Recommendation 13

The IPA acknowledged that its existing team of experts was not enough resource to provide support to all 700 PFI contracts in a complex environment. Across the UK, 328 authorities are responsible for PFI contracts, with 182 authorities responsible for only one contract. In contrast, the 10 largest private investors in PFI owned more than 50% of the contracts. This concentration allowed the private sector to take a portfolio approach to managing the expiry process, which risks putting the public sector at a disadvantage. To address this, the IPA told us that it had requested from each department their strategies for managing the PFI contracts for which they are responsible. The IPA told us that it will work with departments, focusing on these strategies, to ensure that it was able to get help and support to the contract management teams within the authorities.34