Changes likely to put about £30bn of private finance initiative assets on to the government’s balance sheet look set to be postponed for at least a year because two big departments cannot switch to a new accounting standard on time. Financial Times

The failure of the Department of Health – which would be heavily affected by the change as almost all PFI hospitals are not on the department’s books – and the Ministry of Defence to be ready by April was described as 'frankly disappointing' yesterday by Elwyn Eilledge, chairman of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board, which advises the Treasury on accounting issues.