§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many PFI transactions have been overseen by her Department in each of the last 10 years; what her estimate is of the cost savings made in each of these transactions in comparison with the public sector alternative; what are the outstanding payments to be made in relation to these transactions for each of the next 15 years; and if she will make a statement. [5722]
§ Mr. TimmsThe first local authority schools PH project was signed in 1998. A total of 56 schools PFI 781W projects have been approved by this Department and the Treasury chaired Project Review Group. Of these, 30 have so far reached commercial and financial close, as follows: 1997–98 (1), 1998–99 (6), 1999–2000 (9) and 2000–01 (14).
Published guidance on Public Sector Comparators (PSCs) notes that: "Accounting Officers should not rely solely on a straight comparison of a PFI bid to its PSC, which should never be regarded as a pass/fail test but instead as a quantitative way of informing judgment." (Treasury Taskforce Technical Note No 5: How to construct a public sector comparator).
As agreed with the National Audit Office, payments to contractors under PFI contracts are commercially in confidence. Aggregate figures of estimated payments under all PFI contracts for the years 2000–01 to 2025–26 were published in Table C18 of the Budget 2001 "Red Book".
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the economic penalties imposed on private sector firms in each of the last five years for
Project Type PFI credit value in £ million Birmingham—10 schools Refurbishment 50.6 Brent (FAS)—Jews Free School New School 9.0 Cornwall—grouped Refurbishment/Rationalisation 60.7 Derbyshire Refurbishment 29.0 Dorset—Colfox School New School 15.6 Dudley ICT Services 29.5 East Riding—Bridlington Refurbishment 26.0 East Sussex—Peacehaven New School/Refurbishment 19.0 Enfield—Worlds End Lane Secondary New School 15.9 Essex—Loughton, New School 11.1 Haringey—secondary schools New School/Refurbishment 62.5 Hillingdon New School 18.8 Kent—Swanscombe New School 11.6 Kingston-upon-Hull—Victoria Dock New School 2.8 Kirklees—grouped Refurbishment 59.2 Lancashire—Fleetwood High Refurbishment 13.4 Leeds—Cardinal Heenan Refurbishment 4.1 Lewisham Catering 4.3 Liverpool—Speke/Garston Replacement 10.8 Manchester—Temple School Replacement 3.7 Newham New School 30.0 North Yorkshire—four schools Replacement 7.2 Portsmouth—Miltoncross Secondary New School 12.4 Sheffield—six schools Refurbishment 58.8 Staffordshire—two schools Refurbishment 13.7 Stoke-on-Trent—grouped Energy Management 93.0 Torbay—two Torquay schools Refurbishment 14.2 Waltham Forest—Leyton New School 18.5 Wiltshire—three schools New School 38.6 Wirral—nine schools Refurbishment 58.5
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many private finance initiatives have been underestimated, detailing in each case the amount by which the original cost expectation was exceeded. [3363]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Private Finance Initiative (PFI) procurement process is a negotiated procedure which, by its nature, involves changes in the scope and cost of a project as it is developed by a Local Education Authority.
782Wfailures to deliver in relation to key performance indicators in projects involving the Private Finance Initiative; and if she will make a statement. [5723]
§ Mr. TimmsLocal authorities are generally responsible for monitoring the performance of Private Finance Initiative contracts in schools. The information requested is not available centrally.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the(a)type, (b)length and (c) value of contract of each Private Finance Initiative in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement. [3362]
§ Mr. TimmsThe table shows those local authorities in England that currently have a signed schools Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. One other project has reached commercial close, but has not yet reached financial closure. The table shows the type of contract and the PFI credit value for each project. Typically, the length of a PFI contract in the schools sector is of the order of 25 to 30 years, although contracts which provide services not directly related to buildings are for shorter periods.
PFI in Welsh schools is the responsibility of the National Assembly for Wales.
Current PFI projects have many years still to run. All schools PFI projects in England require approval from the Treasury chaired Project Review Group (PRG). Financial support from the Department is in the form of PFI credits. The level of PFI credits for each project is set by PRG, after a rigorous review which ensures that projects are financially viable and offer value for money to the public sector. If, due to circumstances beyond an Authority's control, an increase in funding is required, PRG approval must be obtained.