There are important distinctions between genuine local control and decision-making and the Coalition government's localism policies (Whitfield, 2012). The PPP model and the sale of equity, in effect, undermine localism, because a degree of control is transferred from construction companies, banks and facilities to offshore infrastructure funds.
For example, Local Improvement Finance Trusts (LIFT) projects build and operate local health centres and surgeries and are important multi-service centres, yet there had been 41 instances of the sale of equity by 30 June 2012, half of which had transferred to offshore infrastructure funds. In addition, contractually committed PPP payments from revenue budgets result in a loss of flexibility in addressing local needs.
The same argument extends to governments in the global south. Global construction companies and finance capital commit to PPPs, and then exit to cash in profits by selling their shareholding to infrastructure funds.