19. After 1997 the Labour Government accepted that private finance should continue to play a role in provision of public infrastructure and set up a Treasury task force to encourage what were now known as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). With the Government's support, the number of deals increased sharply, so that by 2009, as Mr Joe Grice of the Office for National Statistics told us, there were "… approximately 800 or so PFI/PPP schemes in being, and the capital value is something of the order of £64 billion" (Q 135). Despite rapid growth, PFI/PPP projects still accounted for only 10- 15% of local authority capital investment over the last five years (Mr Richard Buxton, Local Partnerships, Q 79). In some sectors, however, PFI's share of investment is clearly higher: Ian Pearson MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury told us that "... 70% of hospital schemes have been delivered by PFI; round about 60% of new schools have been delivered through the PFI group" (Q 592).
20. The PFP model has also been used by organisations outside the public sector to finance major new building and renovation projects of housing associations. In such cases there can be no benefit in terms of the level of public sector debt since borrowing by housing associations does not count as public spending. But as well as sharing the other benefits and drawbacks- attributed to PFP-use of this model enables housing associations to finance developments off their balance sheets and thereby to extend their work without reducing the security they provide for other borrowing.
21. The rapid growth of private finance projects over the past decade or so is striking and has played a significant role in the expansion and renewal of the nation's infrastructure.