A parliamentary committee has slammed local and central government over the time it takes to tender PFI deals.

The public accounts committee published a new report this week into PFI deals, which concluded that there had been little improvement in the tendering process since it last looked at the issue, four years ago.

According to the committee report, there were now 800 PFI contracts with private sector suppliers, worth a total of £155bn up to 2032.

A report by the committee in 2003 concluded that the taxpayer was not always getting the best deal from PFI contracts, and good procurement practices were not being followed.

‘The average length of tendering time is now almost three years,' said committee chairman, Edward Leigh.

‘Schemes are thereby delayed and market interest weakened because the costs of making a bid are driven up.

‘And the lack of PFI expertise among 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.'

Download HM Treasury: Tendering and benchmarking in PFI (63rd), HC 754 here.