Partnerships UK plc (PUK) was an centralized unit responsible for furthering public-private partnerships in the United Kingdom. It was a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company whose shares may be fre ...

formed in 2000, owned jointly by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

and the private sector. It ceased activity in 2011.

Origins

In July 1997 a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) taskforce was established within the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

to provide central co-ordination for the roll-out of PFI. Known as the Treasury Taskforce (TTF), its main responsibilities were to standardise the procurement process and train staff throughout government in the ways of PFI, especially in the private finance units of other government departments. The TTF initially consisted of a policy arm staffed by five civil servants, and a projects section employing eight private sector executives led by

Adrian Montague Sir Adrian Alastair Montague (born February 1948) is a British solicitor and businessman. He was chairman of the insurance company Aviva from April 2015 to May 2020, and in July 2023 became chairman of financially troubled Thames Water. Early ...

, formally co-head of Global Project Finance at

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

Dresdner Kleinwort Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Kleinwort Hambros focuses on private banking, providing a range of services for high ...

. In 1999 the policy arm of TTF was moved to the

Office of Government Commerce The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was a UK Government Office established as part of HM Treasury in 2000. It was moved into the Efficiency and Reform Group of the Cabinet Office in 2010, before being closed in 2011. Overview A ''Review of ...

(OGC), but it was subsequently moved back to the Treasury.

Formation of Partnerships UK

The projects section of the TTF was part-privatised and became Partnerships UK (PUK) in 2000. The Treasury retained a 49% ' golden share' in PUK managed by the Shareholder Executive, while the majority stake in the company was owned by private sector investors. PUK was staffed almost entirely by private sector procurement specialists such as corporate lawyers,

investment bankers Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

and consultants. It took the lead role in promoting PFI and other

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...

variants within government, and was in control of the policy's day-to-day implementation.

Closure

In June 2010,

Infrastructure UK Infrastructure UK (IUK) was a division of HM Treasury within the Treasury's Public Services and Growth Directorate, which advised the UK government on the long-term infrastructure needs of the UK and provided commercial expertise to support major ...

(IUK) was established as a separate unit within the

to work alongside the private sector on major infrastructure projects. As a result, it was announced in May 2011 that PUK was to be dissolved. Some PUK assets, services, data and staff moved to IUK and

Local Partnerships Local Partnerships LLP is joint venture owned by HM Treasury, the Local Government Association and Welsh Government established 2009. It serves as a Public-private partnership unit in England and Wales. It is funded by fee income from chargeable ...

(a joint venture between PUK and the Local Government Association) with other assets being sold during 2011.

References

{{Public-private Partnership Economic history of the United Kingdom HM Treasury Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Public–private partnership units

Origins

Formation of Partnerships UK

Closure

See also

References