The Government expects total investment through its PFI, or Public Private Partnerships programme as it prefers to call it, to reach £20 bn over the next three years.

Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, announcing an expanded PPP programme which will add to the £12 billion deals already signed or re-structured said:

"Public private partnerships are making a major contribution to the renewal and modernisation of Britain's public services with better schools and hospitals, and huge investment in public transport. Between 1992 and 1997 no PFI hospital deals were signed. Yet in this Government's first two years we have signed 35 major hospital projects and, including deals in the pipeline there are a total of 100 health projects in the programme. This represents the largest investment in new hospital facilities since the NHS was established."

The Government’s strategy document Public Private Partnerships: The Government's Approach’ also sets out for the first time the Government's objectives for PPPs and the underlying principles which are central to the way in which Government goes about developing new partnerships with the private sector.

Mr Smith said that capital investment would focus on the Government's priority areas of health, education and transport. Planned PPP projects include:

• £8 billion to modernise the tube
• an estimated £1 billion to modernise UK's Air traffic control infrastructure
• more than 60 new education projects nationally
• 25 new health projects nationally
• 12 other new transport projects nationally

‘Public Private Partnerships: The Government's Approach’ is available on the Treasury website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. You can also Click Here to download the PFI Map of Great Britain in PDF format (1.3mb).

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pdf/2000/pppmap.pdf

Richard Byatt