Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support hospitals that (a) are and (b) have been indebted by Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes.

The funding allocation formula used to set budgets for integrated care boards includes an adjustment to reflect the impact of the excess finance costs that some trusts face due to the financing arrangements for some buildings constructed under historic Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangements.

The Department does not centrally provide funding to support trusts in paying for their PFI schemes. However, the Department, along with NHS England, is supporting National Health Service trusts to manage their PFI contracts, including looking for opportunities to deliver better value for money. This support is available to all trusts with a PFI contract.