Exposing the True Cost of PPP/PFI 

The folly of successive governments addiction to PPP/PFI schemes is exposed  once again, this time in The Highland Council Region where council tax payers will foot a bill of £621 million over the next 30 years for schools that could have been built for as little as £137 million. The money will go straight into the pockets of the private companies behind the scheme. 

Steve Arnott, Solidarity Assistant National Secretary is from Inverness. Steve said; 

"The taxpayers of the Highland’s will be paying this debt for decades to come. Part of the appeal of PPPs and PFI's we were told was by bringing in the private sector to deliver these contracts because it didn't have to appear on the government's balance sheet. But EU regulations from April demands that they are shown on the balance sheet and only then will we get the true scale of the national debt."

There are certain fundamental questions: What was the actual cost of building these schools? How much would it have cost to have gone down the normal route of council borrowing? And how much profit from council taxpayers and our children's education will be paid in dividends to the shareholders of these companies?" 

Solidarity campaigns for a Public Sector Financing Bill to be introduced that would enable health and education authorities to choose cheaper public sector borrowing to finance capital projects rather than expensive PFIs, and enable those bodies to disengage from extortionate PFI contracts at the earliest opportunity.

This would: 

• Give public bodies the power of general competence to borrow at market rates of interest and invest directly in capital spending and investment without the PFI middleman 

• Revitalise the role of the public sector works board in financing capital projects directly 

• Require the Scottish Executive to provide equivalent financing in all cases where public bodies choose to reject PFI in favour of direct borrowing 

• Require public bodies to have an independent review of existing projects every six years, with a requirement to cancel the contract if it does not show value for money, with minimum compensation 

• End commercial confidentiality for all private bidders.

We also need legislation which will stop and roll back privatisation in service provision. This would include the following principles and policies:

 • Services should be directed by professional and democratic principles, not managerialor commercial principles. 

• Service to the community, patients and learners should be the core value. 

• Services should be well integrated with all other community and social services. 

• Public ownership and control should be re-established, with increased democraticparticipation.

Below is a letter to The Highland News from Solidarity member Frank Ward as well as a link to an article in that newspaper.

http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4983  

To the Editor

Dear Sir,

PPP REPAYMENTS AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER SCHOOLS

Congratulations on the Highland News recent exposure of PPP2 costs, information
which is notoriously difficult to extract from the authorities. Unfortunately each week seems to bring more bad news.

Frank Ward