The financing strategy was widely used during the 1997-2010 Labour government, and finally ditched by the Conservatives in 2018 after several NHS trusts required bailouts stemming from the high cost of the PFI schemes. Existing contracts were untouched.A report by the National Audit Office, the spending watchdog, that year found taxpayers had incurred billions of pounds in extra costs for no clear benefit through PFIs, with yearly fees running at £10bn.PFI deals are on average 31 years long and generally involve the assets reverting back into public hands at the end. Nearly 71 PFI contracts worth about £4bn are coming to an end in the next four years. More than 300 PFI contracts will expire in the next decadeNumber of PFI contracts expiring, by financial year20502045204020352030202520200604020344 expirations344 expirationsSource: National Audit OfficeA common trigger for clashes when contracts near expiry is the condition of the assets, and the question of who should pay for any deficiencies.