§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will conduct the test involving the public sector comparator for London Underground funding in public; [119020]
(2) if he will (a) place the report by his financial advisers on the funding of London Underground in the Library and (b) ensure that the public sector comparator is published before any contracts are signed. [119021]
§ Mr. HillI refer to the answers given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 21 December 1999,Official Report, columns 525-26W, and to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Mr. Brake) on 20 December 1999, Official Report, column 337W.
We have already placed in the Library of the House a detailed note describing the methodology London Transport has used to construct the public sector comparator against which bids for infrastructure improvement and maintenance contracts under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) will be tested. This methodology has been reviewed by KPMG as London Underground's independent, external auditors. They have confirmed that it accords with the relevant Treasury guidance and is appropriate to the circumstances of the PPP.
448WWe will release the actual values produced by the comparator only once negotiations with bidders have been completed. To publish these any earlier would expose the taxpayer's negotiating position, and thus jeopardise our chances of securing best value.
Similarly, when Pricewaterhouse submitted their report on the options for London Underground, we produced a summary of the facts and analysis that underpinned the decision to proceed with the PPP. This was published and placed in the Library of the House in March 1998. To release the Pricewaterhouse report in full would have compromised our negotiating position.