Recommendation 22

There are many risks to delivering major infrastructure projects, such as financing risk, construction risk, and demand for the asset being lower than expected.49 These risks should be transferred to those best able to manage them, and when they are transferred to the private sector, it comes with costs: it is fair that the higher the risk, the higher the return.50 Not all risks can or should be transferred to the private sector because the cost of inappropriate transfer of certain project risks to the private sector could be disproportionately high, as ultimately, the government may have to pick up those risks, including completion of projects, if the private sector partner fails or is unable to deliver to the requirement. A lack of 44 Qq 10-11 and 33; C&AG’s Report, para 2.17 and 2.20-2.21 45 Qq 3, 11-13 and 73 46 Qq 32-33 47 Qq 32 and 68-69 48 Q 32 49 C&AG’s Report, para 3.2; Committee of Public Accounts, Private Finance Initiatives, Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 894, June 2018, p 13 50 C&AG’s Report, para 3.16; C&AG’s Report, Equity investment in privately financed projects, Session 2010–12, HC 1792, February 2012, p.11; Committee of Public Accounts, Private Finance Initiatives, Forty-Sixth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 894, June 2018, p 17 15 guidance in quantifying risk for PFI schemes, for instance, helped to fuel some misalignment between the additional costs of PFI, the private sector’s return on investment (which was considered disproportionately high), and the actual level of risk incurred.51 For some other types of financing models, the government sought to ensure that excessive risk did not deter private investment, such as in the case of the Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) programme. The private sector invested significantly in CCUS after the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero applied lessons learned from previous failed attempts to launch CCUS in the UK and created business models that allocated costs and risks effectivel