PFI projects could continue to drain the public purse long after contracts end, MPs warn

PUBLIC-SECTOR projects built and run by privateers under the notorious private finance initiative (PFI) could continue to drain the public purse long after the contracts end, MPs warned today.
A damning report by the public accounts committee (PAC) said that services including schools and hospitals face “serious disruptions” if ministers fail to prepare for the expiry of hundreds of PFI contracts covering £60 billion of public assets.
About 200 PFI contracts are set expire over the next 10 years, and the PAC warned that mismanagement of the process could result in large sums of taxpayers’ money being wasted.
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