The private finance initiative (PFI) is a way of getting private sector involved in financing public sector projects like schools, hospitals and prisons. Firms take on the costs of building and running public services in return for a fixed fee from the Government, payable over a number of years.
Deals within the PFI are known as public-private partnerships, or PPPs. They range from the large (the London Underground PPP was worth £16bn in 2002) to much smaller projects (local government has adopted the financing method to pay for everything, from GP surgeries to street lighting schemes).
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Inflation holds steady at 3.8% ahead of BoE meetingThe rate of inflation did not rise in August, but the Bank of England is still expected to keep interest rates on hold tomorrow
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Thousands of savers with £250k pensions take cash over tax-free money and IHT fearsWith a record £70 billion withdrawn from pensions in the year to March, experts are concerned savers are making knee-jerk decisions without advice that could affect their long term wealth
