Executive Summary

The PFI Centre of Excellence (PFI CoE), established in 2020, is responsible for the PFI Contract Management Programme (PCMP) which aims to ensure that the public sector has the right capabilities, knowledge and tools to manage their PFI contracts effectively throughout the operational and expiry phases.

Expiry presents a significant risk to value for money and continuity of vital public services; and a significant opportunity to ensure assets instrumental in delivering essential public services are well maintained, resilient and fit for purpose beyond the term of the PFI contract.

To support preparation for expiry the PFI CoE has established a programme of Expiry Health Checks (EHCs) to support PFI Contracting Authorities (CAs) in assessing their readiness for expiry. The first phase of EHCs saw 52 projects reviewed between summer 2020 and spring 2021, and this equates to about 70% of the projects expiring between 2021 to 2027.

We found that the overall readiness for expiry of these 52 projects was Amber. There was, however, a significant underlying variance as shown in the chart. Indeed, 19 of the 21 projects expiring before the end of 2024 were rated Amber to Red.

The review also identified a number of themes and learnings that the PFI CoE will incorporate into ongoing work under the PCMP. These findings are summarised below, and detailed later in the report.

In response to the learnings identified in the evaluation of the 52 completed EHCs the IPA's PFI CoE has published Managing the Risks of PFI Contract Expiry. This sets out our plans to embed the lessons learnt and how we will support CAs to develop and execute successful expiry projects. The key offerings in our support plan are:

The IPA is implementing and embedding these lessons by:

■  Communicating these findings to the PCMP, and publishing these findings on gov.uk to ensure the widest possible audience.

■  Revising the IPA's EHC and Assurance of Action Review processes to ensure they focus appropriately on the themes in this report.

■  Developing the PFI's CoE expiry guidance and training to reflect the lessons identified.

■  Developing a cadre of PFI experts who can be deployed to support departments and CAs who will be able to embed these key lessons in project expiry plans.