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Private Finance Unit

Volume 470: debated on Monday 7 January 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which projects under the private finance initiative his Department’s Private Finance Unit has categorised as having not established clear requirements before getting under way; (174489)

(2) which NHS buildings constructed under the private finance initiative his Department’s Private Finance Unit assessed as not fitting (a) the departmental vision, (b) the needs of the NHS and (c) the needs of patients and the public.

At all stages of the approval process for a private finance initiative (PFI) scheme, the business case must include clear evidence that the scheme supports all local and national service and clinical targets. Output specifications supplied to bidders by the trust explicitly state the scope of clinical services and functional content that they require from their new facility.

Clinicians and local commissioners must be represented on a trust’s PFI project board and provide written endorsement of the level and type of services being provided in the final PFI proposals. This must be evidenced in the final full business case as a condition of formal approval by the relevant strategic health authority, the Department and for larger cases HM Treasury. Guidance also requires local people, staff and their representatives to be consulted on the proposals and to be able to respond.