Public Investment
The Government is committed to reversing the legacy of under-investment in the nation’s infrastructure. Major increases in capital investment are the prerequisite to delivering continued improvements in health, education, transport and housing. Public sector net investment is set to rise to 2% of GDP by 2005-06 – more than four times higher in real terms than in 1997.
Departmental Investment Strategies
National Asset Register
Private Finance Initiative
Associated Documents
Links
Departmental Investment Strategies
To make the most of both new investment and existing assets, there needs to be a coherent long-term strategy against which investment decisions are taken. That is why the Government introduced Departmental Investment Strategies (DISs) following the 2000 Spending Review. DISs set out each department’s plans to deliver the scale and quality of capital stock needed to underpin its objectives.
Following the 2002 Spending Review, each department has again drawn up a DIS to set out how the extra capital allocated in the Review will contribute towards the achievement of its objectives over the next three years and the way that existing assets will be managed. The DIS White Paper is a short summary of DISs, drawing out examples from individual departments' strategies. This document is available to download as a PDF at the bottom of this page. Links to individual departmental DISs are also available on this site.
National Asset Register
In 1997, as part of its drive to improve the management of public assets, the Government published the first National Asset Register (NAR), a comprehensive list of assets owned by every Government department and their sponsored bodies. For the first time anywhere in the world, Government and the public now have a complete picture of the country’s assets. An updated version of the NAR was published in 2001, which includes the value of every asset listed in it, and a comprehensive description of all significant changes since 1997.
Private Finance Initiative
The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) programme plays a small but important role in the delivery of the Government's investment plans for the public services, and is helping to deliver extensive new and modernised infrastructure to public services. 'PFI: Meeting the Investment Challenge', which is available to download as a PDF at the bottom of this page, explains the Government’s approach to PFI based on clear limits on its appropriate use and a rigorous assessment of value for money with no bias in favour of any particular procurement route.
Associated DocumentsThe DIS White Paper is available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website.
For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
Media links
- PDF file of Departmental Investment Strategy White Paper 2002 (299Kb)
- PDF file of PFI: Meeting the Investment Challenge (600 Kb)
Internal links
- Spending Reviews
- Public Service Delivery and Performance: Index
- Press Notice 17 December 2002: Investing in Britain´s Infrastructure
- Better Regulation Task Force report on local delivery of central policy - Government response
- Limited Alterations to Standardisation of PFI contracts arising from HM Treasury consultation