Private Finance 2/Private Finance Initiative

Robert Jenrick Excerpts

Monday 5th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

I can certainly guarantee that it will be as soon as possible. The thing is we need the data to be able to report on them. Most of these projects are only just starting, so I am sure that we will have it as soon as is reasonable.

The hon. Lady mentions alternatives. I am fortunate to have in my constituency, Brighton Kemptown, a fantastic new hospital being built at nearly £500 million. It is not using PFI or PF2. It is the Royal Sussex county hospital. Each of these projects is financed in different ways, but all projects should provide the best value for money for the taxpayer.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

My local hospital and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mark Spencer) has one of the particularly egregious examples of PFI, signed some time ago. With reference to what the hon. Lady described, that is an example of a hospital with a severe PFI that could be bought back, avoiding some of the inflated interest costs in the years to come. Will the Treasury seriously consider, in this age of incredibly low public borrowing, a 30-year bond, for example, to buy back the most egregious PFI debts, particularly in the case of hospitals, where such debts have a major effect on certain trusts, such as mine? That must be the way to secure best value for the taxpayer in the long term.

[Simon Kirby]

My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. Projects are financed in different ways. The hon. Lady’s local hospital, Whipps Cross, which is part of the Barts hospital PFI, was bond-financed. Refinancing is far more difficult and far less practical for bond debt. It is safe to say that refinancing of bonds is unlikely to provide value for money. The aim is value for money not only in the financing of new projects, but in changing or varying an existing finance arrangement.