Central to the development of a new model are the objectives of long term value for money for the taxpayer, more effective use of private sector innovation and skills, reducing costs, improving flexibility and increasing transparency. The Treasury will also be looking to retain the benefits that successful PFI can deliver - in getting projects built to time and to budget and in creating the correct disciplines and incentives on the private sector to manage risk effectively.
Government's aim is to balance these objectives in a new approach to the delivery of public facilities that:
• is less expensive and uses private sector innovation to deliver services more cost effectively;
• can access a wider range of financing sources, including encouraging a stronger role to be played by pension fund investment;
• strikes a better balance between risk and reward to the private sector;
• has greater flexibility to accommodate changing public service needs over time;
• maintains the incentive on the private sector to deliver capital projects to time and to budget and to take performance risk on the delivery of services;
• delivers an accelerated and cheaper procurement process; and
• gives greater financial transparency at all levels of the project so that the public sector is confident that it is getting what it paid for and that the taxpayer is sure it is getting a fair deal now and over the longer term.