Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the refinancing of PFI contracts for NHS Trusts.

The debt incurred to finance Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects is incurred predominantly by the PFI companies themselves. Officials at the Department discuss refinancing opportunities with the PFI companies as and when the relevant circumstances arise, although opportunities for re-financing PFI schemes are now comparatively limited given the nature of the financial instruments used by the PFI companies at the time.

More generally the Department has helped and advised local trust contract managers where requested in relation to PFI contractual issues and also to support trusts in making operational savings in their PFI schemes.