§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list(a) the average value for money figure for PFI schemes for schools measured by the difference between the risk adjusted public sector comparator and the net private cost, broken down by (i) average for bundled projects and (ii) average for single school projects and (b) list the highest and lowest value for money figures for bundled and single PFI education projects. [139506]
§ Jacqui SmithValue for money is the prime consideration in any decision to support a schools PFI project. To date, all schools' PFI schemes have demonstrated a positive value for money benefit against the assessed cost of a comparable public sector project.
One of the methods through which local authorities ensure that value for money is achieved is by letting PFI contracts through a competitive tendering process. The value for money achieved by previous schemes, whether as an average or for individual projects, could be very useful information to potential bidders, as it would enable them to target their bids. To ensure that any future tenders for schools PFI projects continue to achieve best value, I must respect the commercial confidentiality of the value for money figures provided by local authorities.