On Thursday, infrastructure minister Chris Bishop was wanking in the House about the benefits of Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs). So how do they work out in practice? We all know Transmission Gully is a complete shitshow which ultimately had to be completely restructured after the contractor simply refused to complete the work. Meanwhile, in the UK, the first 25-year "build-own-operate" contracts for schools under their Private Finance Initiative are about to end. And of course its a disaster:
Stoke council bosses are locked in dispute over almost 3,000 school building issues just months before England’s biggest education private finance initiative (PFI) contract ends.The core problem: maintenance spending costs money, which means lower profits, so PFI contractors didn't want to spend it, instead choosing to run the infrastructure into the ground. And while they have a clear legal requirement to make good at the end of the contract, they are basically taking a "fuck you, make me" approach in an effort to preserve their profits. And national wants to do this to our courthouses and defence bases, not to mention schools and hospitals.Local authority chiefs in Sheffield also fear legal action from trusts if they fail to ensure a PFI company meets contractual obligations to return schools back to state ownership in good condition.
Meanwhile, multi-million-pound court rows have also erupted in Lancashire over alleged defects in a number of schools built through similar deals, which are now coming to an end.
But its not just them. Because it turns out that Labour also loves PPPs - anything to hide debt and make the books look good, while kicking the can down the road. Anything rather than live up to their name and properly tax the rich to pay for the infrastructure and services we need.
We shouldn't let them. PPPs are a rort, which result in the public getting screwed. And any politician who thinks otherwise is either stupid or on the take, and needs to be de-elected.