Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
Accepted in Part
Lack of comparable data hinders assessment of PFI project efficiency and value for money
Conclusion
The Treasury publishes data on the number of active PFI contracts, which includes information on: the capital value of assets; when contracts are due to expire; and the remaining unitary charges.32 As of 31 March 2024, there were 665 PFI contracts with a capital value of £50 billion – 79% of the value relating to social infrastructure and the remaining 21% to economic infrastructure.33 The NAO has previously reported that there was a lack of systems to collect comparable data for similar projects using different procurement routes, and the previous Public Accounts Committee also highlighted that there was a lack of data available to assess the actual efficiency of PFI projects.34 In June 2018, the then 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.35 Doing so would allow for lessons learned from the evaluation to be applied to other projects, including on construction or delivery, future expiries, and contract management.36
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and sets a May 2027 target, committing to expand and develop the Infrastructure Pipeline to include more investor-relevant detail and explore optimal publication methods for requested information, while noting existing annual PFI/PF2 data.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: May 2027 3.2 The Infrastructure Pipeline, recently published in July 2025, contains some of this information (e.g. project summary, lead department and capital value) in terms of opportunities for further private finance for projects which are planned or in construction. 3.3 As set out in the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, the government will expand and develop the Infrastructure Pipeline over time so that it includes more detail of relevance to investors. This will take place in close collaboration with investor groups, and will explore whether, for instance, the additional information the Committee have requested sits best in the Infrastructure Pipeline or in a parallel product focussed exclusively on investible projects. 3.4 Information in the Pipeline is dynamic and forward looking and would not include completed public infrastructure projects with private investment, information on legacy PFI investments, commercially sensitive information or other existing privately financed projects. Data on PFI and PF2 projects delivered by government departments and devolved administrations are published annually on gov.uk in interactive dashboard format. For individual projects this data sets out key contractual dates including expiry, original capital value, annual unitary payments, and the identity of contracting authorities, sponsoring departments, special purpose vehicles and investors.