PFI and the cutting room floor 2

If your not sure what a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) is, it works something like this;


Minister wants a new thing, but has no money to pay for it.
Wealthy fund/person/business agrees to pay for it and lease it back to the Government with strings attached.


Result - Minister gets new thing, knowing that if it all goes wrong a few years down the line he'll be a long way from it and can blame someone else. Business person gets lots of positive PR about giving back to the community knowing that he has got a better return on his investment than he would through any low risk investment.  In addition the maintenance contract that has been agreed ties the government to a specific supplier - the one he has just sold the contract to for a big profit.  The result is;