AS A host of Scottish private finance initiative (PFI) contracts come to a costly end, a political row has erupted over its continued use.

This method of raising finance for public projects began to be used in the 1990s by John Major’s Tory government, as the cost of projects would no longer feature as public-sector borrowing, and Mr Major hoped this would in turn enable Britain to meet convergence criteria for joining the euro.

This “off-balance-sheet” approach was further ramped up by Tony Blair’s Labour government, with many of the contracts scheduled to last for 25 or 30 years, with the buildings returning to public hands at that point.