Taxpayers to cough up extra £530m for Broomfield Hospital

Figures uncovered by Lib Dem Stephen Robinson have revealed that taxpayers will have to pay nearly FOUR times the actual building cost of the Broomfield Hospital extension over the lifetime of the private sector contract. The actual building cost is £148 million but taxpayers will pay £678 million in rent and charges over the 30 year contract.

Stephen Robinson, commented: "This £678 million is a contractual obligation to the private sector contractor who will manage the new building. So if ever the NHS is short of cash over the next 30 years, it will have to make cuts in other health services to find the repayment money.

"These Private Finance Initiatives were invented by the Conservatives and have continued under Labour. We cannot go on using taxpayer cash to bankroll the private sector. Despite the enormous amounts of money we owe for these hospitals, many of them will never end up in public ownership.

"We need a new approach to public services in Chelmsford. The Liberal Democrats would set up a UK Infrastructure Bank. This would ensure that key projects such as Broomfield Hospital, schools and railways can raise the funding they need to revitalise our economy.

"We will change the way the NHS works so that money goes further and patients come first."

ENDS

Footnote

Liberal Democrat analysis of HM Treasury figures has revealed that the NHS will have to pay back £58bn under Private Finance Initiative projects over the next three decades. However, these PFI hospitals are only worth £11bn in capital value.

The figures are up to date as September 2009 but further contracts may have been signed since then. Treasury overall figures for PFI debt can be found here: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_pfi_stats.htm

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