§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) of 10 July 2001,Official Report, column 501W on public service agreements, what the (a) percentage and (b) absolute savings from PFI projects would have been if all projects examined up until June had been examined by the NAO; and if he will make a statement. [4614]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithInformation of this nature, which would require judgments to be made about the potential savings and VFM improvements available from very different types of projects across government, is not held centrally. However, a great deal of central guidance and support are available to Departments contemplating the use of PFI—from the Treasury, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and Partnerships UK (PUK). This draws upon reports by the National Audit Office and Parliamentary Select Committees.
As with other elements of their business, it remains the responsibility of individual Departments and agencies to ensure that value for money for the taxpayer is demonstrated before any PFI deal is signed. In carrying out investment and option appraisals, Departments are required to follow Treasury guidance contained in the Green Book "Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government". For PFI deals, Departments us are also required to construct a Public Sector Comparator (PSC), which is a costed estimate based on the assumption that the required service would be acquired through conventional funding. Guidance on PCSs is contained in Policy Statement No.2: Public Sector Comparators and Value for Money, and Technical Note 5: How to construct a Public Sector Comparator. The latter notes that the PSC should not be regarded as a pass/fail test, but as a quantitative way of informing judgment. These documents and a list of signed PFI deals are available in the Library of the House and are accessible on the website of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) www.ogc.gov.uk.
By June 2001 some 450 PFI deals had been signed by central, regional and local government authorities in the United Kingdom. To date the NAO has published 20 value for money reports on PPP/PFI deals. A list of these reports is available on the NAO website www.nao.gov.uk.
As evidence is gained of projects' progression through the OGC gateway process, which is designed to assist central civil departments in the successful delivery of projects (whether PFI or not), this will increasingly inform 835W central data collection, analysis and guidance. The OGC will also draw upon UK's work to increase central knowledge of PFI and other PPP projects.