HC Deb 18 December 1995 vol 268 cc972-3W
Mr. Betts

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if she will provide revenue forecasts for the current year and the next five years of expenditure on schemes provided under the PFI; [5712]

(2) if she will provide for schemes so far agreed under the PFI the level of financing costs above the current costs of Government borrowing for the scheme with (a) the highest financing costs and (b) the lowest costs. [5713]

Mr. Forth

[holding answer 14 December 1995]: Decisions on spending in education are for the institutions of local authorities concerned. That information, therefore, is not held centrally. For PFI in the Employment Service, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 6 December, Official Report, column 311. It is a fundamental principle when considering schemes under the private finance initiative that what is assessed is the overall best value for money over the whole life of the project. It is not possible, therefore to provide information about the financing costs of any scheme in the form requested.

Mr. Betts

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will provide a breakdown of administration costs incurred to date and forecast for the future on PFI work.[5711]

Mr. Forth

[holding answer 14 December 1995]: The Department has a dedicated private finance division employing six staff full-time. Costs to date for the division, which was established as a separate unit in June, have amounted to some £106,000 and are budgeted to amount to £223,000 for 1995–96 in total. The budget, both for 1995–96 and for future years, will be kept under review in line with the work load. In addition, staff in the further and higher education and youth training and schools directorates and the Employment Service work on a part-time basis to encourage private finance in their specialist areas. The information directorate also includes the private finance initiative within its portfolio. Costs for such part-time work are not accounted for separately.