SCOTLAND’S public bodies should be forced to “open the books” on all PFI deals, according to think-tank Common Weal.
The left-wing, pro-independence group, along with People Vs PFI, say the problems with public-private partnership (PPP) builds are in part because of the secrecy surrounding the contracts. In a petition published yesterday, the bodies say the Edinburgh school building scandal requires prompt action.
The petition says: “The first step in challenging the toxic PFI/PPP contracts in Scotland is to end the secrecy and open them up to full public transparency.
“With full transparency, all of the facts will be public so that we can pursue re-negotiation of the expensive debt repayments for PFI/PPP contracts [and] the freezing of any further public-private partnerships until a full inquiry has taken place into PFI/PPP.”
This should, they insist, include the SNP’s Non-Profit Distribution model of using private finance in public services.
Robin McAlpine, Common Weal’s director said: “The fact that PFI has gone wrong so often and the fact that so much of it has been negotiated in secret are inextricably linked.
“Because the public has virtually no powers of scrutiny over the terms of the contract we are utterly powerless to hold people to account for what they have done with our public money. PFI deals are just like tax havens, where the public are kept in the dark and treated with contempt, while those who own them pocket our money. It is time for democracy and transparency to be brought into this sordid affair.”
Joel Benjamin, from People Vs PFI, said the failures in Edinburgh’s schools meant the idea of private-sector efficiency “collapsed with the falling masonry at PFI-built Edinburgh schools”.
They have had backing from Malcolm Fraser, an architect who resigned from a Scottish Executive advisory panel in 2007 because of concerns over PFI, and Professor John Davis from Edinburgh University, who also coaches rugby in the grounds at Oxgangs primary, where part of the wall collapsed in not too heavy winds.
Prof Davis said: “When you watched all the new buildings going up around Edinburgh you were filled with the feeling of a new beginning. This was what a Labour administration was for. It’s job was to improve the quality of people’s lives, provide hope and redistribute resources to ensure a more equitable start for our children.
“But just as the Blair administration’s protestations concerning ethical foreign policy led us eventually to the Iraq war, PFI/PPP was another false dawn.
“PFI/PPP is a disgraceful con trick that has bit back with vengeance. It stands as a symbol for greed, mismanagement and the unfettered search for private gain at public expense.”
Seventeen schools in Edinburgh built under PFI have had to close while work is carried out to make the buildings safe, with families having to find alternative arrangements.
Parents of the P6 and P7 pupils from Oxgangs Primary School have voiced concerns about the temporary classrooms their children have been using at Wester Hailes Education Centre, comparing them to a rotting prison.
The City of Edinburgh Council has now made alternate arrangements.
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