HC Deb 15 February 1996 vol 271 cc1121-3
1. Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the funding to be made available to police authorities through the private finance initiative. [13849]

5. Mr. O'Hara

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the funding to be made available to police authorities through the private finance initiative. [13853]

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Michael Howard)

Police authorities are currently exploring a range of projects under the private finance initiative with an estimated total capital value of about £70 million. There is scope for many more. The private finance initiative provides an exciting new opportunity for the police to enhance and extend their capital resources.

Mr. Prentice

But is there not a cut of £23 million in capital provision for the police this year? I want the Home Secretary to tell us whether the much-vaunted private finance initiative will meet that shortfall. If it will not, was not The Economist correct to describe the PFI as "a dog's dinner" and a "deceit" that is becoming larger all the time?

Mr. Howard

Lo and behold. I thought that the Labour party was in favour of bringing private finance into the public sector. I thought that they wanted to take advantage of the opportunities available. That is what the Front-Bench spokesmen keep telling us. But whenever those on the Front Bench say something, those on the Back Benches pop up and say the opposite.

Mr. O'Hara

Precisely so; the whole House will know that the PFI is really an invention of the Labour party. The Home Secretary should give credit to my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) who, when he was shadow Transport spokesman, first mooted the idea of bringing private finance into the public service. However, the right hon. and learned Gentleman will remember that the whole point of the PFI, according to his colleague the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is to bring extra money into the police service. Can he assure us that extra money will come in through the PFI, and that it will not simply make up the £23 million shortfall? Can he give some practical examples of what it will produce in the police service?

Mr. Howard

The hon. Gentleman is now claiming credit for what his hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) has just described as a dog's breakfast. When will the Labour party make up its mind, even about the simplest things? Of course the private finance initiative has the scope to produce extra capital for the police service, and it is already doing so. We look forward to an exciting opportunity for the PFI to increase the capital available to the police service.

Mr. David Nicholson

My right hon. and learned Friend will be aware that in Avon and Somerset there has been a considerable welcome for the significant increases in the general funding of the local police authorities over the past two years—increases much needed, but none the less much welcomed. Will he ensure that the police authority can get proper advice and guidance on how to deal with the PFI, which has caused difficulties in the past, so that both the authority and the local building industry may benefit from it?

Mr. Howard

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the increased resources that we are making available to the police throughout the country. I assure him that advice on the private finance initiative will be available. But it is no use the police having more resources available to fight crime if the Leader of the Opposition goes up and down the country telling people that it is all right to shoplift and to put treats in their pockets. When will the hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) dissociate himself from the disgraceful remarks made by his leader last night?

Mr. Ian Bruce

Can my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that, despite the rumours that are being put out by the Opposition, there has been a large increase in the resources for counties such as Dorset and that there are opportunities for local authorities, if they want to put their money where their mouth is, to transfer money from county council funds to give the police extra funding? Surely the private finance initiative is an additional source of finance.

Mr. Howard

My hon. Friend is entirely right. Dorset will get a 3.9 per cent. increase in its funding next year. I am sure that it will make full use of those extra resources and be on the alert to add to them through the private finance initiative.