HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : City heavyweight takes his seat as head of new Treasury PFI taskforce [August 1997]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 18 August 1997.
Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson today welcomed the arrival of Adrian Montague (formerly Co-Head of Global Project Finance at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson) as Chief Executive of the new Treasury Private Finance Taskforce.
The Taskforce is being established within the Treasury following the recent review of private finance by Malcolm Bates. The Taskforce will be a driving force, in conjunction with spending departments, in bringing about PFI and other Public/Private Partnerships.
Mr Montague will report directly to the Paymaster. His responsibilities will include signing off the commercial viability of all significant projects entering procurement for the next two years.
Welcoming Mr Montague to his new office, Mr Robinson said:
“I am delighted to welcome a Chief Executive of Adrian’s outstanding talents. He faces a great challenge at an exciting time and I will give him all the help he needs.
“The commitment of this Government to realising the full potential from effective Public/Private Partnerships is second to none. We took action to reinvigorate PFI within weeks of taking office and are now bringing into effect the principal agent for putting PFI on a firm long-term footing.”
Taking up his new challenge, Adrian Montague said:
“This is a unique opportunity for me to make a real contribution to the delivery of high quality services to the public. My first step is to attract a top-quality Taskforce. This will help deliver my ambition of making the Taskforce an effective catalyst to promote the changes we need to make a success of PFI.
“I want to create close relationships with government departments, agencies and local authorities in order to develop a good flow of strong and well-structured projects. I look forward to working with my new public sector colleagues to produce value for money for the taxpayer and good opportunities for business.”
