Scottish Future Trust secures great value for money for taxpayers of Scotland

I would like to correct claims made about Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) by Margaret and Jim Cuthbert and reported this week.

Much was made of the alleged interest rates SFT negotiates in order to fund vital schools and health centres. In their paper the Cuthberts stated the rate to be five per cent when, in fact, it is four per cent – a big difference in the amount of public funds required – or even lower. Across our public infrastructure programmes we are securing great value for money by attracting significantly better terms than those set for historic Public Finance Initiative deals that pre-date the establishment of SFT.

We have brought stronger transparency to investment in public infrastructure. For example, our standard contract is published on our website and virtually all commercial data can be published within two years of a building opening. This is in marked contrast to the very restrictive confidentiality clause that used to be the norm.

The Cuthberts’ paper ignored the fact that SFT, like other contracting authorities, is barred under EU competition law from favouring firms headquartered in Scotland. What we do very successfully is ensure local employment and training is secured as part of contracts. Our focus remains on improving the effectiveness of investment in infrastructure and securing the best deal for taxpayers. Our many work streams continue to support many thousands of jobs and apprenticeships in every part of Scotland. BARRY WHITE Chief Executive Scottish Futures Trust Thistle Street, Edinburgh Brian Wilson (Perspective 20 October) ignores the bit in the Cuthberts’ report which shows that so far the SNP’S Scottish Futures Trust has reduced the cost of infrastructure projects in Scotland by more than half when compared to Labour’s PPP and his claim PFI/PPP was an incentive to do the job properly was fatally undermined by the collapsing and dangerous school buildings in Edinburgh.

The report clearly states that private finance projects delivered under the previous PFI regime typically involved taxpayer repayments equivalent to 5.4 times the initial capital value of the asset. Under the SNP’S hubco programme, average repayments fell to 2.6 times the initial capital value of the asset.

His justification for Labour’s extensive use of PFI/PPP forgets that it was Gordon Brown who decided these projects should be off balance sheet in order to promote the myth that Labour could balance the books whereas, unlike Westminster, the Scottish Government has almost no borrowing powers and few, if any, alternatives to involving the private sector if it wants to get anything built.

At a time when the Labour Scottish Executive returned £1.5 billion to the UK Treasury, it used PPP to build the flawed Edinburgh schools and the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was built at a capital cost of £180 million, but Lothian Health Board will pay out £1,600m by 2034, which makes it all the more remarkable that Scotland’s NHS is by far the best performing health service in the United Kingdom.

FRASER GRANT Warrender Park Road

Edinburgh