Private-finance initiatives (PFI) may no longer be suitable for delivering major public infrastructure – but while ministers should develop alternative funding models, poor procurement oversight within Whitehall remains a hindrance.

That is the hard-hitting conclusion of a new National Audit Office report into Britain's controversial PFI programme, which now covers almost 700 major health, transport, education, local government, Whitehall and justice projects with a combined capital value of £53bn.