Big Four accused of 'stitching up' PFI
The public service union, Unison, claims the Big Four firms have stitched up the private finance initiative and has called for an independent review.
Link: PFI deal for schools labelled a failure
In its new report, the largest union in the UK illustrates a ‘revolving door’ between the Big Four and the UK Government. It argues ministers, MPs and civil servants have all been ‘in the pay of these firms’. The firms, in turn, sit on key working groups, and devise, develop and profit from PFI policies.
‘The Big Four have stitched up PFI. The public sector is at significant risk from the conflicts of interest involving the accountancy firms, investment banks, facilities management companies, and property developers,’ said Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison.
The report identified 45 cases where the main accountancy firms acted as financial advisers to public auuthorities while also acting as auditors to at least on company bidding for the project.
Unison fears that today’s DTI report on audit and company law reform will only affect private companies ‘and draw a veil over public sector deals’.