‘Scaling Up Infrastructure’: Lord Hutton at Hartwell House

On 28th November 2024 Lord Hutton addressed the Infrastructure Forum’s Hartwell House Infrastructure Summit:

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight. Hartwell House, the glorious venue we find ourselves in, has lasted a 1000 years.  It began life in the eleventh century, as a gift to a man named Pereval. It was given by his father - who, rather usefully - was William the Conquerer.  A private home for centuries, it later became a sanctuary, when the exiled King Louis XVIII, displaced by Napoleon took refuge here. And within its library - though not without letting his livestock lay waste to it first - he signed the declaration accepting his crown, before returning to restore France.

In the 19th century, this house adapted again. Seeing a wider need, Dr John Lee, an astronomer and mathematician transformed it into a centre of scientific innovation, investing his own money into the observatory that became the birthplace of the British Meteorological Society. But he didn’t act alone.  Scientists, financiers, and the public came together, to launch an institution that would transform our understanding of the universe.  By 1938, having declined under a period of sole private ownership, it faced demolition. But Hartwell was saved. And Ernest Cook, the philanthropist and businessman, placed it into a trust, to ensure it would be preserved for the public.

Hartwell House has been a private home, a political sanctuary, a scientific hub, a school, a hotel, a venue for diplomacy and now, under the National Trust, a heritage site. It was born a private house, and adapted, over time, to serve the public. 

It has endured only because, time and again, people have recognised the importance of this combination - of private vision serving public good, and of working together to create something that lasts.

Tonight, as we consider the challenge of scaling up infrastructure across Britain, Hartwell offers a quiet - and indeed beautiful – reminder of what can be achieved when we work together. This is not just a house, but a legacy of resilience. And legacies like these are never built alone. 

Only together. We should remember this, when thinking about our national infrastructure. 

It was in the spirit of coming together to resolve shared problems that the Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (AIIP) was formed in October 2023 by several major international infrastructure investors that have Public Private Partnership assets. We aim to provide a positive and co-ordinated voice for engagement based on shared expertise on prioritising, planning, maintaining, operating, and handing back infrastructure projects. Public Private Partnerships have contributed great things to British life. 

It has built hospitals and schools that otherwise would never have come into existence. It has built roads and railways and maintained countless other critical assets. It has provided not only resources - but speed, innovation, and vision. Because at its heart, PFI itself connects private expertise with public purpose, and for the common good. And it has shown that when we work together - public and private sectors - we build infrastructure that lasts, and that can better serve the needs of our nation.

We have gathered tonight to discuss the future, how to scale up, and how to ensure that there is a future, ongoing role, for the public and the private to come together to fund infrastructure. There are many things that continue to divide us, but I am not sure the need for more infrastructure investment is one of them. Three obvious areas spring to my mind. The green transition will require enormous capital investment in new forms of generation, distribution and transmission. To meet the changing demographic and social needs of our society will require significant investment in health and social care. To improve our productivity, will amongst other things, require new investment in digital and transport infrastructure. 

There are not many who believe all of this can or indeed should come from the public purse. We simply couldn’t afford to fund all of this investment from taxes or additional borrowing. That is just not a credible option. There is an obvious role for private capital to get Britain moving again.

We can and should celebrate all of the positives of PPPs - Private Finance delivered many construction projects on time, on budget. It transferred risk so that the private sector usually took the strain when these risks crystallised. We all would say that maintenance and upkeep of PFI assets has been as good if not better than those that were maintained in the public sector, because of the contractual commitments that were locked into these contracts. It should be a model that government returns to and we have willing partners on both sides.

But to plan the future we do have to learn from the past and deal with the present. In some parts of the public sector, relationships are strained, and disputes over PPPs are growing more frequent. At a time when budget pressures are rising, tightened resources, and an increasing reliance on adversarial contract management has created serious problems in some of our partnerships. What was once truly cooperative has now, at times, become confrontational. We have to turn this around.

And we face the gigantic challenge of nearly 150 PFI contracts expiring imminently. This is no simple, transactional task of shifting assets back to the public sector. This is a moment of reckoning - a chance to reimagine and renew the very model of public-private collaboration.

If we can address and resolve these problems in today’s operational partnerships, we can help the broader investment climate and begin the process of planning for the critically important new infrastructure projects of the future. If left unchecked, current challenges will ripple outwards, shaking confidence in our ability to deliver future projects - including those investments required for net zero, population growth, and national competitiveness.

We have built up a great deal of institutional expertise and we pioneered models that have been copied and, in places, improved upon throughout the world. And so my central argument tonight is that we should make every effort to strengthen the trust and collaboration between public and private sectors . This is the foundation on which we can facilitate a new generation of investment in the public sphere. If we don’t get these foundations right, we put at risk the future needs of the country.

So what do we do?

We are talking about the opportunity to reset and future-proof public private partnerships.

We must act decisively, focusing on repairing relationships and addressing today’s challenges to strengthen future investor confidence. To that end, the AIIP proposes a reset mechanism with three key priorities: 

First, systematic reviews and early rectification:

Public and private partners must proactively identify and resolve issues before they escalate. By addressing problems early, we can avoid costly disputes and demonstrate a shared commitment to maintaining strong, cooperative relationships. 

Second, consistency of approach nationally, and investment in local expertise: 

A stable reset process requires a clear, consistent framework for the government to act on behalf of the public sector as a unified negotiating counterparty to the private sector. 

This consistency must extend across departments and services. And it must be supported by well-resourced local contract management teams - teams that are central to building enduring partnerships rooted in mutual respect, ownership, and trust. 

Third, equity and proportionality: 

Interventions should be targeted and limited to where they are genuinely needed. Many projects are already delivering value and require only minor adjustments to continue doing so. But some will need a lot more work to get back on track. This approach isn’t just about risk mitigation.

It’s about renewing the spirit of unity and trust that makes public-private partnerships so effective.

By tackling challenges together, we can avoid service disruptions, protect budgets, and ensure continuity for critical infrastructure. We can build new infrastructure, on time, on budget and maintain and manage that process for the next generation. These are vital national imperatives. The AIIP is working closely with government to try and bring about this reset in relationships. I am confident we can do this.


In the story of Hartwell House, we see what’s possible when public and private powers work together. I’m saying these words, here, today, for a reason. We should think about Hartwell in the same way we think about our infrastructure.  We too can build something lasting - not just for today, but for future generations. But we can not do it alone, only together.

Thank you.