Is innovation a word associated with private finance initiatives (PFIs)? The concept may have arrived in the UK in a blaze of publicity and expectations in the mid-1990s, but the future form that PFI will take is now under debate.

Since the arrival of PFI, the sums involved in the industry have been undeniably large. In 1996, the size of the UK PFI market was estimated to be £1.5bn. By 2002, it was a massive £4.9bn.