HC Deb 23 March 1999 vol 328 cc185-6W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the model clause on penalty payments for major Private Finance Initiative hospital schemes. [78377]

Mr. Denham

The payment mechanisms, which include the substance of any withholding or deduction of payments to private sector partners for their under performance, are negotiated individually for each scheme within guidelines set out by the National Health Service Executive. The payment mechanism for each scheme is described in its Full Business Case (FBC); copies of the FBCs for the major schemes that have reached financial close have been placed in the Library.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness with which the contracts for those PFI schemes that have been completed were carried out; what his conclusions were; and in what ways those conclusions contributed to the negotiations over the major acute sector hospital PFI schemes selected to continue towards financial close under the first prioritisation exercise. [78338]

Mr. Denham

All the private finance initiative schemes taken forward under this Government, including the major acute hospital scheme selected under the first prioritisation exercise, have been closely monitored by the National Health Service Executive. Any lessons to be learnt from each scheme which reaches financial close are identified and disseminated through the NHS Executive's regional offices. In addition, we will shortly be issuing guidance to the NHS on the private finance initiative process.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 10 March 1999,Official Report, columns 298–99, on capital projects, if he will estimate the cost of collecting information on schemes with a capital cost of less than £10 million; and if he will make it his policy to do so. [78336]

Mr. Denham

At the moment the number, type and capital value of private finance initiative projects with a capital value of between £1 million and £10 million is monitored by the National Health Service Executive for internal management purposes. The NHS Executive will introduce within the next three months a formal central data collection system for all PH schemes with a capital value above £1 million. This will enable accurate and reliable data to be made publicly available. I will write to the hon. Member with the information as soon as it is available.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the conditions for payment of penalties in the South Buckinghamshire (Wycombe site) Private Finance Initiative scheme. [78400]

Mr. Denham

Details of the payment mechanism for the withholding or deduction of payments to South Buckinghamshire National Health Service Trust's private sector partner under their private finance initiative contract are contained in the full business case and contract summary for the scheme. These documents were released and made publicly available in June 1997, but due to an administrative error copies were not placed in the Library, as they should have been. South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust have undertaken to send copies of these documents to the Library within the next two weeks.