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Taxpayer to fund £842m hospital project



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Published Date: 23 April 2008
By Andy Philip
SCOTLAND'S biggest-ever hospital building project will be paid for with £842 million of public money, it was announced yesterday.
The New South Glasgow Hospitals complex is expected to provide 1,109 beds for adults and 240 beds for children in single rooms on the site of the existing Southern General Hospital.

Announcing the development at the STUC conference in Inverness, A
lex Salmond, the First Minister, said: "By funding the entire project through public finance, we are ensuring it is deliverable, affordable, sustainable and represents best value for money for the taxpayer."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is providing £270 million, with £20 million from locally held endowments. The balance of £552 million will be provided by the Scottish Government.

The business case was approved, amid concerns over the future of funding arrangements.

The Nationalists oppose the use of the private sector – through private finance initiative (PFI) or public-private partnership (PPP) schemes – to build schools, hospitals and other projects.

The Scottish Government wants to replace PFIs and PPPs with a non-profit body – the Scottish Futures Trust – which would raise funds in private markets.

Labour's health spokeswoman, Margaret Curran, said: "Given the scale of public cash that will be tied up to directly finance this project, the SNP must explain fully what services are likely to be cut and what developments across Scotland are unlikely to go ahead because of this announcement."



Business chiefs also voiced concerns over the Scottish Government's plans to phase out public-private partnership projects.

Martin Southern, a senior consultant with BT Scotland, told MSPs: "I think one of the reasons why PPP works well is because there are a range of options.

"It allows a number of organisations to set up a commercial arrangement that suits them for whatever they are trying to achieve together.

"If the Scottish Futures Trust is seen as the only way, the danger is that it will crowd out that innovation and creativity."





The full article contains 330 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 22 April 2008 8:48 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Health of the NHS
 
1

Vivas,

Edinburgh 23/04/2008 00:29:08
I repeat, as it seems my first post has been pulled.

The journo who put this headline to this piece "doesn't get it". TAXPAYERS ALREADY PAY FOR PFI OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS AND DECADES. THEY PAY A PREMIUM IN DOING SO AND BROONS OFF-BALANCE SHEET PFI TRICKS WILL SEE THIS DRAIN ON THE PUBLIC PURSE RUN FOR A LONG LONG TIME TO COME.
No such thing as a free lunch when it comes to PFI...

Margaret Curran ? Another SLAB political and moral bankrupt, and thick as mince to boot. So much for the SLAB socialism call eh ? Mortgaging the future and at serious prices that will only become apparent in the fullness of time.
2

McX,

23/04/2008 00:35:53
Such a good news story for the people of Glasgow. Also good news that it will come in at £20 million per year cheaper than the flawed PFI / PPP.

Poor Margaret Curran, she just can't get her head around the fact that some things are not political and don't require such a pathetic partizan line.
3

Vivas,

Edinburgh 23/04/2008 00:39:45
Business chiefs also voiced concerns over the Scottish Government's plans to phase out public-private partnership projects.
**TRANSLATES AS, OH HELL THE PFI GRAVY TRAIN MIGHT GO INTO A SIDING.

Martin Southern, a senior consultant with BT Scotland, told MSPs: "I think one of the reasons why PPP works well is because there are a range of options.
**TRANSLATES AS, THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO COIN IT IN

"It allows a number of organisations to set up a commercial arrangement that suits them for whatever they are trying to achieve together.
**TRANSLATES AS, WELL WHAT WE ACHIEVE IS...WE GET VERY VERY RICH, TODAY...TOMORROW...AND FOR YEARS TO COME

"If the Scottish Futures Trust is seen as the only way, the danger is that it will crowd out that innovation and creativity."
**TRANSLATES AS, OH HELL, WE WOULD STOP GETTING RICH IF THEY START DOING THIS
4

Alan Reid,

NZ 23/04/2008 02:40:54
#2, spot on.
Well done the SNP.



5

Navvy,

23/04/2008 06:17:11
It will not come in cheaper unless and equitable contract is agreed and unless the, all to common, tinkering with design and "wish lists" be kept out of the process.

Will all the lessons which we should have learned from the Holyrood debacle be applied?
6

eric,

Lothian 23/04/2008 07:22:38
Cant really complain about that.It will also benefit folk outside Glasgow .
7

Foresight,

By the Water of Leith 23/04/2008 08:05:38

Smart move by the FM. As a publicly funded project Westminster will not be able to "keep it off the books" as it does with PFI, a means falsifying the true indebtedness of the government and improving the ratio of its borrowing to the GDP.
8

brownlie,

23/04/2008 08:32:23
The key sentence in this story is the remark by Mark Southern (who?) when he said " It allows a number of organisations to set up a commercial arrangement that suits them ..." No word about what suits the patients. As a unionist I often despair of the nats taking the opportunity of a "quick buck" away from organisations such as BT.
9

BIG EYE,

Paisley 23/04/2008 08:37:48
I can't understand the headline but I am hopeful some nice Scotsman reporter is going to explain that as a Taxpayer I'm not going to pay for the 25 billion pounds expended on PFI and PPP.

If not then I take it I will be only be making a contribution to the construction costs of this new hospital rather than the construction costs, the profit, the running and maintenance costs at ridiculous levels contracted into every PFI/PPP deal.

If so then should headline not read "SNP secure good deal for taxpayer on new hospital build"?
10

,

23/04/2008 08:38:56
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
11

Melly,

Sussex 23/04/2008 08:58:55
Is there a headlines comittee in the Scotsman that sits around the table to dream up anti SNP headlines? Andy son, the taxpayer pays for PFI and PPP projects, the next generation and maybe those after will still be paying. The headline should be "Future Generations saved from exhorbitant tax hikes to pay off PFI & PPP hospital project". Thank goodness Scotland has a sensible government acting for the people of Sctland.
12

Linda,

Edinburgh 23/04/2008 09:07:59
Its not just businesses that made excessive profits from PFI contracts, it was Banks, lawyers and numerous others. PFI contracts are just like expensive long term credit finance deals to buy a car or furniture. Seems good at the time but eventually you pay more in the end. Not a good deal for householders or taxpayers.
13

Farky,

Scotland 23/04/2008 09:16:32
It is a strange headline alright...
Tax payer will pay, well who else would? Tax payers will be using the hospital so they ought to pay for it. At least the funding for this is coming direct from the health board and the government. We are not going to be lining the pockets of private investors.

WELL DONE SNP!
14

Hamish Scott,

23/04/2008 09:22:10
#11
It is clearly Scotsman editorial policy to create anti-SNP headlines even if they misrepresent the articles.
15

Doh,

23/04/2008 09:51:32
Call me old fashioned but i quite like the idea of my taxes paying for hospitals.

Better that than Labour's war in Iraq.
16

brownlie,

23/04/2008 10:17:12
15 Doh

Don't mention the war. Highland Mighty convinced us all yesterday that the killing of thousands of innocents is not shocking.
17

Foulkes Off the CyberNat,

Edinburgh 23/04/2008 10:26:12
I would love to see any so called pretendy unionists come on this blog and defend PFI.
18

Jockdogma,

UK 23/04/2008 12:11:16
The principal of PFI/PPP is the transfer of risk from the public to the private sector, which in some cases has worked and not in many others. If we are funding this then the cost risk etc sits with the public sector so therefore it will need to be a well managed contract something which has not been the sector's strong point. The private sector will still make its money through the profits of construction and the outsourcing of facilities managment services etc, but I agree with most posters here that the real benefit is that these aren't locked in deals. It is great to have a centrally funded project which will be comparable with the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary so that a judgement can be made on which is the most efficient way of delivering these projects.
19

Miss H,

23/04/2008 13:41:12
19 Most of the population is in the central belt so obviously that is where major projects like this will be. It would be bizarre and perverse to build it in Wick for example.
20

Saoghal Beag,

23/04/2008 14:03:12
What PFI/PP delivers is shocking low quality buildings which are not maintained in order to maximise the profit for the private companies involved. THis never has been VFM and we will all too soon be in a position where we have to replace these shoddy built shacks.
21

connaughtboy,

stonehaven 23/04/2008 15:08:31
#18 Jock

Key risks can still be transferred to the private sector. A well negotiated, turnkey, fixed price construction contract will ensure that cost and time overruns are the contractor's risk.
22

,

23/04/2008 17:38:00
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
23

Truely English,

23/04/2008 20:37:38
Is this another subsidy given by England to Scotland?
24

,

23/04/2008 20:49:21
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason: Inappropriate name
25

Saoghal Beag,

23/04/2008 21:52:51
24 go get yourself a parliment and loose the inferiority complex. If we hadn't been bailing out governments since before Thatcher you wouldn't even need to post that.
26

David MacLeod,

East Lothian 23/04/2008 22:37:29
#24

Not sure about an English funded gift to the Scottish tax-payer, but probably more of a Scottish funded gift to the open plug-hole that is Glasgow (more money spent looking after our pet welfare junkies in the West, no doubt).

 

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