§ Jeremy CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation he has made of the costs of the proposed PH for the Whittington hospital compared to direct Government funding; and if he will publish the information on which this analysis is made. [25235]
§ Mr. HuttonThe evaluation of the proposed private finance initiative funding of the redevelopment of the Whittington hospital national health service trust compared to direct Government funding is currently being prepared by the trust and its advisers as part of the preparation of the full business case for the scheme and is not yet complete.
All information relevant to this analysis, and the final decision to fund the project under PFI or direct Government funding, will be included within the trust's full business case. This will be made publicly available within one month of the final approval of the case, which is currently planned to be in April 2002. Only information which may breach personal privacy or is judged to be genuinely commercially sensitive will be omitted.
Copies of the case will he provided at the trust's premises, with the chair of the Trades Unions representing staff at the trust, the local Community Health Council, the local authority, the local main public library and the Library. The trust will also place an advertisement in the local paper at the time of publication explaining that the documents are available and where they have been placed.
This is in line with the code of practice on openness in the NHS introduced by this Government.