Government use of the private-finance initiative (PFI) is ‘unsustainable' in its current form, an influential Commons' committee reported this week.
Issuing its findings on equity investment in privately financed projects on 2 May, the public accounts committee (PAC) urged the Treasury to address inherent flaws and inflexibility in the model used by central and local government to deliver around 700 schemes over the past 20 years. Despite evidence that project investors are making excessively-high returns, the MPs found incentives for the Government to pursue PFI remain at a time of public spending constraint – with talks over a further 30 schemes ongoing.
