Curshaw’s verdict on The White Fraiser Report

Context

This week sees the publication of the long-awaited White/Fraiser ‘Report on the status of behaviours, relationships and disputes across the PFI sector.’ As independent advisors already working deep at the heart of this PFI project and expiry debate with both Public and Private Sector clients, in this blog we offer our CURSHAW view on the Report. We outline what we like, what we do not like and would challenge, and what we consider is still missing from this important debate.

What do we like?

On the whole we welcome the Report by Barry White and Andrew Fraiser. It contains some practical, and therefore valuable, recommendations based on detailed analysis and extensive engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders across the PFI landscape. It cannot have been an easy exercise and no doubt there were some strong views and opinions expressed by the contributors that are very firmly held and likely not expressed in the language of compromise.

We also completely agree with the Report’s sentiment that “standing still is not an option” and that significant and urgent change is required, reiterating what CURSHAW flagged in our first e-book back in 2020. Our disappointment is how little the debate seems to have progressed in those intervening three years whilst the juggernaut of expiry comes ever closer towards us all.

Our unwavering CURSHAW view remains that…

Do you want to finish reading Curshaw’s view? Get your copy here.