To secure value for money, private finance initiative (PFI) projects all require competitive tendering. Public sector tendering for PFI follows the EU procurement regime, generally under the Public Works Contracts Regulations or the Public Services Contracts Regulations. Tenders for these contracts are invited under the open, restricted or negotiated procedures.
The open and restricted procedures severely curtail the possibility of the public authority negotiating with a single preferred bidder and obtaining the added value of private sector innovation. The negotiated procedure is therefore invariably used in PFI contracts.
