Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
39th Report - Government’s use of private finance for infrastructure
Published 11 Jul 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Government’s use of private finance for infrastructure All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
There is no central record of private finance for infrastructure investment, which limits the Treasury’s ability to spot themes and patterns and deliver value for money. The overall value and number of infrastructure projects delivered using private finance models other than PFI are significant. For example, on the Regulated Asset Base model, around £9 billion was invested – including for Thames Tideway Tunnel and Heathrow Terminal 5. In addition, the government has recently announced that it will invest £14.2 billion in the Sizewell C nuclear power station. In June 2018, the previous Public Accounts Committee recommended that the Treasury and IPA publish data on the benefits of PFI and set out an approach to evaluating the value for money of operational PFI projects. In 2021, the IPA told the Committee that it was unable to conclude its evaluation, noting that this was because it was unable to make any meaningful conclusions from the data. NISTA, which has replaced the IPA, says it is now collecting more data on performance, asset condition, and PFI contract expiry so that it can learn the lessons. Unlike PFI, other financing models are not monitored by the Treasury or NISTA and there is still no information about how the relevant data will be collected and monitored centrally. recommendation The Treasury and NISTA should publish a central database covering private finance for public infrastructure. This should include (subject to commercial sensitivity), but not be limited to: • project synopsis; 4 • lead department and counterparties; • capital value; • finance type, including any government support packages; • contract length; • project business cases, including evaluation plans; and • forecast equity returns to investors.
From: Public Accounts Committee, 39th Report - Government’s use of private finance for infrastructure (HC 821), 11 July 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-ninth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 11 September 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-ninth report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" in each of the recommendations set out in the response, describing some as implemented and others as having target implementation dates between October 2026 and May 2027.
- On the pipeline, the government says the recommendation is implemented, citing the Infrastructure Pipeline published by NISTA in July 2025, with updates "every 6 months", and NISTA has written to the Committee alongside the Treasury Minute.
- On financing models, the government agrees but says the preferred model is "the one that offers the best value for money", appraised "on a case-by-case basis" using the Green Book.
- On a central database, the government agrees with a target implementation date of May 2027. It will expand the Pipeline over time and "explore whether" the additional information sits best there or in a parallel product; the Pipeline would not include legacy PFI or commercially sensitive information.
- On risk allocation, the government agrees with a target date of May 2026, saying the Treasury and NISTA "will set out further guidance by May 2026" on contract and performance management and on resetting infrastructure projects.