Autumn Statement

Baroness Berger Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We do not intend to disrupt existing PFI schemes—although, sadly, there are not many left, because so many dried up at the very end of the last Labour Government’s time in office owing to financing problems—and the new PFI 2 will help to restart private and public investment. The big difference is that from now on, instead of the public sector bearing the risk and getting none of the reward—as has happened, for example, in the case of a hospital project not in my hon. Friend’s part of London but in south-east London—it will share in the upside as well.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Can the Chancellor confirm that the capital spending that he has announced for free schools amounts to less than a third of the cuts in the capital budgets for schools and colleges?

[Mr Osborne]

Capital spending is higher than the level in the plans that we inherited from the last Labour Government. That is simply the case. We inherited big planned cuts in capital spending, and we have increased capital spending, off those plans. We have that new money for schools, and I would hope that the hon. Lady would welcome that.