Let’s be honest about private finance in infrastructure

By Richard Threlfall2019-11-12T06:00:00

Private investment in infrastructure has been criticised – wrongly – in the past few years. The government supports it abroad but has refused to promote it at home

“Billions being wasted on wasteful legacy PFI contacts”, declared the front page headline of a newspaper I was reading a few weeks ago. I inwardly groaned and braced myself for what lay inside. Perhaps I would find a balanced analysis of the benefits and costs of private finance initiatives (PFI). Perhaps the article would explain the huge investment that had been made possible in the UK’s schools, hospitals and streetlights as a result of private finance and the positive effect on the education, health and safety of individuals as a result. But no – the story was a litany of alleged scandals.

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