Editing Private finance initiative (section)

===Development===
PFI was implemented in the UK by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Government led by John Major in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://navigator.health.org.uk/content/private-finance-initiative-pfi-was-introduced|title=The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) was introduced|publisher=The Health Foundation|access-date=8 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111028110829-PFI.pdf|title=Reforming The Private Finance Initiative|publisher=Centre for Policy Studies|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428143743/https://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111028110829-PFI.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was introduced against the backdrop of the [[Maastricht Treaty]] which provided for European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). To participate in EMU, EU member states were required to keep public debt below a certain threshold, and PFI was a mechanism to take debt off the government balance sheet and so meet the Maastricht convergence criteria. PFI immediately proved controversial, and was attacked by Labour critics such as the [[Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury]] [[Harriet Harman]], who said that PFI was really a back-door form of [[privatisation]] (House of Commons, 7 December 1993), and the future [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], [[Alistair Darling]], warned that "apparent savings now could be countered by the formidable commitment on revenue expenditure in years to come".<ref name="gfme">{{Citation| last = Monbiot| first = George| title = This Great Free-Market Experiment Is More Like A Corporate Welfare Scheme| newspaper = The Guardian| date = 4 September 2007| url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/sep/04/comment.politics| location=London}}</ref>

Initially, the private sector was unenthusiastic about PFI, and the public sector was opposed to its implementation. In 1993, the Chancellor of the Exchequer described its progress as "disappointingly slow". To help promote and implement the policy, he created the Private Finance Office within the Treasury, with a Private Finance Panel headed by [[Alastair Morton]]. These institutions were staffed with people linked with the [[City of London]], and [[accountancy]] and [[consultancy]] firms who had a vested interest in the success of PFI.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Shaoul|first1=Jean|last2=Stafford|first2=Anne|last3=Stapleton|first3=Pamela|date=2007|title=Partnerships and the role of financial advisors: private control over public policy?|journal=Policy & Politics|volume=35|issue=3|pages=479–495|language=en|doi=10.1332/030557307781571678}}</ref> The largest of the early PFI projects was Pathway, announced by [[Peter Lilley]] in 1995, which was to automate the handling of benefit payments at post offices.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Michael |date=1999-05-10 |title=ICL stumbles on Pathway to hell |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/icl-stumbles-on-pathway-to-hell-1092947.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

Two months after [[Tony Blair]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] took office, the [[Secretary of State for Health|Health Secretary]], [[Alan Milburn]], announced that "when there is a limited amount of public-sector capital available, as there is, it's PFI or bust".<ref name="gfme"/> PFI expanded considerably in 1996 and then expanded much further under Labour with the [[NHS (Private Finance) Act 1997]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/Data/wbi/wbicms/files/drupal-acquia/wbi/PPP%20Solution%20Notes%20-%20UK%20Treasury.pdf|title=The U.K. Treasury Infrastructure Finance Unit: Supporting PPP Financing During the Global Liquidity Crisis|publisher=World Bank|access-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308015853/http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/Data/wbi/wbicms/files/drupal-acquia/wbi/PPP%20Solution%20Notes%20-%20UK%20Treasury.pdf|archive-date=8 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> resulting in criticism from many [[trade union]]s, elements of the Labour Party, the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP), and the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]],<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Green Party Policy on the Private Financing of Public Services
 |url          = http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfssec.html#PFI
 |access-date   = 23 March 2010
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090519235841/http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfssec.html#PFI
 |archive-date = 19 May 2009
 |url-status     = dead}}</ref> as well as commentators such as [[George Monbiot]]. Proponents of the PFI include the [[World Bank]], the [[IMF]] and the [[Confederation of British Industry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/PositionDoc.nsf/1f08ec61711f29768025672a0055f7a8/da939678661811b380256e54003e39d0/$FILE/ppppfi0100.pdf|title=Position Document|publisher=CBI|access-date=8 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103203707/http://cbi.org.uk/ndbs/positiondoc.nsf/1f08ec61711f29768025672a0055f7a8/DA939678661811B380256E54003E39D0/$file/ppppfi0100.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Both Conservative and Labour governments sought to justify PFI on the practical<ref name="bwry">
{{Citation
  | last1 = Monbiot | first1 = George
  | title = The Biggest Weirdest Rip-Off Yet
  | newspaper = The Guardian
  | date =7 April 2009
  | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/07/olympics-2012-m25-pfi
  | location=London}}
</ref> grounds that the private sector is better at delivering services than the public sector. This position has been supported by the UK National Audit Office with regard to certain projects. However, critics claim that many uses of PFI are ideological rather than practical; Dr. [[Allyson Pollock]] recalls a meeting with the then [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[Gordon Brown]] who could not provide a rationale for PFI other than to "declare repeatedly that the public sector is bad at management, and that only the private sector is efficient and can manage services well."<ref name="Pollock 2005 3">{{Citation
  | last = Pollock
  | first = Allyson
  | title = NHS Plc: The Privatisation of Our Health Care
  | publisher = [[Verso]]
  | year = 2005
  | page = 3
  | isbn = 1-84467-539-4}}</ref>

[[File:PFI Office Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.jpg|thumb|Sign on the door of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust]]
To better promote PFI, the Labour government appointed [[Malcolm Bates (transport administrator)|Malcolm Bates]] to chair the efforts to review the policy with a number of [[Arthur Andersen]] staffers. They recommended the creation of a Treasury Task Force (TTF) to train public servants into PFI practice and to coordinate the implementation of PFI. In 1998, the TTF was renamed to "Partnership UK" (PUK) and sold 51% of its share to the private sector. PUK was then chaired by Sir [[Derek Higgs]], director of [[Prudential Insurance]] and chairman of [[British Land plc]]. These changes meant that the government transferred the responsibility of managing PFI to a corporation closely related with the owners, financiers, consultants, and subcontractors that stood to benefit from this policy. This created a strong appearance of conflict of interest.<ref name=":0" />

Trade unions such as [[Unison]] and [[GMB (trade union)|the GMB]], which are Labour supporters, strongly opposed these developments. At the 2002 [[Labour Party Conference]], the delegates adopted a resolution condemning PFI and calling for an independent review of the policy, which was ignored by the party leadership.<ref name=":0" />