Senior commercial lawyer Nick Maltby, Head of Major Projects (Commercial) at Bircham Dyson Bell believes that criticism of the Private Finance Contracts (PFI's) signed up to under the last government to fund the building of public sector buildings such as hospitals, is misplaced.
"Under PFI the majority of buildings have been built on time and to budget. The fact remains that public sector buildings prior to the use of PFI were built late and ran over budget and often were never maintained; in many cases they were built and then left to fall down over a period of years," explains Nick Maltby.
"To compare structures built under PFI with those built and funded solely by the public sector is not comparing like with like - the PFI has shifted the focus of the UK's building industry to 'whole life costing' of buildings including the maintenance and upkeep - not just the construction of it. Risk transfer matters and PFIs achieve this.
"If the UK wants to maintain its competitiveness, it must consider its infrastructure and look to ways of being able to renew it - especially in light of current government cost cutting. In the last fifteen years, we have benefited from the buildings constructed and maintained under PFI - some £90 billion of infrastructure that's been invested in. PFI has a key role to play going forward.
"I'm not suggesting that PFIs are always a panacea - but likewise I think we have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater."
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.