26. To assess the benefits that privately financed projects bring to public services, it is necessary to look beyond the cash price and evaluate the value a project brings both to the service user and the wider community.
27. Obtaining a quantitative measure of the broader value of providing a public service can be challenging, regardless of the delivery method used. In addition, it is difficult to directly compare the costs of traditional procurement and the PFI model, as traditional methods failed to account for all project costs. However, research from a range of sources indicates that PFI is achieving the performance expected in world-class public services.
28. In a survey on user satisfaction with PFI services, 92% of respondents stated that expected standards were always or almost always being delivered.6 A study from 4ps also emphasised that "users and stakeholders are especially delighted with the new facilities and services now being provided."7
29. An Ipsos MORI study from 2008 found that 73% of project managers rated their project's overall performance as either good or very good, and 94% reported that projects were achieving agreed service levels either always or almost always.8 A study on local government PFI also indicated that "service providers are in the main delivering the contracted services on time, to budget and within the specification".9
30. The focus that PFI places on innovation means that small design changes can impact positively on both those individuals who use the services and also the wider community in which they operate. For example an innovation in prison design adopted the use of long, wide corridors; this has enabled better use of CCTV which improves safety levels for prison staff and inmates and contributes to a more positive working environment.10 In hospitals also, design changes have enabled a more optimal means of transporting patients along corridors, improving their quality of life whilst in hospital. The use of robots to move food, linen and other goods around the buildings has freed up staff to concentrate on patients.11
31. Communities are also benefiting from the innovation private finance can bring to projects; investment up front for the best possible solutions and technology becomes affordable due to the length of the contract. In education, ultra-modern IT facilities are being integrated into learning environments, helping to equip students with the skills needed for an electronic-based workplace. Stakeholders involved in this investment programme believe the new facilities will deliver real benefits for teaching and learning.12
32. In street lighting facilities, the contract payment structures in PFI allow for investment in new technology, the benefits of which are immediately available to communities but which the Council repays over time. Transport Minister Sadiq Khan recently announced new PFI funding in this sector saying: "Good quality street lighting improves road safety and reduces crime and the fear of crime. This funding will help to create safer and healthier local communities by promoting social inclusion and more sustainable patterns of transport such as cycling and walking."13
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6 "Investigating the performance of operational PFI contracts," Ipsos MORI, 2008
7 "Review of operational PFI and PPP projects," 4ps, 2005
8 Ipsos MORI op cit
9 4ps op cit
10 "Building on success: the way forward for PFI," CBI 2007
11 Ibid
12 "Evaluation of Building Schools for the Future, second annual report," PricewaterhouseCoopers, January 2009
13 http://www.nce.co.uk/news/business/440m-pfi-deals-for-street-lighting/5205824.article