Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 22 March 2023.
Minister, as you know, the use of PFI has been calamitous, to say the least. You will know that many councils were caught in the grip of toxic PFI schemes, and as we know, Minister, at last count, I believe there were 23 PFI projects with a capital value of £701 million, which was sponsored by Welsh Government, and there were five projects sponsored by the UK Government. Minister, there will be times when access to private capital is essential. However, often, they've offered poor value for money and merely place a burden of debt on many generations to come. I just wondered what lessons has the Welsh Government learned from the experience of PFIs. What work is the Welsh Government doing in order to increase transparency and to ensure that taxpayers get the best value for money when engaging with the private sector?