Value of PFI deals 'is uncertain'

Does any of this sound familiar?

The government's private finance initiative has not offered the taxpayer value for money, according to a committee of MPs.
In a report published on Tuesday, the Commons public accounts committee said public authorities often failed to secure a good deal on contracts with private firms.
There are some 800 PFI contracts worth £155bn up to 2032, but the MPs said that the managing of some projects had "got worse" since it last reported on the issue four years ago.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said he was "very concerned" that public authorities were cutting essential services "to keep the PFI contracts affordable".

"If the public sector is to get value for money from the deals, then the market must be truly competitive," he added.
"What we find instead is that a third of recent projects attracted only two viable bids. This may well become an even bigger problem than it is at present."
With an average three-year tendering period, Leigh said the "costs of making a bid are driven up", resulting in schemes being delayed and the market interest weakened.
He warned that a lack of "PFI expertise among the public sector procurement teams is resulting in poor negotiating with bidders who often have the whip hand".
"The public sector must not be placed in this vulnerable position," Leigh said.
"PFI deals were supposed to give us certainty about the long-term costs of providing public services. The reality is different."