Responding to the NAO’s report into PFI and PF2 contracts, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said:

“PFI is a useful way of financing projects in certain situations, but it has been a mixed experience. If overdone, PFI becomes a way for the government to kick the financial implications of major spending decisions down the road. It is also clear that in many cases down the years these PFIs were negotiated just to keep liabilities off the government balance sheet.

“Public bodies should have the means to renegotiate particularly onerous and disadvantageous PFI contracts. Moving forward, PFI contracts should only be used when it can be proven they are the best available option.

“The Carillion crisis reminds us that these types of projects have to be undertaken very carefully to ensure the distribution of risk is not skewed against the taxpayer.”