Abandon PFI, don't tinker with it, says UNISON
MSPs have been urged to call on the Scottish Government to
abandon PFI/PPP, reject the proposals to continue with so-called
Non Profit Distributing (NPD) Models of PFI and its 'flagship'
Scottish Futures Trust plan.
UNISON Scotland gave evidence on 13 May to the Scottish Parliament
Finance Committee's inquiry into the funding of public capital
investment projects. The union has already set out a five
point alternative to PFI - Reviewing existing contracts; Not
awarding new contracts; awarding government capital grants
equally to all projects-irrespective of the method of procurement;
introducing prudential borrowing for health boards; and strengthening
the PPP staffing protocol.
Dave Watson, UNISON's Scottish Organiser said, "The SFT plan
for a new giant private company to run all Scotland's future
PFI schemes merely puts a gloss of accountability on a fundamentally
flawed base.
"NPD models retain the higher borrowing costs, private profit
at contractor level and elements of risk transfer costs that
lead to the same profiteering and inflexibility as other PFI
schemes. Evidence is stacked against PFI. The public have
said they do not want it, and it is time to say 'no more'.
"If the Scottish Government can conclude that public funding
provides the best value for money for the massive new hospital
campus at Glasgow's Southern General site, why can this not
be the approach across Scotland?"
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