THE Conservatives would scrap the private finance initiative (PFI) and replace it with a new way of funding major infrastructure projects, shadow chancellor George Osborne said today.
Mr Osborne said the Government’s use of PFI – which secures private funding for public institutions such as schools and hospitals in return for part-privatisation – had become “totally discredited”.
He said: “Labour’s PFI model is flawed and must be replaced.
“We need a new system that doesn’t pretend that risks have been transferred to the private sector when they can’t be, and which genuinely transfers risks when they can be.”
Mr Osborne has reportedly asked Philip Hammond, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, to find alternative models for involving the private sector in projects such as bridges, roads and schools.
