Traditional methods of procurement in the UK are delivering better value for money as discipline promoted by the Private Finance Initiative spreads throughout the market, the Treasury has claimed.
Gordon McKechnie, head of PFI policy at the Treasury, spoke recently at a conference where he described anecdotal evidence which suggested that improved outcomes were being seen throughout the procurement sector.
He explained that one of the best things to come out of the PFI was that there was now a better record of delivering projects on time and to budget, compared with other methods of procurement.
"The positive features of the PFI are now being incorporated in other areas of government procurement," Public Finance magazine reported him as saying to attendees of the conference.
According to a new report from Partnerships UK, the PFI market was at its smallest in 2006-07 since 1997, with only 44 projects closed, less than half of the 95 deals arranged in 1999-2000.
Despite this, the report also revealed that the capital value of deals being signed last years was the highest ever recorded, standing at £6.8 billion.
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