§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what analysis he has made of the effect of the Private Finance Initiative in the NHS, with particular regard to the cost of(a) services and (b) increasing capacity. [165136]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 1 April 2004]: The Department reviews the business cases for all major private finance initiative (PFI) projects in accordance with the Department's capital investment manual. To be approved, a business case must demonstrate that in PFI option is affordable and value for money when compared with the publicly funded alternative. National Health Service trusts are also required to monitor performance throughout the lifetime of the PFI contract.
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NHS capital expenditure PFI/PPP investment Publicly procured hospital schemes
Treatment centers PFI hospital schemes Treatment centers NHS lift Financial year
1,2No. Total capital
value
(£)
No. Total capital
value
(£)
No. Total capital value
(£)
No. Total capital
value
(£)
No. Total capital
value
(£)
1993–94 5 194 1994–95 3 116 1995–96 3 85 1996–97 2 95 1997–98 5 425 1998–99 3 98 7 551 1999–2000 6 439 2000–01 3 486 1 18 2001–02 2 167 2002–033 423 4250 2 376 1 60 2003–04 9 1052 1 23 6 124 1Expenditure pre 1999–2000 is on a cash basis. 2 Expenditure figures from 1990–2000 to 2002–03 are on a Stage 1 Resource Budgeting basis (and consistent with figures in table 3.3a of Departmental Report 2003. 3 Estimated outturn. 4Made up of wholly publicly procured and as part of an existing PFI scheme. The Treatment center programme is spread over 2 years. Since 1997, 21 major new PFI hospitals have opened and another 10 are under construction, representing capital investment in the NHS of nearly £3.5 billion.
All PFI schemes announced since the NHS Plan was published in July 2000 have resulted in increases in capacity. The 29 major schemes announced in February 2001, many of which are now in procurement, were the first to be planned from the start after July 2000 and are intended to increase NHS beds by approximately 2,900. These increases are in both acute and intermediate care beds, contributing to the targets in the NHS Plan.