Financial strategy and private finance initiative – for iPod/iPhone

Does a hospital have to be owned and managed by the same sector that provides its services? In the early 1990s, the Private Finance Initiative was the Treasury’s brainwave to provide the public sector with better value for money. Designed to fund public infrastructure such as hospitals, roads and accommodation through private money from consortiums, these contentious schemes indicated a radical cultural shift towards outsourcing. The 13 video tracks in this album introduce the complexities involved in project financing from both public and private perspectives and feature case studies on Calderdale hospital in Halifax and Altcourse Prison in Fazakerly. The audio track examines the PFI and asks whether it provides a good deal for the public or if it’s another profit-making venture for the private sector. This material forms part of The Open University course B821 Financial strategy.