GETTY Jeremy Corbyn last week demanded an end to the 'costly racket' of PFI schemes

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UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn last week demanded an end to the “costly racket” in England and Wales after the National Audit Office warned the schemes are a waste of money. In Scotland, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts have already been replaced with the SNP’s Non-Profit Distributing model, which sees a greater share of profits returned to the public purse. But the country still has 85 live PFI contracts – with the majority signed off by Labour ministers in Holyrood or in Whitehall before devolution in 1999. Twelve deals were completed by the SNP administration after May 2007, with a further three signed off by the Tories before Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s general election victory. Despite the SNP’s determination to stamp out PFI, the profits paid to shareholders have grown steadily each year as more projects have come on stream and the companies involved have built up their cash reserves.

In 2016, the share dividends totalled a huge £70m – up from £27m in 2008. More than £185m in PFI dividends has been generated from contracts funded by cash-strapped health boards over the past decade. Of that, a staggering £102m has come from the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh project. The hospital at Little France cost £180m to build and opened in 2003 under a 30-year PFI deal run by building giants Balfour Beatty and Barclays Bank. Other lucrative projects include Wishaw General and Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, which have both generated £20m for PFI shareholders. School PFI projects funded by hard-up councils have generated a further £118m, including £22m from Falkirk, £20m from Glasgow, £11m from Edinburgh, £7m from North Lanarkshire and £6m from Aberdeenshire.

DAVE MCNEIL The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

The M6 DBFO contract to upgrade the A74(M) from Millbank in Lanarkshire to Gretna Green, signed off by the Scotland Office in 1997, has paid out £49m in dividends, including £19m in 2016. Shareholders in the PFI contracts to build Addiewell and Kilmarnock prisons have pocketed £18m in dividends since 2007, while Scottish Water PFI projects in the Highlands and Tayside have generated £32m. By contrast, several PFI contracts have not paid out any shareholder dividends over the past decade – although often only because the contract is not making enough profits. Others have kept dividends to a relatively low level, such as the deal to build a new training centre for the old Strathclyde Police force which has paid out £82,000 in regular annual sums. Scottish Labour’s new leader, Richard Leonard, hopes to make wiping out PFI debt a key part of his pitch to voters.

TWITTER Jackie Baillie MSP

Jackie Baillie MSP said: “Scottish Labour believes public services should not be run for private profit. “With the collapse of Carillion, there has never been a more important time to review how public sector infrastructure projects are funded. “Scottish Labour believes instead of tinkering around the edges we should come up with a new way of funding public sector projects that does not put huge profits in the pockets of shareholders. “It is imperative the SNP conduct a review without further delay.”

GETTY Richard Leonard hopes to make wiping out PFI debt a key part of his pitch to voters