Government departments pay an annual unitary charge - a fee for the services it receives from the PFI project. This charge includes the provision of assets and the provision of associated services, such as cleaning, maintenance and security. Unitary charges are agreed when a procurement deal is signed, although in certain circumstances they may be reduced by a limited degree, for example, in the instance of construction delays or the failure to meet specific standards.

The total annual unitary charge across all PFI projects active in 2013/14 was £10bn. The figure below depicts the unitary charge payments for current projects. The cumulative unitary charge payments sum to £310bn: of this £88 billion has been paid (up to and including 2014/15) and £222 billion is outstanding. The unitary charge figures will peak at 0.5% of GDP in 2017/18.24 These figures relate only to currently signed projects, and do not take into account projects in procurement, in the pipeline or finished projects.

The unitary charge figures for all PFIs will peak at 0.5% of GDP in 2017/18