LABOUR’S PFI DEBT TOPS £1,000 MILLION FOR THE FIRST TIME

Labour’s toxic legacy of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) continues to be felt across Scotland, the SNP has warned today after the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures showed that PFI payments rose to over £1,024 million in 2017/18. After today’s figures showed that unitary charge payments relating to PFI projects have risen continuously over the last five years, up £26 million in the last year alone and still rising, the SNP has called on Labour and the Lib Dems to apologise for saddling councils across Scotland with colossal debt repayments. Patricia Gibson MP said: “Labour and the Lib Dems’ toxic PFI legacy means the public purse is still paying heavily over the odds for the debts they accrued whilst in office which Scottish taxpayers will be saddled with for another two decades. “Deals like the PFI contracts for schools across Scotland, recently revealed as costing the public purse £434.3 million this year alone - from a total schools’ budget of £5,200 million – will leave taxpayers paying way over the odds for years to come. “The reality is, local authorities were saddled with PFI bills of £1,024 million last year - increasing year on year - because of Labour’s economic incompetence. This is money that could have used to pay for teachers, books and improved facilities, but instead it is being diverted to pay off Labour and the Lib Dems’ enormous PFI debts.” The figures can be found on p.37 of the report here: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00539514.pdf ENDS