Schools spending more than necessary in PFI contracts

An investigation by Tes has revealed that schools are locked into PFI contract which forces them to pay more than they should for everyday items.

According to Tes, in what are dubbed “life-cycle costs”, schools are charged over the duration of PFI contracts, which results in even modest monthly payments mounting up over the years.

One teacher, who did not want to be named, has stated that the school in which she works, which is a PFI school, has been paying £88 each year for the installation of a new sink for 14 years as a result of the contract.

She totalled that with nine years left on the contract, the sink will cost £2,024.

In addition to this, a single blind for a room is expected to cost up to £8,154 at Bristol Metro Academy under PFI.

Oasis Academy Brislington is set to pay more than £2,000 for an external water tap.

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, in north-east London, told Tes that the companies that profit from financing PFI deals were the “legal loan sharks of the public sector”. She wants an inquiry into PFI “before even more schools and hospitals are saddled with debts they can’t pay”.

Concern over the value for money in PFI deals – or the lack of it – has prompted the National Audit Office to launch a new investigation into PFI schemes, with schools one of the areas being looked at.

The government watchdog will examine the costs and benefits of PFI, as well as how they are managed and how savings can be made.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have recently consulted on a new, fairer national funding formula for schools, into which PFI costs are be taken into consideration.

“Including a PFI factor in this formula recognises these costs in how funding is allocated across the country, for the first time. This will, we believe, mean a fairer outcome for schools in areas with PFI commitments.”