The Government is introducing a number of measures that address the concerns of a wide-ranging number of stakeholders, including Parliament, who have called for greater transparency and accountability of PFI arrangements:
• in response to requests for greater transparency over the level of equity returns earned on PFI projects, the Government will require the private sector to provide actual and forecast equity return information for publication;
• public sector equity will also enable greater project transparency and accountability for project delivery and operation as the public sector will receive performance information about the project through membership of the project board;
• building on the steps the Government already has already taken to provide greater transparency, through the publication of an assessment of PFI liabilities in the Whole of Government Accounts, the Government will introduce a control total for all commitments arising from off balance sheet PF2 contracts signed. This will form part of a wider set of reforms to the framework for managing off-balance sheet liabilities which will see the UK at the forefront of international best practice; and
• in response to strong calls from the private sector for greater transparency of the Government's approval process a business case approval tracker will be published on the Treasury website from Spring 2013 which will provide a status update of PF2 and PFI projects in procurement progress through the approval process.