Chamber and committees

The Scottish Futures Trust will be a company. The Development and Delivery arm will be a public sector classified body and the Finance and Investment arm will sit within the private sector.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13264 on 3 June 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

The Scottish Government’s Taking Forward the Scottish Futures Trust publication (Bib. number 45605) was endorsed by the Scottish Futures Trust Steering Group which includes a representative from the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. I have written to Councillor Pat Watters, President of COSLA, inviting him to further discussions over the next stage of the Scottish Futures Trust’s development.

The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is different and better than the standard form of PFI funding in three ways. Firstly, SFT will have at its core the non-profit distributing model of finance. This removes the equity element of PFI funding which is the part of the finance that has delivered excessive profits. Secondly, SFT will provide a level of expertise in the development of projects and in the negotiation of contracts that is not available to many smaller public bodies and local authorities. With SFT involvement the public sector will therefore be dealing with bidders on a more equal footing and as a result will be in a position to deliver more competitive and realistic deals. Thirdly, by pooling projects there will be efficiencies in terms of delivery, risk and finance that together will result in savings.

The Scottish Government announced on 20 May the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) initiative to be supported by a new company established in the public sector. The SFT company will be formed this summer and will work with the public sector and market. One of its objectives will be to assist the public sector to produce aggregated strategies for the delivery and funding of infrastructure investment projects.

There is a range of funding mechanisms available to public bodies for investment, and public bodies should continue to use the funding mechanism most appropriate to the investment they are undertaking to secure best value for money. The Government has published its infrastructure investment plan that includes £14 billion of capital investment over the next three years.

We do not agree with the standard form of PFI being used for mainstream projects which have a standard risk profile as it has allowed excessive returns for private investors. Our preference is for the non profit distributing model to be used for these projects as returns for the private investors are capped and surpluses are returned for the public interest.

There is a wide range of bodies which will be interested in investing and lending to Scottish public projects. Public procurement rules oblige public bodies to invite responses to their requirements through open competition.

Based on draft annual accounts submitted by each health board, the 2007-08 projected end year position is show below. Final accounts will be submitted by 30 June 2008.

NHS Board	£000
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	9,961
NHS Borders	522
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	7,313
NHS Fife	5,664
NHS Forth Valley	2,000
NHS Grampian	6,391
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	370
NHS Highland	5,217
NHS Lanarkshire	11,863
NHS Lothian	279
NHS Orkney	4
NHS Shetland	960
NHS Tayside	1,807
NHS Western Isles	(3,312)
Total Unified Boards	49,039
Special Health Boards
National Waiting Times Centre	7,208
NHS 24	255
NHS Education for Scotland	15,179
NHS Health Scotland	230
NHS NSS	2,765
NHS QIS	391
Scottish Ambulance Service	20
State Hospital	73
Total Special Health Boards	26,121
Total NHS Scotland	75,160

 

As I said in my response to S3W-9292, we have indicated that we propose to publish responses to the First Minister’s letter about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We will do so once these have been collated, and within three months.

There have been no further responses to the First Minister’s letter in respect of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since I replied to S3W-9292.

As regards publication, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-13034 on 2 June 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.