Recommendation 3

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.