible. To accelerate decision-making procedures requires the Gordian knots to be hacked through, with less anxiety about the possibility of making mistakes.”
Chantal Inia, Consultant, Spatial Planning and Mobility at Berenschot: “A good start is the job half done. This is also true of the decision-making process concerning infrastructural projects. Thorough exploration as a first step in the decision-making process is key. Important elements in the exploration process include a thorough consultation phase and a rationalised ‘funnelling process’ resulting in a preferred decision. But no one project is the same as another and this requires customisation. Definitely in the case of ongoing explorations, the State and decentralised government levels must carry out an assessment, on a project-by-project basis, to determine how the decision-making process can be organised to improve and accelerate it. Berenschot can assist in achieving this goal.
Durk Groenveld, Senior Consultant, European and Administrative Law at Berenschot: “The concept of a Crisis and Recovery Act should be taken very seriously as a crisis management measure, because there is much support for it at the political level. The Act is designed to accelerate government investment projects within the legal framework. Berenschot is closely following developments concerning the Crisis and Recovery Act in support of the services it provides to governments. More on this subject on our website in the very near future.”
Michiel Hes, Senior (Legal) Consultant at Berenschot: “The importance of a properly working mandate structure is that civil servants know what decisions they are authorised and not authorised to make. This increases flexibility and speeds up the decision-making process. This is because they do not need to check to see what they are authorised to do for each action that they perform. This helps organisations to accelerate the decision-making procedures, without jeopardising the legitimacy of the decisions made.”
