Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 27
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)
The NAO has previously reported that the public sector does not take a strategic or consistent approach to managing PFI contracts as they end, and risks failing to secure value for money during expiry negotiations with the private sector. Around one-quarter of respondents from public bodies to a survey stated that contracts did not contain any information on how and in what condition assets should be returned. Poorly drafted clauses open to interpretation resulted in differing views between authorities and PFI providers.62 We asked the Treasury and NISTA whether they had learned the lessons from this issue.63 The Treasury told us that at the initiation of private finance there was talk about it being self-monitoring, but this had clearly proven not to be the case. The Treasury acknowledged that contract management was required, and as a result has set up a contract 57 Qq 79-80 58 C&AG’s Report, para 4.18 59 Qq 72-73; C&AG’s Report, para 4.22 60 Q 73; C&AG’s Report, Figure 3, Note 2 61 C&AG’s Report, para 4.18; Appendix One, para 15; Figure 3 62 C&AG’s Report, Managing PFI assets and services as contracts end, Session 2019–21, HC 369, 5 June 2020, pp. 7-9 63 Q 54 17 management capability programme.64 NISTA also told us that the early PFI contracts had poorly drafted clauses relating to hand back provisions and that standardisation of contracts addressed this. NISTA added that issues with the PFI contracts coming up for expiry relate to contracts signed prior to the hand back clauses being added.65
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.