Recommendation 9

Each individual authority is primarily responsible for managing its PFI contract, including the expiry process. However, when an authority needs help, varying degrees of support are available from multiple sources across government. In the first instance, each authority will be supported by its sponsoring department which acts in an advisory capacity. The IPA, in its role as government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects, provides further advice and support to authorities.22 Rather than being involved in individual contracts, the Treasury told us it was responsible for making sure there was a support system in place and that this was properly resourced. It explained that this was why it had provided £2 million of additional funding to the IPA to set up the PFI contract expiry programme.23 Support is also available from Local Partnerships, a joint-venture between the Local Government Association, the Treasury and the Welsh Government, which has a small team of experts who have been involved in all aspects of the PFI lifecycle. Local Partnership explained that its involvement was typically to assist with identifying savings or issues that had arisen within the contracts, or to provide training and assistance to authorities when requested.24