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102-498: The private finance initiative ( PFI ) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating " public–private partnerships " (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major , and expanded considerably by the Blair government , PFI is part of the wider programme of privatisation and macroeconomic public policy, and presented as

204-502: A contract with a private sector consortium , technically known as a special-purpose vehicle (SPV). This consortium is typically formed for the specific purpose of providing the PFI. It is owned by a number of private sector investors, usually including a construction company and a service provider, and often a bank as well. The consortium's funding will be used to build the facility and to undertake maintenance and capital replacement during

306-624: A certain threshold, and PFI was a mechanism to take debt off the government balance sheet and so meet the Maastricht convergence criteria. PFI immediately proved controversial, and was attacked by Labour critics such as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Harriet Harman , who said that PFI was really a back-door form of privatisation (House of Commons, 7 December 1993), and the future Chancellor of

408-491: A commercial rate. But, at the time, Vince Cable of the Liberal Democrats , subsequently Secretary of State for Business in the coalition , argued in favour of traditional public financing structures instead of propping up PFI with public money: The whole thing has become terribly opaque and dishonest and it's a way of hiding obligations. PFI has now largely broken down and we are in the ludicrous situation where

510-433: A company limited by shares, its shareholders ). They may sue and be sued , enter into contracts, incur debt , and own property . Entities with legal personality may also be subjected to certain legal obligations, such as the payment of taxes. An entity with legal personality may shield its members from personal liability . In some common law jurisdictions a distinction is drawn between corporation aggregate (such as

612-550: A company, which is composed of a number of members) and a corporation sole , which is a public office of legal personality separated from the individual holding the office (these entities have separate legal personality). Historically most corporations sole were ecclesiastical in nature (for example, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury is a corporation sole), but a number of other public offices are now formed as corporations sole. The concept of juridical personality

714-650: A full list of PFI contracts by department in March 2015. A study by HM Treasury in July 2003 was supportive, showing that the only deals in its sample which were over budget were those where the public sector changed its mind after deciding what it wanted and from whom it wanted it. A later report by the National Audit Office in 2009 found that 69 per cent of PFI construction projects between 2003 and 2008 were delivered on time and 65 per cent were delivered at

816-574: A greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Lord Privy Seal ). The government is sometimes referred to by the metonym " Westminster " or " Whitehall ", as many of its offices are situated there. These metonyms are used especially by members of the Scottish Government , Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to differentiate their government from His Majesty's Government. The United Kingdom

918-479: A law restricting the free speech of a corporation or a political action group or dictating the coverage of a local newspaper, and because of the Due Process Clause , a state government may not take the property of a corporation without using due process of law and providing just compensation. These protections apply to all legal entities, not just corporations. A prominent component of relevant case law

1020-558: A means for increasing accountability and efficiency for public spending. PFI is controversial in the UK. In 2003, the National Audit Office felt that it provided good value for money overall; according to critics, PFI has been used simply to place a great amount of debt " off-balance-sheet ". In 2011, the parliamentary Treasury Select Committee recommended: "PFI should be brought on balance sheet. The Treasury should remove any perverse incentives unrelated to value for money by ensuring that PFI

1122-482: A member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, the convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, prime ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. In recent years such ministers have been appointed to the House of Lords. The government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain

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1224-412: A new House of Commons, unless the prime minister advises the monarch to dissolve Parliament , in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually by possessing a majority of MPs. Under the uncodified British constitution , executive authority lies with

1326-470: A range of PFI projects. In December, 2012 the Treasury published a White Paper outlining the results of a review of the PFI and proposals for change. These aimed to: Under this "new approach", the government would become a minority equity co-investor in future projects, partly to better align the private and public sector interests in new projects. A consultation exercise was subsequently undertaken by

1428-472: A result of the 2010 Spending Review , directing the cuts to those projects where least progress had been made with contract procurement and obtaining planning permission . In February 2011 the Treasury announced a project to examine the £835m Queen's Hospital PFI deal. Once savings and efficiencies are identified, the hope - as yet unproven - is that the PFI consortium can be persuaded to modify its contract. The same process could potentially be applied across

1530-504: A services or operating company (called "Opco"). The main contract is between the public sector authority and the Topco. Requirements then 'flow down' from the Topco to the Capco and Opco via secondary contracts. Further requirements then flow down to subcontractors , again with contracts to match. Often the main subcontractors are companies with the same shareholders as the Topco. Prior to

1632-604: A substantial grant from the government, the Sovereign Support Grant , and Queen Elizabeth II's inheritance from her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother , was exempt from inheritance tax . In addition to legislative powers, His Majesty's Government has substantial influence over local authorities and other bodies set up by it, through financial powers and grants. Many functions carried out by local authorities, such as paying out housing benefits and council tax benefits, are funded or substantially part-funded by

1734-424: Is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the king or queen who is the head of state at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna Carta in 1215. Since

1836-407: Is a procurement method which uses private sector investment in order to deliver public sector infrastructure and/or services according to a specification defined by the public sector. It is a sub-set of a broader procurement approach termed public-private partnership (PPP), with the main defining characteristic being the use of project finance (using private sector debt and equity, underwritten by

1938-460: Is also found in virtually every other legal system. Some examples of juridical persons include: Not all organizations have legal personality. For example, the board of directors of a corporation, legislature, or governmental agency typically are not legal persons in that they have no ability to exercise legal rights independent of the corporation or political body which they are a part of. The concept of legal personhood for organizations of people

2040-459: Is at least as old as Ancient Rome : a variety of collegial institutions enjoyed the benefit under Roman law . The doctrine has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV , who seems at least to have helped spread the idea of persona ficta as it is called in Latin . In canon law , the doctrine of persona ficta allowed monasteries to have a legal existence that was apart from the monks, simplifying

2142-446: Is flawed and must be replaced. We need a new system that doesn't pretend that risks have been transferred to the private sector when they can't be, and that genuinely transfers risks when they can be . . . On PFI, we are drawing up alternative models that are more transparent and better value for taxpayers. The first step is transparent accounting, to remove the perverse incentives that result in PFI simply being used to keep liabilities off

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2244-553: Is for this reason that they are sometimes called "artificial" persons. In the most common case ( incorporating a business), legal personality is usually acquired by registration with a government agency set up for the purpose. In other cases it may be by primary legislation: an example is the Charity Commission in the UK. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 advocates for the provision of legal identity for all, including birth registration by 2030 as part of

2346-484: Is not absolute. " Piercing the corporate veil " refers to looking at the individual natural persons acting as agents involved in a company action or decision; this may result in a legal decision in which the rights or duties of a corporation or public limited company are treated as the rights or liabilities of that corporation's members or directors . The concept of a juridical person is now central to Western law in both common-law and civil-law countries, but it

2448-529: Is not used to circumvent departmental budget limits. It should also ask the OBR to include PFI liabilities in future assessments of the fiscal rules". In October 2018, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the UK government would no longer use PFI for new infrastructure projects; however, PFI projects will continue to operate for some time to come. The private finance initiative (PFI)

2550-603: Is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the responsible house . The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject. There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs, both

2652-412: Is pertinent to the philosophy of law , as it is essential to laws affecting a corporation ( corporations law ). Juridical personhood allows one or more natural persons ( universitas personarum ) to act as a single entity ( body corporate ) for legal purposes. In many jurisdictions , artificial personality allows that entity to be considered under law separately from its individual members (for example in

2754-496: Is sometimes ignored, as when Argentina 'restructured' its foreign debt ). Repayment depends entirely on the ability of the consortium to deliver the services in accordance with the output specified in the contract. Under guidance issued prior to the reform proposals initiated in December 2011, public sector partners were permitted to contribute up to 30% of the construction costs as a capital contribution, generally handed over at

2856-654: Is the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , which ruled unconstitutional certain restrictions on corporate campaign spending during elections. Other United States points of law include: In Act II, Scene 1 of Gilbert and Sullivan 's 1889 opera, The Gondoliers , Giuseppe Palmieri (who serves, jointly with his brother Marco, as King of Barataria) requests that he and his brother be also recognized individually so that they might each receive individual portions of food as they have "two independent appetites". He is, however, turned down by

2958-415: Is the characteristic of a non-living entity regarded by law as having the status of personhood . A juridical or artificial person ( Latin : persona ficta ; also juristic person ) has a legal name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and liabilities in law, similar to those of a natural person . The concept of a juridical person is a fundamental legal fiction . It

3060-524: Is the property owned by the deity or idol as a "legal person". Humans appointed to act on behalf of deity are called the "shebait" . A shebait acts as the guardian or custodian of deity to protect the right of deity and fulfill the legal duties of the deity. Shebait is similar to a trustee in case the deity or temple does have a legally registered trust or entity. Under the Hindu Law property gifted or offered as rituals or donations, etc absolutely belongs to

3162-547: The " Animal Welfare Board of India vs Nagaraja" case in 2014 mandated that animals are also entitled to the fundamental right to freedom enshrined in the Article 21 of Constitution of India i.e. right to life, personal liberty and the right to die with dignity ( passive euthanasia ). In another case, a court in Uttarakhand state mandated that animals have the same rights as humans. In another case of cow-smuggling ,

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3264-445: The 2007–2008 financial crisis , large PFI projects were funded through the sale of bonds and/or senior debt . Since the crisis, funding by senior debt has become more common. Smaller PFI projects – the majority by number – have typically always been funded directly by banks in the form of senior debt. Senior debt is generally slightly more expensive than bonds, which the banks would argue is due to their more accurate understanding of

3366-592: The 2030 Agenda . As legal personality is a prerequisite to legal capacity (the ability of any legal person to amend – i.e. enter into, transfer, etc. – rights and obligations ), it is a prerequisite for an international organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name . The term "legal person" can be ambiguous because it is often used as a synonym of terms that refer only to non-human legal entities, specifically in contradistinction to "natural person". Artificial personality , juridical personality , or juristic personality

3468-483: The Greater London Authority disputed. Similarly, the monarch is immune from criminal prosecution and may only be sued with his permission (this is known as sovereign immunity ). The sovereign, by law, is not required to pay income tax, but Queen Elizabeth II voluntarily paid it from 1993 until the end of her reign in 2022, and also paid local rates voluntarily. However, the monarchy also received

3570-466: The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides: "... the provisions of this Bill of Rights apply, so far as practicable, for the benefit of all legal persons as well as for the benefit of all natural persons." In part based on the principle that legal persons are simply natural persons and their organizations, and in part based on the history of statutory interpretation of the word "person",

3672-507: The Punjab and Haryana High Court mandated that "entire animal kingdom including avian and aquatic" species has a "distinct legal persona with corresponding rights, duties, and liabilities of a living person" and humans are "loco parentis" while laying out the norms for animal welfare, veterinary treatment, fodder and shelter, e.g. animal drawn carriages must not have more than four humans, and load carrying animals must not be loaded beyond

3774-552: The Uttarakhand High Court , mandated that the river Ganges and Yamuna as well as all water bodies are "living entities" i.e. "legal person" and appointed three humans as trustees to protect the rights of rivers against the pollution caused by the humans, e.g. "pilgrims's bathing rituals" . The Supreme Court of India overturned the decision of the High Court of Uttarakhand in July 2017. Section 28 of

3876-730: The "legal person" status by the law "have rights and co-relative duties; they can sue and be sued, can possess and transfer property" . Since these non-human entities are "voiceless" they are legally represented "through guardians and representatives" to claim their legal rights and to fulfill their legal duties and responsibilities. Specific non-human entities given the status of "legal person" include " corporate personality , body politic , charitable unions etc," as well as trust estates , deities , temples, churches, mosques, hospitals, universities, colleges, banks, railways, municipalities, and gram panchayats (village councils), rivers, all animals and birds. In court cases regarding corporates,

3978-581: The Chancellor, Philip Hammond , announced that the UK Government will no longer use PF2, the current model of Private Finance Initiative, for new infrastructure projects, due to value-for-money considerations and the difficulties caused by the collapse of PFI construction company Carillion . A Centre of Excellence is to be established within the Department of Health and Social Care to manage

4080-511: The Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament. The prime minister also has weekly meetings with the monarch. What is said in these meetings is strictly private; however, they generally involve government and political matters which the monarch has a "right and a duty" to comment on. Such comments are non-binding however and the King must ultimately abide by decisions of

4182-621: The European Parliament are immune from prosecution in EU states under any circumstance. As a consequence, neither EU bodies nor diplomats have to pay taxes, since it would not be possible to prosecute them for tax evasion. When the UK was a member of the EU, this caused a dispute when the US ambassador to the UK claimed that London's congestion charge was a tax, and not a charge (despite the name), and therefore he did not have to pay it—a claim

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4284-597: The Exchequer in the coalition, sought to distance his party from the excesses of PFI by blaming Labour for its misuse. At the time, Osborne proposed a modified PFI which would preserve the arrangement of private sector investment for public infrastructure projects in return for part-privatisation, but would ensure proper risk transfer to the private sector along with transparent accounting: The government's use of PFI has become totally discredited, so we need new ways to leverage private-sector investment . . . Labour's PFI model

4386-399: The Exchequer , Alistair Darling , warned that "apparent savings now could be countered by the formidable commitment on revenue expenditure in years to come". Initially, the private sector was unenthusiastic about PFI, and the public sector was opposed to its implementation. In 1993, the Chancellor of the Exchequer described its progress as "disappointingly slow". To help promote and implement

4488-523: The Labour Secretary of State for Health , Alan Johnson , reaffirmed this commitment with regard to the health sector, stating that "PFIs have always been the NHS’s 'plan A' for building new hospitals … There was never a 'plan B'". However, because of banks' unwillingness to lend money for PFI projects, the UK government now had to fund the so-called 'private' finance initiative itself. In March 2009 it

4590-800: The Labour Party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), and the Green Party , as well as commentators such as George Monbiot . Proponents of the PFI include the World Bank , the IMF and the Confederation of British Industry . Both Conservative and Labour governments sought to justify PFI on the practical grounds that the private sector is better at delivering services than the public sector. This position has been supported by

4692-628: The Labour government appointed Malcolm Bates to chair the efforts to review the policy with a number of Arthur Andersen staffers. They recommended the creation of a Treasury Task Force (TTF) to train public servants into PFI practice and to coordinate the implementation of PFI. In 1998, the TTF was renamed to "Partnership UK" (PUK) and sold 51% of its share to the private sector. PUK was then chaired by Sir Derek Higgs , director of Prudential Insurance and chairman of British Land plc . These changes meant that

4794-471: The Treasury failed to negotiate decent PFI deals with publicly owned banks, resulting in £1bn of unnecessary costs. This failure is particularly grave given the coalition's own admission in their national infrastructure plan that a 1% reduction in the cost of capital for infrastructure investment could save the taxpayer £5bn a year. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) withdrew funding support from seven waste management PFI projects as

4896-471: The U.S. Supreme Court held that for the purposes of the case at hand, a corporation is "capable of being treated as a citizen of [the State which created it], as much as a natural person." Ten years later, they reaffirmed the result of Letson, though on the somewhat different theory that "those who use the corporate name, and exercise the faculties conferred by it," should be presumed conclusively to be citizens of

4998-619: The UK National Audit Office with regard to certain projects. However, critics claim that many uses of PFI are ideological rather than practical; Dr. Allyson Pollock recalls a meeting with the then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown who could not provide a rationale for PFI other than to "declare repeatedly that the public sector is bad at management, and that only the private sector is efficient and can manage services well." To better promote PFI,

5100-565: The US Supreme Court has repeatedly held that certain constitutional rights protect legal persons ( such as corporations and other organizations). Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad is sometimes cited for this finding because the court reporter's comments included a statement the Chief Justice made before oral arguments began, telling the attorneys during pre-trial that "the court does not wish to hear argument on

5202-580: The United Kingdom , officially His Majesty's Government , abbreviated to HM Government , is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The government is led by the prime minister (currently Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024) who selects all the other ministers . The country has had a Labour government since 2024. The prime minister Keir Starmer and his most senior ministers belong to

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5304-420: The agreed standards it should lose an element of its payment until standards improve. If standards do not improve after an agreed period, the public sector authority is usually entitled to terminate the contract, compensate the consortium where appropriate, and take ownership of the project. Termination procedures are highly complex, as most projects are not able to secure private financing without assurances that

5406-400: The balance sheet. The government has been using the same approach as the banks did, with disastrous consequences. We need a more honest and flexible approach to building the hospitals and schools the country needs. For projects such as major transport infrastructure we are developing alternative models that shift risk on to the private sector. The current system – heads the contractor wins, tails

5508-440: The cabinet ministers for the department and junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending on the topic of the question. During debates on legislation proposed by the government, ministers—usually with departmental responsibility for the bill —will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or Lords. Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold

5610-748: The central government. Legal person There are therefore two kinds of legal entities: human and non-human. In law, a human person is called a natural person (sometimes also a physical person ), and a non-human person is called a juridical person (sometimes also a juridic , juristic , artificial , legal , or fictitious person , Latin : persona ficta ). Juridical persons are entities such as corporations, firms (in some jurisdictions ), and many government agencies . They are treated in law as if they were persons. While natural persons acquire legal personality "naturally", simply by being born, juridical persons must have legal personality conferred on them by some "unnatural", legal process, and it

5712-411: The charity commissions) are legally more or less independent of the government, and government powers are legally limited to those retained by the Crown under common law or granted and limited by act of Parliament. Both substantive and procedural limitations are enforceable in the courts by judicial review . Nevertheless, magistrates and mayors can still be arrested and put on trial for corruption, and

5814-436: The confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's budgets) and to pass primary legislation . By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a general election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay,

5916-496: The construction stage is financed using bank debt, and then bonds for the much longer period of operation. The banks who fund PFI projects are repaid by the consortium from the money received from the government during the lifespan of the contract. From the point of view of the private sector, PFI borrowing is considered low risk because public sector authorities are very unlikely to default . Indeed, under IMF rules, national governments are not permitted to go bankrupt (although this

6018-542: The contracted price. His Majesty%27s Government King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee The government of

6120-460: The contracting authority to enforce it. Many steps have been taken over the years to standardise the form of PFI contracts to ensure public interests are better protected. The typical PFI provider is organized into three parts or legal entities : a holding company (called "Topco") which is the same as the SPV mentioned above, a capital equipment or infrastructure provision company (called "Capco"), and

6222-456: The corporation's State of incorporation. Marshall v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 16 How. 314, 329, 14 L.Ed. 953 (1854). These concepts have been codified by statute, as U.S. jurisdictional statutes specifically address the domicile of corporations. Indian law defines two types of "legal person", the human beings as well as certain non-human entities which are given the same legal judicial personality as human beings. The non-human entities given

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6324-415: The credit-worthiness of PFI deals – they may consider that monoline providers underestimate the risk, especially during the construction stage, and hence can offer a better price than the banks are willing to. Refinancing of PFI deals is common. Once construction is complete, the risk profile of a project can be lower, so cheaper debt can be obtained. This refinancing might in the future be done via bonds –

6426-432: The debt financing of the project will be repaid in the case of termination. In most termination cases the public sector is required to repay the debt and take ownership of the project. In practice, termination is considered a last resort only. Whether public interest is at all protected by a particular PFI contract is highly dependent on how well or badly the contract was written and the determination (or not) and capacity of

6528-459: The deity Rama in the specific temple was a "legal entity" entitled to be represented by their own lawyer appointed by the trustees acting on behalf of the deity. Similarly, in 2018 SC decided that the deity Ayyappan is a "legal person" with " the right to privacy " in the court case regarding the entry of women to Sabarimala shrine of Lord Ayyapan. Under the Indian law, the "shebaitship"

6630-435: The deity and not to the shebait. Case example are "Profulla Chrone Requitte vs Satya Chorone Requitte, AIR 1979 SC 1682 (1686): (1979) 3 SCC 409: (1979) 3 SCR 431. (ii)" and "Shambhu Charan Shukla vs Thakur Ladli Radha Chandra Madan Gopalji Maharaj, AIR 1985 SC 905 (909): (1985) 2 SCC 524: (1985) 3 SCR 372" . India and New Zealand both recognised the legal rights of rivers in 2017. In court cases regarding natural entities,

6732-569: The delegates adopted a resolution condemning PFI and calling for an independent review of the policy, which was ignored by the party leadership. In education, the first PFI school opened in 2000. In 2005/2006 the Labour Government introduced Building Schools for the Future , a scheme introduced for improving the infrastructure of Britain's schools. Of the £2.2 billion funding that the Labour government committed to BSF, £1.2 billion (55.5%)

6834-416: The difficulty in balancing the need for such groups to have infrastructure though the monks took vows of personal poverty. Another effect of this was that, as a fictional person, a monastery could not be held guilty of delict due to not having a soul, helping to protect the organization from non- contractual obligations to surrounding communities. This effectively moved such liability to persons acting within

6936-689: The end of the construction period and subject to appropriate risk transfer and performance regimes being in place. The government indicated in its reform consultation that allowance for higher levels of capital contribution was being considered, noting the some international practice also offered examples of higher levels of capital contribution. PFI contracts generally allocate risks to the private sector contractor, who takes out appropriate insurance to cover these risks and includes anticipated insurance costs in its PFI charges. However, it has been recognised that levels of insurance premium are variable following cyclical economic changes, and difficult to predict over

7038-409: The exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was Lord Denman , who served for one month in 1834. The British monarch is the head of state and the sovereign , but not the head of government . The monarch takes little direct part in governing the country and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as the Crown , remains

7140-526: The existing PFI contracts in the NHS. There have been over 50 English hospitals procured under a PFI contract with capital cost exceeding £50 million: There have been some six Scottish hospitals procured under a PFI contract with capital cost exceeding £50 million: The following is a selection of major projects in other sectors procured under a PFI contract: The Guardian published a full list of PFI contracts by department in July 2012, and HM Treasury published

7242-508: The financial risk back to the public sector, then that has to be reflected in the structure of the contracts. The public sector cannot simply step in and lend the money to itself, taking more risk so that the PFI structure can be maintained while leaving the private sector with the high returns these projects can bring. That seems to us fairly ridiculous. In an interview in November 2009, Conservative George Osborne , subsequently Chancellor of

7344-532: The government has powers to insert commissioners into a local authority to oversee its work, and to issue directives that must be obeyed by the local authority if the local authority is not abiding by its statutory obligations. By contrast, as in European Union (EU) member states, EU officials cannot be prosecuted for any actions carried out in pursuit of their official duties, and foreign country diplomats (though not their employees) and foreign members of

7446-480: The government is having to provide the funds for the private finance initiative. In opposition at the time, even the Conservative Party considered that, with the taxpayer now funding it directly, PFI had become "ridiculous". Philip Hammond , subsequently Secretary of State for Transport in the coalition, said: If you take the private finance out of PFI, you haven’t got much left . . . if you transfer

7548-766: The government on the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the speaker of the House of Commons . The prime minister is based at 10 Downing Street in Westminster , London. Cabinet meetings also take place here. Most government departments have their headquarters nearby in Whitehall . The government's powers include general executive and statutory powers , delegated legislation , and numerous powers of appointment and patronage. However, some powerful officials and bodies, (e.g. HM judges, local authorities , and

7650-564: The government regarding the terms on which the public sector stake would be managed, aiming for a generally consistent approach across projects but with scope for details to be finalised prior to operation to reflect any project-specific issues. The government's response to the consultation and the "Standard PF2 Equity Documents" were published in October 2013. Under the Priority School Building Programme which

7752-485: The government to account, scrutinise its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear before committees to give evidence and answer questions. Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code , when Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question

7854-454: The government transferred the responsibility of managing PFI to a corporation closely related with the owners, financiers, consultants, and subcontractors that stood to benefit from this policy. This created a strong appearance of conflict of interest. Trade unions such as Unison and the GMB , which are Labour supporters, strongly opposed these developments. At the 2002 Labour Party Conference ,

7956-464: The government. Royal prerogative powers include, but are not limited to, the following: While no formal documents set out the prerogatives, the government published the above list in October 2003 to increase transparency, as some of the powers exercised in the name of the monarch are part of the royal prerogative . However, the complete extent of the royal prerogative powers has never been fully set out, as many of them originated in ancient custom and

8058-407: The grounds that they are a form of odious debt . Critics such as Peter Dixon argue that PFI is fundamentally the wrong model for infrastructure investment, saying that public sector funding is the way forward. In November 2010 the UK government released spending figures showing that the current total payment obligation for PFI contracts in the UK was £267 billion. Research has also shown that in 2009

8160-562: The handling of benefit payments at post offices. Two months after Tony Blair 's Labour Party took office, the Health Secretary , Alan Milburn , announced that "when there is a limited amount of public-sector capital available, as there is, it's PFI or bust". PFI expanded considerably in 1996 and then expanded much further under Labour with the NHS (Private Finance) Act 1997 , resulting in criticism from many trade unions , elements of

8262-428: The life-cycle of the contract. Once the contract is operational, the SPV may be used as a conduit for contract amendment discussions between the customer and the facility operator. SPVs often charge fees for this go-between 'service'. PFI contracts are typically for 25–30 years (depending on the type of project); although contracts less than 20 years or more than 40 years exist, they are considerably less common. During

8364-731: The lifetime of a PFI project. PFI terms were amended in 2002 and standardised in 2006 to allow for insurance cost sharing mechanisms, whereby the client and contractor could share the risk of market fluctuation in insurance premium costs. PFI was implemented in the UK by the Conservative Government led by John Major in 1992. It was introduced against the backdrop of the Maastricht Treaty which provided for European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). To participate in EMU, EU member states were required to keep public debt below

8466-405: The organization while protecting the structure itself, since persons were considered to have a soul and therefore capable of negligence and able to be excommunicated . In the common law tradition, only a person could possess legal rights. To allow them to function, the legal personality of a corporation was established to include five legal rights—the right to a common treasury or chest (including

8568-433: The period of absolute monarchy , or were modified by later constitutional practice. As of 2019, there are around 120 government ministers supported by 560,000 civil servants and other staff working in the 24 ministerial departments and their executive agencies . There are also an additional 20 non-ministerial departments with a range of further responsibilities. In theory, a government minister does not have to be

8670-413: The period of the contract the consortium will provide certain services, which were previously provided by the public sector. The consortium is paid for the work over the course of the contract on a "no service no fee" performance basis. The public authority will design an "output specification" which is a document setting out what the consortium is expected to achieve. If the consortium fails to meet any of

8772-532: The policy, he created the Private Finance Office within the Treasury, with a Private Finance Panel headed by Alastair Morton . These institutions were staffed with people linked with the City of London , and accountancy and consultancy firms who had a vested interest in the success of PFI. The largest of the early PFI projects was Pathway, announced by Peter Lilley in 1995, which was to automate

8874-550: The public sector. On Monday 11 April 2016, 17 PFI-funded schools in Edinburgh failed to open after the Easter break because of structural problems identified in two of them the previous Friday; the schools had been erected in the 1990s by Miller Construction. A January 2018 report by the National Audit Office found that the UK had incurred many billions of pounds in extra costs for no clear benefit through PFIs. In October 2018,

8976-463: The public) in order to deliver the public services. Beyond developing the infrastructure and providing finance , private sector companies operate the public facilities, sometimes using former public sector staff who have had their employment contracts transferred to the private sector through the TUPE process which applies to all staff in a company whose ownership changes. A public sector authority signs

9078-612: The question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution , which forbids a State to deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does." Later opinions interpreted these pre-argument comments as part of the legal decision. As a result, because of the First Amendment , Congress may not make

9180-506: The right to own property), the right to a corporate seal (i.e., the right to make and sign contracts), the right to sue and be sued (to enforce contracts), the right to hire agents (employees) and the right to make by-laws (self-governance). Since the 19th century, legal personhood has been further construed to make it a citizen, resident, or domiciliary of a state (usually for purposes of personal jurisdiction ). In Louisville, C. & C.R. Co. v. Letson , 2 How. 497, 558, 11 L.Ed. 353 (1844),

9282-419: The shareholders are not responsible for the company's debts but the company itself being a "legal person" is liable to repay those debts or be sued for the non-repayment of debts. In court cases regarding animals, the animals have the status of "legal person" and humans have the legal duty to act as " loco parentis " towards animals welfare like a parent has towards the minor children. A court while deciding

9384-433: The source of executive power exercised by the government. In addition to explicit statutory authority , the Crown also possesses a body of powers in certain matters collectively known as the royal prerogative . These powers range from the authority to issue or withdraw passports to declarations of war. By long-standing convention, most of these powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of

9486-666: The sovereign, although this authority is exercised only after receiving the advice of the Privy Council . The prime minister, the House of Lords, the Leader of the Opposition, and the police and military high command serve as members and advisers of the monarch on the Privy Council. In most cases the cabinet exercise power directly as leaders of the government departments , though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to

9588-460: The specified limits and those limits must be halved when animals have to carry the load up a slope. In court cases regarding religious entities, the deity (deity or god is a supernatural being considered divine or sacred) is also a "legal person" who can engage in legal cases through " trustees " or " managing board in charge of the temple" . Supreme Court of India (SC), while deciding Ayodhya case of Ram Janmabhoomi , decided in 2010 that

9690-400: The start of Edward VII 's reign in 1901, by convention, the prime minister has been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and thus answerable to the House of Commons, although there were two weeks in 1963 when Alec Douglas-Home was first a member of the House of Lords and then of neither house. A similar convention applies to the position of chancellor of the exchequer . The last chancellor of

9792-581: The supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet . Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords . The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation , and general elections are held every five years (at most) to elect

9894-462: The system have never been weaker. The government is very concerned to keep the headline rates of deficit and debt down, so it's looking to use an increasingly expensive form of borrowing through an intermediary knowing the investment costs won't immediately show up on their budgets. The high cost of PFI deals is a major issue, with advocates for renegotiating PFI deals in the face of reduced public sector budgets, or even for refusing to pay PFI charges on

9996-482: The taxpayer loses – will end. Despite being so critical of PFI while in opposition and promising reform, once in power George Osborne progressed 61 PFI schemes worth a total of £6.9bn in his first year as Chancellor. According to Mark Hellowell from the University of Edinburgh : The truth is the coalition government have made a decision that they want to expand PFI at a time when the value for money credentials of

10098-467: The total capital value of PFI contracts signed throughout the UK was £68bn, committing the British taxpayer to future spending of £215bn over the life of the contracts. The 2007–2008 financial crisis presented PFI with difficulties because many sources of private capital had dried up. Nevertheless, PFI remained the UK government's preferred method for public sector procurement under Labour. In January 2009

10200-430: Was announced that the Treasury would lend £2bn of public money to private firms building schools and other projects under PFI. Labour's Chief Secretary to the Treasury , Yvette Cooper , claimed the loans should ensure that projects worth £13bn – including waste treatment projects, environmental schemes and schools – would not be delayed or cancelled. She also promised that the loans would be temporary and would be repaid at

10302-700: Was launched in 2014 by the Education and Skills Funding Agency , the rebuilding and/or refurbishment of 46 schools in England was funded and procured using the PF2 model. A specialist unit was set up within the Scottish Office in 2005 to handle PFI projects. In November 2014, Nicola Sturgeon announced a £409m public-private funding package which would be funded through a non-profit distributing model which would cap private sector returns, returning any surplus to

10404-485: Was to be covered by PFI credits. Some local authorities were persuaded to accept Academies in order to secure BSF funding in their area. In 2003 the Labour Government used public-private partnership (PPP) schemes for the privatisation of London Underground 's infrastructure and rolling stock. The two private companies created under the PPP, Metronet and Tube Lines were later taken into public ownership. By October 2007

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