Private finance deals to build and refurbish council homes have consistently been hit by delays and cost over-runs, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned. The former Labour government allocated £4.3 billion through the controversial private finance initiative (PFI) to council and social housing programmes. The NAO said that of the 25 projects that have so far been signed, 21 saw cost increases while all were behind schedule. In 12 cases the costs more than doubled, while delays averaged two-and-a-half years. The NAO criticised the CLG for carrying out only "limited evaluation" of whether PFI offered good value for money in housing projects. It said that local councils reported that they were driven to use PFI due to the CLG's funding structures and "policy constraints" rather than "a pure focus on value for money". Read the full story on the 24dash website.
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