The Private Finance Initiative: Clarification of a Future Research Agenda

The Private Finance Initiative in the UK, whereby the public sector actively seeks private finance for developments in its services/buildings, can be traced to the Chancellor of the the Exchequer's Autumn Statement of 1992. However, the seeking of private finance had been a Government concern for many years before this time even though it was only in 1992 that it gained a real impetus and direction. Since then it has developed and expanded into all areas of Government and into local authorities and has been carried forward, with equal, if not greater, enthusiasm, by the recently elected Labour Government. This paper provides an introduction to this new development in the public sector in the UK, tracing its historical development from its 'macro' emphasis, through to the 'micro' outworking of these policies across the entire public sector. This summary provides the base to draw up a future research agenda for PFI, which forms the major concern of the paper.