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Edition 6 |
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1999 |
S1W-261 Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends in future to publish the rate of return received by private sector investers in respect of each contract for a private finance initiative project on which public money is spent.
Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive has no plans to publish this information. The rate of return achieved by the private sector will depend on how successful they are at managing risk during the life of the contract. The operators’ accounts will be publicly available. I announced on 24 June that the Scottish Executive will make available the annual expenditure commitments associated with Government public-private partnerships, sector by sector. In addition, for future projects Full Business Cases will be published, which will show whether projects represent value for money.
S1W-262 Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will accept the recommendation of Chantrey Vellacott DFK that the rateof return should be published for all PFI contracts.
Mr Jack McConnell: No. I refer Mr Ewing to my reply given to his question SW1-261 on 9 July 1999.
S1W-314 Alex Neil (Central Scotland)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek representations on the Bates Committee, HM Treasury Task Force on the future of Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnerships.
Mr Jack McConnell: Sir Malcolm Bates was asked to carry out his review by HM Treasury. There was no formal committee on which the Executive could be represented. Sir Malcolm has now submitted his report to HM Treasury for consideration. Officials in the Scottish Executive Private Finance Unit maintain close contact with HM Treasury and will continue to do so.
S1W-315 Alex Neil (Central Scotland)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the list of PFI/PPP contracts awarded in Scotland which do not include a purchase option for the public sector on completion of the project, and details of when these contracts were signed.
Mr Jack McConnell: Signed PFI/PPP contracts in Scotland which do not include a purchase option are listed below. In some cases, the absence of a purchase option is because there is no asset for the exclusive use of the public sector. Not included are those contracts entered into by local authorities or those within Health Trust delegated limits, details of which are not held centrally. (list available on Scottish Parliament website http://www.scottish.parliament.uk)
S1W-274 Karen Gillon (Clydesdale)(Lab) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to apply the revised guidance on PFI accounting transactions announced by Her Majesty’s Government on 24 June 1999 to future capital projects in Scotland and, if so, what implications it expects the revised guidance to have for staff employed in Scotland’s public services.
Mr Jack McConnell: The revised guidance will be applied in Scotland. Officials in the Scottish Executive Private Finance Unit are discussing its general application with HM Treasury. It is likely that the guidance will result in greater flexibility to exclude some services not directly associated with the maintenance of the asset.
S1W-471 Michael Matheson (Central Scotland)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive what impact its announcement of 24 June 1999 in relation to PFI will have on the 5 PFI projects agreed by Falkirk Council.
Mr Jack McConnell: Those improvements to public private partnerships I announced on 24 June which relate to matters covered by contract will have no impact on the Falkirk scheme for the construction of 5 new schools. With the exception of the announcement on pension provisions, these changes took effect from 24 June and will not be applied retrospectively. The provisions for better protection for staff pensions came into effect on 14 June. I promised to publish more financial information for PFI projects on a sector by sector basis and have already made details of estimated service payments available in answer to a question from Andrew Wilson (S1W-357). Figures for the Falkirk project were included in the local authority sector.
S1W-357 Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive to list (a) the public sector capital projects involving private finance both planned and underway giving both date of start and estimated completion, (b) the total estimated capital investment included in the projects and (c) the annual expenditure required to service these projects in cash and real terms over the life of the projects.
Mr Jack McConnell: The information requested on our investment in these projects, which represent good value for money, is set out in the attached table (see parliament website). The dates requested have been provided for the majority of projects but in some cases, labelled N/K (not known), the information is either not held centrally or is unavailable at this time. I have taken steps to ensure such information is more comprehensively available in the future.
S1W-1411 Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland)(SNP) To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives on the Private Finance Initiative.
Mr Jack McConnell: No. The Scottish Executive has not received any such representations.
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