MSP Gil Paterson: 'PFI disasters emblematic of the downfall of the Labour Party in Scotland'

RESEARCH has shown duff PFI deals made by Labour while they were in power at Holyrood continue to rip off the public.  

An independent study by the Scottish Parliament Information and Research Centre (SPICe) says the West Dunbartonshire Schools project will cost £11.4 million this year, and East Dunbartonshire £14.4 million.
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It follows the former Labour government a decade ago making deals where corporations walked away with huge sums of money for building schools and public facilities.  

In West Dunbartonshire, Clydebank High, St Peter the Apostle High and Vale of Leven High were rebuilt with PFI deals. St Eunan's Primary was merged with the new St Peter's.  

In 2008, the project was billed as 124 euros, which in 2008 was around £100 million. However, PFI deals add considerable interest and end up costing a huge amount more. 

Between 2007 and 2009, six high schools were rebuilt in East Dunbartonshire with PFI deals.

The situation is echoed across Scotland where the duff deals will cost the public purse £430 million this year alone.  

Gil Paterson, MSP for Milngavie, said: "The PFI scandal remains as raw as ever, with councils in my constituency being utterly robbed by these crony deals the Labour Party set up.  

"PFI robs the public purse because the deals set up pay out far more than the projects were ever worth, and ties the public into decades of toxic legacy payments.  

"It will rightly make the taxpayer angry, because we are all too aware the SNP government is fighting to preserve Scotland's public services against a budgetary onslaught from the Tory party.  

"The PFI disasters are  emblematic of the downfall of the Labour Party in Scotland, and how they have betrayed the trust of the public too many times now. They must show some dignity and issue a public apology."  

PFIs are agreements in which companies fund the construction of buildings and creation of infrastructure, such as roads and IT systems, which are then effectively leased to the public sector in contracts which can run for decades.  

The private sector makes a profit out of unitary charges – a combination of loan repayments and fees for services, such as property maintenance.  

ENDS  
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NOTES  

• More information on PFI agreements can be found here: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/privatefinanceinitiative.asp  
• Information on PFI schools in East Dunbartonshire: https://www.morgansindall.com/news/morgan-ashurst-jv-awarded-%C2%A3134m-east-dunbartonshire-schools-project  
• More info on SPICe: https://scottishparliamentinformationcentre.org/