Thanks to these Ian Lang, Michael Forsyth and Donald Dewar Scottish taxpayers will foot the bill for years to come

From BBC Scotland today:

Tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash will be needed to bring the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) up to scratch when it transfers to public ownership next year, BBC Scotland can reveal. The RIE was built in 2002 using the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) model which saw operator Consort Healthcare receive around £1bn to build and then maintain the hospital over 25 years before handing it back to the NHS. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clylqd0lky5o

Who is to blame? The public has a right to know! I bet it was that SNP! Ferries, drug deaths, pigeon poo………….!!!

Ten paragraphs down:

The PFI deal, signed by Tony Blair’s Labour UK government, is expected to have cost the taxpayer more than £1bn by the time it expires in December next year.

Well, not really:

The project originated under the Conservative UK government (Scottish Office). The business case was approved by Scottish Secretary Ian Lang in November 1994, and the invitation to tender by Michael Forsyth in January 1996. http://cdnedge.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1520572.stm

Financial close/signing occurred in 1998. This was still under the UK Government’s Scottish Office, before devolution took effect in 1999. Donald Dewar (then Scottish Secretary) publicly marked the signing, describing it as “climactic.” https://www.heraldscotland.com/default_content/12452029.pioneering-pfi-contract-dogged-controversy/

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4 thoughts on “Thanks to these Ian Lang, Michael Forsyth and Donald Dewar Scottish taxpayers will foot the bill for years to come”

  1. I believe it was the case that the cost of building the ERI was budgetted at £150 million but actual cost was £180million.

    The PFI cost over 25 years was well north of £1billion.

    Factor in too the annual maintenance costs etc and that was £60million each year.

    Then the parking costs for visitors and staff. The taxpayer was royally screwed by this deal.

    Thankfully the ScotGov managed to negotiate a reduction in the maintenance costs and later, during Covid, bought out the parking contract so that visitors and staff no longer have to pay for parking.

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    1. I did read some time ago that the ERI will still be owned by the PFI company that Labour used to scam Scotland, even after all the PFI ‘debt’ has been paid…not sure if that’s correct or not.

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      1. The PFI contract for the RIE (ERI, if you prefer) is set to expire in December 2027, at which point ownership and operational responsibility of the hospital building will fully revert to NHS Lothian.

        Under the specific terms of the original 25-year contract, the site and all operational control of the hospital must be handed back entirely to the public sector.

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