OECD Review of Public Governance of Public-Private Partnerships in the UK

The private finance initiative (PFI) in the UK was introduced in the early 1990s to provide an alternative mode of infrastructure financing at a time where traditional government financing was showing its limits both in terms of execution and in terms of finance. Since then, PFIs and the framework surrounding them, have evolved significantly in the UK. They are today part of an integrated framework and are considered a choice, among others, on how to procure infrastructure.

Towards a Framework for the Governance of Infrastructure

Good governance is a necessary condition for good public infrastructure but Infrastructure presents a governance challenge. This is why the objective of the framework presented in this paper is to ensure infrastructure programs that make the right projects happen, in a cost-efficient and affordable manner that is trusted by users and citizens to take their views into account. The framework offers decision makers a methodology to analyze challenges, mapping out options on how to solve them, and guides them in carrying through decisions.