§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Christopher Leslie)I am announcing today the names of six local authorities with whom my Office will work on the develoment of joint service centre schemes under the Private Finance Initiative. These are:
- Barking & Dagenham
- Derbyshire
- Essex
- Lambeth
- Nottingham
- Rochdale
These schemes will improve the accessibility of information and services to local communities and integrate their provision, both across the authority and with other agencies.
Whether schemes ultimately proceed will depend on authorities working up business cases which satisfy the scrutiny of the inter-departmental Project Review Group (PRG), which considers all local government PFI schemes seeking central Government support. Endorsement by PRG is essential before schemes can be put out to tender.
The total value of the PFI credits that will be allocated, if all these schemes are endorsed and proceed to contract signature, is about £50 million.