To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of private finance initiative contracts were sold on by the original signatories to the contract in each year since 1997; and what assessment he has made of the profit made in each sale and the return to the taxpayer on each. (142373)

The Treasury does not hold this information. Equity sales are private transactions between two private institutions; therefore the Treasury does not collate information on them. The Treasury does, however, and will continue more broadly to examine developments in the secondary equity market both through its relations with other Departments and key participants in the PFI market.