HC Deb 22 January 2001 vol 361 c439W
Mr. Kilfoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many public private partnerships have been introduced into schools in England and Wales since 1 May 1997. [145312]

Jacqui Smith

Since 1 May 1997, 20 schools' projects have been awarded in England under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), 18 of which are for building projects covering 178 new, replacement or refurbished schools. The other two are local education authority-wide service contracts covering 194 schools. A further 32 projects covering 280 schools have been approved by the Treasury's Project Review Group.

In total, £2.5 billion of PFI Credits have been provided for schools' projects in England from May 1997 up to 31 March 2004, over half of which have already been committed. This is in addition to over £10.7 billion provided for schools capital investment through other programmes over the same period.

A further 25 Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are currently being supported by £25 million of New Deal for Schools (NDS) grant.

Public Private Partnerships in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly.