Expiry date - the key considerations for managing the transition

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) are sometimes used synonymously but they are fundamentally different and it is important to understand how and why.

Is the government making appropriate preparations for PFI expiry?

The NAO have recently published a report that provides information on managing PFI contracts as they come to an end and considers whether government is making appropriate preparations to manage the expiry of PFI contracts.

In this blog post we provide commentary on the key findings based on our experience of leading DWP’s successful exit of the first large-scale UK PFI to expire. We will discuss the recommendations in a future blog.

What are Private Finance Initiative Contracts?
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts are those where public sector projects are financed and run by the private sector. They were introduced in the UK in the 1990s to design, construct, finance and maintain infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, schools, prisons, waste management and office accommodation. Typically the contracts have an operational length of 20 to 30 years with the public sector making annual repayments to private sector contractors.