Parliamentary committee criticises PFI

The UK public sector cannot protect itself from the “ultimately untransferable” business risk of private contractors failing to deliver a key public service, concludes a report from the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts. Better evaluation is needed over the lifetime of private finance initiative (PFI) schemes to ensure value for money, it says.

Allyson Pollock, professor of health policy at University College London, who has been attacked for criticising the initiative (8 June, p 1354), commented: “This is a vindication of …