The Government is seeking private investors to take a controlling stake in Partnerships UK (PUK), the successor to the Treasury Taskforce, set up in June last year to streamline and accelerate the Private Finance Initiative.

Chief Secretary Andrew Smith said: “The opening up of the market in this way is a significant development in the PPP sector in what is becoming an increasingly mature market place. By turning Partnerships UK into a public private partnership the Government is creating a key market opening for private sector shareholders, keen to seize the opportunity to help the public sector deliver modern, high quality public services.

By selling a 51% stake, the Treasury plans to raise at least £22.5 million. Partnerships UK is expected to have a capital base of £45 (£10m of ordinary share capital and £35m of CULS). and each potential qualifying investor will be invited to invest between £1m and £5m.

Partnerships UK will itself become a public private partnership: a joint venture, with the public sector owning a minority interest and the private sector owning a majority. The governance structure is designed to balance private sector disciplines with Partnerships UK’s public sector mission.

A majority of board members will come from the private sector and the public sector will be represented by two non-executive directors appointed by the Treasury. The wider public interest will be represented through an Advisory Council made up of representatives from Government departments, Devolved Administrations, local authorities and other public bodies.

Partnerships UK plc has entered into a framework agreement with the Treasury for up to five years under which Partnerships UK will continue the work of the Treasury Taskforce, providing general support to the Treasury, the Office of Government Commerce and other parts of the public sector.

PUK will also promote PPPs as part of the Government’s Wider Markets Initiative, which aims to exploit the surplus or latest potential of public sector assets (including physical assets, know-how and intellectual property).

“PPPs bring with them new challenges that require specialist skills and a high level of expertise,” explained Smith, “With their high calibre management team and skilled practitioners with significant public and private sector experience and their public sector mission, I expect Partnerships UK to remain at the cutting edge of project improvement and development for years to come.”

According to James Stewart, its chief executive: “Partnerships UK is already fully operational and working on a wide range of PPP projects. The move to a PPP and the raising of capital will be the springboard to develop the business further.

“We are confident that we can drive forward the Government’s ambitions to see effective public private partnerships. Partnerships UK will strive to be at the forefront of the development and implementation of better, faster and stronger PPP transactions, helping to deliver value for money public services and efficient utilisation of public sector assets.”

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Richard Byatt