§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) by how much Government spending has changed in 1994–95 as a result of the private finance initiative; what is the estimated effect in 1995–96; how many jobs are to be created by schemes approved to date under the initiative and how many have been lost as a consequence in the public sector; and what is the forecast of transfer of employment from public to private sector over the last five years because of the initiative; [30849]
(2) how many schemes and to what value have been approved in 1994–95 under the private finance initiative; what are the estimates for the current financial year; how many schemes are currently being considered and at what value; for how long they have been considered and how many have been in the assessment process for over (a) six months and (b) 12 months; and what was the average length of time taken to assess schemes so far approved. [30848]
§ Mr. Robin SquireAll expenditure on the staffing and work of the private finance units both in this Department 645W and at the funding councils have been contained within the resources already available for education spending. In 1994–95 this Department published its booklet "Education means business" about private finance in education. The total cost of designing and printing the 50,000 copies was £101,000 with estimated distribution costs of about £19,000 for the 1994–95 financial year. The Department is setting up a full-time private finance unit which will cost approximately £150,000 in the current financial year.
The Department does not, in general, directly fund education institutions. Resources for the higher and further education sectors, grant-maintained schools and maintained schools are distributed by the funding councils and the local education authorities respectively. Although a great deal of private sector activity takes place in the higher and further education sectors, at present neither the Higher Education Funding Council nor the Further Education Funding Council collect the information requested. The Department is encouraging joint ventures between local authorities, schools and the private sector; legislative measures which came into effect on 1 April 1995 provide additional flexibilities for this area. Information about what has been achieved already by local education authorities and what is currently under consideration is not available centrally.