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MPs ask companies to pay back PFI money
Business digest: Reduction in payments to part-privatisation contracts could raise money for public services
MPs have launched a campaign to persuade companies that have benefited from the controversial private finance initiative to pay some of the money back to help reduce the severity of cuts to public services.
The previous Labour government used controversial part-privatisation - PFI schemes - to speed up investment in public buildings and services. There are around 800 PFI contracts, with a capital value of £64bn. Yet public bodies will have to repay £267bn over the next 50 years.
The PFI Rebate Campaign, backed by more than 50 MPs, wants PFI companies, including Serco, Balfour Beatty, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS, to agree to a 0.05 per cent reduction in repayments - a cut that would raise £500m for public services.
Read a full report at the Independent. ·
