§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Private Finance Initiative in schools. [131234]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThere are now 59 Schools PFI contracts signed covering 595 schools with a total capital value of £1.6 billion. Services have started in 39 projects, which include more than 100 brand new, replacement or refurbished schools.
In addition, 36 schools projects and 4 ICT projects have been approved by the Project Review Group (PRG) and are in procurement. The total capital value for these is over £1.6 billion and they involve more than 600 schools. Nineteen further projects covering more than 260 schools have been prioritised for support by DfES. The amount of PFI credits has been significantly increased by this Government, from £35 million in 1997–98 to a planned £1.05 billion in 2004–05.