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Delivery was, however, hampered by the lack of lending to PFI projects, which led the Treasury to step in during May with a 拢2bn fund to co-finance schemes with the private sector (turning PFI into the 鈥漰ublic finance initiative鈥�). In the event, it was only the 拢3.5bn Manchester Waste project that called on the fund. Other projects were helped out by lenders returning to the market and by the white knight that is the European Investment Bank 鈥� which presented Crossrail with a cool 拢1bn loan and offered 拢300m to help out schools projects.

The 2009 Budget, delivered in April, may have come against the backdrop of a 拢1.2 trillion mountain of public debt, but it did contain a few nuggets of good news for construction. These included a 拢400m fund for the Homes and Communities Agency to restart stalled housing schemes. This was followed by another 拢925m under the Kickstart initiative in July. The Budget also contained 拢300m to advance projects under the Learning and Skills Council鈥檚 拢5bn college building programme 鈥� a move that would have been welcome had it not been prompted by the total meltdown of the scheme. Thanks to shocking mismanagement by the quango, which overspent its budget by more than 150%, 144 schemes were put on ice in March 鈥� and that鈥檚 where most remain.