New Hospitals (Costs)

HC Deb 14 July 1998 vol 316 cc158-9W

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has made of the long-term cost of private finance of new hospitals relative to the equivalent costs through the public sector. [50378]

Mr. Milburn

The full business case (FBC) for each scheme compares the long-term costs of providing the facility using the private finance with the equivalent cost of using public funding. In order to be approved, the FBC must demonstrate that private finance initiative offers better or comparable value for money to the publicly funded alternative. Standard investment techniques are used in the FBC to determine the long-term costs of both options.