ABSTRACT
The private finance initiative (PFI) was introduced to encourage private sector businesses to tender to local and central government authorities for the provision of public infrastructure and services. Since then, over 700 projects have been completed and the total value of projects falling under the PFI/PPP umbrella in the United Kingdom exceeds 68 billion. Public private partnership (PPP) is the term used for this type of project in most other countries and people have accordingly used PPP throughout this chapter. PFI can be regarded as the United Kingdom 'brand' of PPP. PPP projects typically involve a contract between a public sector client, such as a central government department or a local authority, and a private sector partner, usually a company set up for the purposes of the project. The PPP contract will be awarded to the bidder that offers the procuring authority the most economically advantageous tender.
