ESSU research has consistently focused on the offshore infrastructure funds, which are liable for corporate tax in the country in which they are registered. Each PFI/PPP project has Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or company that is registered in the UK and liable to pay UK corporation tax. Twelve offshore infrastructure funds had equity in 547…

PPP Profiteering and Offshoring: New Evidence reports on the findings of the updated ESSU PPP Equity Database 1998-2016:  

In a speech at the Labour National Conference today, John McDonnell, Shadow Chancellor, announced: “It’s not just students and households with credit cards who are being ripped off. The scandal of the Private Finance Initiative, launched by John Major, has resulted in huge, long-term costs for tax payers, whilst handing out enormous profits for some…

The Political Economy of Private Financed Social Services – an international perspective is the title of a chapter by Dexter Whitfield in a new book Privates Kapital für soziale Dienste? Wirkungsorientiertes Investment und seine Folgen für die Soziale Arbeit edited by Monika Burmester, Emma Dowling & Norbert Wohlfahrt. Further details and an English version of the chapter…

The European Services Strategy Unit is pleased to launch a radical redesign of the website — www.european-services-strategy.org.uk. Many thanks to Chris Croome of Webarchitects Coop (who have hosted and supported the website since 1998) and Mina Nielsen, Sheffield for the redesign. Hopefully the website is easier to navigate and access the large volume of evidence.…

On 1 April 2017 the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro finally returned to public provision. The North East Combined Authority decided not to extend the Deutsche Bahn 7-year operational contract for a further two years because of dissatisfaction with service performance. A new fleet of trains is planned in the next few years,…

The London Homelessness Social Impact Bond was designed to reduce rough sleeping, but led to two charities to work in partnership with Home Office agencies to ‘reconnect’ non-UK nationals by voluntary repatriation, administrative removal or deportation. This ESSU briefing raises critical issues for non-profits engaging in core state functions.

Somerset County Council plans to transfer the Council’s Learning Disabilities Provider Service to a new social enterprise established by Dimensions (UK) Ltd in April 2017. The service has an annual budget of nearly £30m and 1,160 staff. The social enterprise has announced plans to reduce all terms and conditions for the whole workforce, impose immediate…

Article by Stewart Smyth and Dexter Whitfield in Accounting Forum journal. The UK’s government auditors, the National Audit office (NAO), play a central role in the accountability relations surrounding government expenditure. Commonly portrayed as being independent, they carry out performance audits assessing value for money. To date the emerging market for PPP equity transactions has…