Public private partnerships (PPP) and the private finance initiative (PFI)

The introduction of Public private partnerships (PPP) was initially in response to the growing levels of public debt in the 1970s and 1980s. Where contracts have been well written, with the correct apportionment of risk and reward, this too has been a beneficial aspect of PPP/private finance initiative contracts (PFI). The contractor and consultants financed and developed this scheme and then recouped their money through a toll charge on its users. The most common form of PPP arrangement in the UK is the PFI. A health services PPP will typically extend over duration of fifteen to thirty years from its initial inception. The protagonists for PPP were often those who had the most to gain. Some also argued that, even with its faults, PPP offered a better solution than other methods that had previously been employed. The Priority School Building Programme is concerned with the rebuilding and refurbishment of schools across England, covering 537 schools in two phases.