Labour preparing to use public-private funding model for NHS in England

"While it was originally conceived under the Conservatives, Tony Blair's Labour government made significant use of the private finance initiative (PFI), a form of PPP used to build schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure, without adding to the national debt. Backers of PFI say this approach allowed public infrastructure to be built that otherwise would not exist; but opponents say the taxpayer was often left footing huge bills for inflexible contracts that ran for as long as 30 years."

"Treasury data shows that 560 PFI contracts are outstanding in England, for projects including schools, hospitals, libraries and road maintenance. Hundreds of these contracts will end in the coming years, raising questions about the state of the assets being inherited by the taxpayer, and potentially triggering legal battles about the precise conditions of handback. A report last year from the Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (AIIP), chaired by the Labour peer and former frontbencher John Hutton, warned of the risk of serious disruption as these deals come to an end, amid what it called mistrust between the parties to some PFI contracts."

"Labour is preparing to kick off a new wave of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in England to build the neighbourhood health centres at the heart of its NHS 10-year plan. Ministers will make a final decision in the autumn budget about whether to use the funding approach, which was put on pause eight years ago. But critics say lessons have not been learned about the pitfalls of PPPs, and point to the chaos unleashed by the 2018 collapse of the mega-contractor Carillion, with its complex portfolio of projects."

Labour plans to relaunch public-private partnerships in England to build neighbourhood health centres central to its NHS 10-year plan. Ministers will decide in the autumn budget whether to revive funding paused eight years ago. Critics warn lessons from past PPP pitfalls remain, citing the 2018 Carillion collapse. The private finance initiative (PFI) enabled delivery of schools, hospitals and infrastructure without adding to national debt, but often left taxpayers facing large bills and inflexible contracts up to 30 years. Treasury data records 560 outstanding PFI contracts in England; many will end soon, creating asset, handback and legal risks and potential disruption.

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