HC Deb 24 May 2004 vol 421 cc1342-3W
Mrs. Iris Robinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether a company which successfully bids for inclusion in an education-related public private partnership scheme retains the right(a) to put the contract on the market at any stage, (b) to sell the contract at a profit and (c) to keep the profit from the sale of the contract without a requirement to provide guarantees that the scheme will be completed to the specifications to which they initially signed up; and whether revenue generated through weekend and evening openings of buildings constructed under such a scheme is required to be invested in the school or its pupils. [174008]

Mr. Gardiner

(a) A PPP contractor, which successfully bids for inclusion in an education related PPP project, may put the contract on the market at any time during the life of the contract. The prior written consent of the school authority is required and this can be withheld at its discretion.

(b) Provided the prior written consent of the school authority has been obtained, a PPP contractor may sell a PPP contract at a profit.

(c) A PPP contract specifies the level of service which an authority can expect to receive in return for payment of the unitary charge. If a contractor were to sell, or otherwise dispose of a PPP contract, it would retain any profit accruing and the service requirements and obligations would transfer to the new contractor. The new contractor would be expected to deliver the full range of services as if there had been no change in ownership.

The net income from any third party usage of a school that has been procured under PPP is shared between the school authority and the contractor on the basis agreed in the contract.