3.14 The financial comparison of the PFI deal and the PSC focused on the estimated costs of the two options, which showed that the estimated costs were similar between the options. Uncertainties inherent in such cost estimation, particularly in respect of the PSC, mean that there was little to choose between the PFI and the traditionally procured options in terms of the financial comparison alone.
3.15 Such financial comparisons, however, take no account of the benefits of this type of contract. Indeed they can mask these important benefits, as the focus of the assessment of value for money is on the comparison of two cost figures. It does not explicitly include wider benefits, such as price certainty, incentives for service delivery and transfer of responsibility for assets, which were important considerations for the Trust. Although some benefits of risk transfer were recognised in the calculations, these omit other non-quantifiable benefits and cannot fully reflect the importance which the Trust attached to all the benefits of the PFI approach. Although the financial comparison can be a useful management tool to inform judgement, it is important that the wider benefits and disbenefits of alternative approaches are also taken into account in decision making.