Whitehall's addiction to off-balance PFI schemes to fund capital projects must end, an influential cross-party committee has urged.

A critical report issued by the Treasury Select Committee argues 'perverse incentives' and a biased value for money appraisal system - encouraging public bodies to commit to major long-term investments without large up-front costs - are now 'extremely inefficient' in a post-credit crunch era of higher borrowing costs.