§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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 have they 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. [30824]
§ Sir George Young[holding answer 28 June 1995]: During 1994–95 one major contract of £400 million was approved under the private finance initiative, in addition to smaller contracts with total value of £50 million to 100 million. Since the beginning of the financial year, the award of three major contracts with a total contract value of £650 million has been approved. Over the course of 1995–96 we expect approximately 50 contracts with a total value of over £5 billion to be approved. It is not possible to assess the numbers of projects under consideration and records are not kept centrally of time taken to assess schemes.