PFI's premiers

摘要

Just over a decade ago, with the economy in the depths of recession, few could have imagined that a revolution was about to take place in public sector procurement, that would transform its whole approach to major construction projects. At the time, the public purse was almost empty. So, under-fire Tory chancellor Norman Lamont suggested that the Design, Build, Finance and Operate model that had been used successfully on Trafalgar House's Dartford Crossing could be considered for other building projects such as roads, and even schools and hospitals. But while the Tories saw DBFO, or the private finance initiative as it would rapidly become known, largely as a means of getting public capital expenditure off the balance sheet, the New Labour administration that succeeded them in 1997 was convinced it had wider benefits in terms of the quality of the building projects it could deliver. And, despite a bitter battle between New Labour and many of its traditional supporters -notably the unions - they have remained unshaken in that belief.