HC Deb 07 May 1998 vol 311 cc469-72W
Mr. Roy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his Department's policy on openness and employee issues on PFI in the NHS in Scotland. [41373]

Mr. Galbraith

To improve openness and communication surrounding the PFI process, key PFI documents including Outline Business Cases (OBCs) and Full Business Cases (FBCs) will be made publicly available one month after they have been approved. Furthermore:

after financial close, an addendum to the FBC setting out changes between FBC approval and financial close and summarising the commercial contract in plain English should be prepared;in view of the commercial nature of negotiations and the PFI principle of securing value for money, Trusts (or Health Boards) and their private sector partners must be given the right to exclude or delete text on the grounds of commercial confidentiality;publicly available means placing a copy of the documents (OBC, FBC and FBC addendum) with the local authority; on view at the Trust (or Health Board) for staff and patients; with the local Health Council; at the local main public library (for schemes requiring Management Executive, Treasury or Ministerial approval); and the House of Commons Library (for schemes in excess of £10m);further copies would be provided, on request, by the Trust (or Health Board) but Trusts (or Health Boards) would be able to charge for photocopying and postage;the new policy would apply both to future PFI schemes and retrospectively; andthe documents for publicly funded schemes would also be made publicly available.

With regard to employee issues, in future:

Trusts (or Health Boards) will have to assess potential PFI partners, to whom NHS staff would transfer, on the basis of their record on employment policies such as equal opportunities; wages and conditions; pensions; and trade union recognition; andStaff representatives will be invited to assist management in the evaluation of how major PFI partners measure up as fair employers through membership of joint evaluation panels.
Mr. Moore

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list each current private finance initiative project in the health sector and for each list(a) the estimated capital cost, (b) the date or projected date of approval of the Outline Business Case, (i) by the Scottish Office and (ii) by the Treasury, (c) the date or projected date of approval of the Full Business Case (1) by the Scottish Office and (2) by the Treasury, (d) the date or projected date of contract signature and (e) the date or projected date of construction completion; and if he will place the outline and full business cases in the Library. [40936]

Mr. Galbraith

The details requested of PFI projects in Health are given in the table. However, the following points should be noted:

the Table includes projects only with approved Outline Business Cases (OBCs);OBCs do not require approval by HM Treasury;HM Treasury approval of Full Business Cases (FBCs) is required only for non-IT projects with a capital value in excess of £10 million and for IT projects with a capital value in excess of £1 million; andthere are other smaller PFI projects which fall within Trust and Health Board delegated limits, for which information is not held centrally.

OBCs and FBCs for projects with a capital value in excess of £10 million will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons in due course. As the business cases were prepared under the old policy, they contain commercially sensitive material which would be inappropriate to publish. Once the Trusts and their private sector partners have had the opportunity to extract commercially sensitive information, particularly for the Trusts, information relating to unsuccessful bidders, the key PFI documents will be placed in the Library.

Health Board/NHS Trust Project description Capital value £ million Date OBC approved Date FBC approved or expected approval date FBCA approved or to be approved by HM Treasury? Date contract signed or expected signature date Date completed or expected completion date
Greater Glasgow Health Board (Rutherglen) provision of 180 elderly care Beds 5.0 n/k n/k no 03/90 03/92
Ayrshire & Arran Health Board (Irvine) provision of 90 elderly care beds 3.8 n/k n/k no 02/91 01/92
Greater Glasgow Health Board (Darnley) provision of 120 elderly care beds 3.5 n/k n/k no 12/91 12/93
Greater Glasgow Health Board (Ruchill) provision of 120 elderly care beds 3.3 n/k n/k no 01/92 02/93
Greater Glasgow Health Board (Shettleston) provision of 120 elderly care beds 3.8 n/k n/k no 03/92 01/94
Lanarkshire Health Board (Bellshill) provision of 90 elderly care beds 2.8 n/k n/k no 11/92 02/93
Dundee Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust SMAC analysis system 0.3 n/k n/k no 07/93 07/93
Grampian Health Board provision of 25 beds for mentally ill at Spynie Hospital 1.1 n/k n/k no 09/93 04/94
Lothian & Forth Valley Health Boards Clinical waste disposal 4.5 n/k n/k no 10/94 10/95
Northern NHS Trusts & Health Boards Clinical waste disposal 6.0 n/k n/k no 10/94 10/95
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh NHS Trust CT and MRI scanning systems 2.2 n/k n/k no 02/95 10/95
Ayrshire & Arran Health Board (Irvine) provision of 90 elderly care beds 2.5 n/k n/k no 05/95 10/96
Lanarkshire Health Board (Cumbernauld) provision of 40 elderly care beds 3.0 n/k n/k no 12/95 03/97
Edinburgh Healthcare NHS Trust provision of 60 bed Nursing Home (Ferryfield House) 2.5 n/k 10/95 no 02/96 10/96
Law Hospital NHS Trust provision and operation of a hospital information support system 2.5 n/k 10/95 yes 03/96 12/96
Grampian Health Board provision and operation of a Community Hospital in Kincardineshire (Stonehaven) 3.8 n/k 01/97 no 01/97 03/98
Perth & Kinross Healthcare NHS Trust provision and operation of an integrated healthcare information system 2.3 04/95 12/96 yes 01/97 06/97
Yorkhill NHS Trust provision and operation of a hospital information support system 2.5 03/96 12/96 yes 02/97 06/97
Victoria Infirmary NHS Trust provision of 72 geriatric beds at Mearnskirk 2.4 n/k 05/97 no 07/97 03/98
Hairmyres & Stonehouse Hospitals NHS Trust New major acute hospital adjacent to current site 67.5 03/94 08/97 yes 04/98 05/01
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh NHS Trust Relocation of major acute teaching hospital to a greenfield site on the outskirts of Edinburgh 175.0 11/94 08/97 yes 07/98 09/02-12/03
Law Hospital NHS Trust Construction of a new hospital on a brownfield site with certain non-clinical services 100.0 03/94 09/97 yes 05/98 04/01
Ayrshire & Arran Community Healthcare NHS Trust Build Community Hospital for East Ayrshire (Cumnock) 8.6 09/95 08/97 no 05/98 01/00
Southern General Hospital NHS Trust provision of geriatric medicine and assessment facility on SGH site 9.0 07/95 06/98 no 07/98 02/00
Dumfries & Galloway Acute & Maternity Hospitals NHS Trust provision of daycare and maternity services 6.0 09/95 08/98 no 10/98 04/00
Renfrewshire Healthcare NHS Trust provision of a geriatric assessment facility at Larkfield 8.5 11/95 06/98 no 08/98 01/00
Highland Communities NHS Trust provision of a psychiatric unit in Inverness 18.0 06/97 08/98 yes 10/98 07/00
Dundee Healthcare NHS Trust provision of a psychiatric and geriatric units in Dundee 9.0 06/97 01/99 no 02/99 08/00
East & Midlothian NHS Trust provision of Midlothian Community Hospital 8.1 04/98 11/99 no 05/00 08/02