MALCOLM BURNS reviews the latest goings-on in Scotland.
PFI by the back door
THE private finance initiative (PFI) has been a disaster for the public and a bonanza for private capital. How terribly new Labour that fact is.
It is also yet another reason why Labour lost in Scotland last year.
The absolute top priority for voters, according to a BBC poll during the election campaign, was to "ensure that all state schools and hospitals are built and run by public bodies rather than private companies" - as opposed to Labour's policy of private finance.
The SNP pledged last May to end the scandal of PFI by introducing a Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), which would "crowd out" expensive private finance and allow cheaper public borrowing to provide the alternative.
At least, that's what a lot of voters thought that they heard them say.
The consultation document on the SFT issued by Finance Minister John Swinney in November actually contained a proposal for a quite different creature.
"The government has decided to introduce a body which is private-sector classified but which has a public-interest ethos.
"The decision to place SFT in the private sector seeks to build greater flexibility into the investment vehicle. It would also harness commercial know-how and disciplines as well as offering the prospect of a significant annual addition to overall investment."
Oops. Now, it was deemed essential that the new body be placed "off balance sheet" in the private sector, where it would be run by private investors, commercial banks and other private finance organisations.
Meanwhile, PFI would continue but new projects would use a "non-profit distributing (NPD)" mechanism rather than "standard" PFI.
NPD sounds good, but beware - it's a scheme endorsed by the PFI industry, which clearly helped to draft Swinney's proposal.
The consultation period on the SFT ended on Friday.
UNISON Scotland has made a very clear response which the labour movement should support and campaign for.
Questioning whether a public interest ethos is even possible for the private body proposed, Dave Watson from UNISON points out: "It may not take a profit, but the banks and the private firms it contracts to run our services certainly will."
The union argues that NPD models of PFI are "basically window dressing because they retain the higher borrowing costs, private profit at the contractor level and elements of the risk transfer costs, all leading to the same profiteering and inflexibility ... and the secrecy and accountability deficit inherent in PFI."
The UNISON Scotland alternative to PFI includes reviewing existing contracts, with buy-outs where cost-effective, approving no new PFI/PPP contracts, offering Scottish government grants for new capital projects irrespective of procurement method, giving health boards prudential borrowing powers and ensuring that new procurement arrangements exclude staff from transfer.
Professor Allyson Pollock of Edinburgh University, a respected academic and long-standing critic of PFI, believes that "the Scottish government has an opportunity to exercise sovereignty and challenge Treasury rules on capital and public borrowing, forging a new path entirely, not just for Scotland but for the whole UK."
John Swinney and Alex Salmond should take the constructive advice of UNISON Scotland and Professor Pollock rather than the gnomes of Charlotte Square.
After all, it's what the people voted for - and they are unlikely to forgive the SNP trust turning into a new Labour PFI-light.
Meanwhile, if Wendy Alexander is looking for a sensible and popular policy to revive Labour's fortunes, I can give her Dave Watson's phone number.
Sending in the think tanks
A NEW right-wing think tank is due to be launched in Scotland next month.
It is sponsored by the finance sector - the very gnomes who have been whispering in John Swinney's ear over the Scottish Futures Trust.
Reform Scotland aims to influence the Scottish policy agenda at Holyrood. Unsurprisingly, one of its interests is increasing competition in public services.
Who is the heidie? Ben Thomson, chairman of the Noble finance group.
Advisers include Trevor Matthews, chief executive of Friends Provident, and Sir Richard Sykes, former chairman of Glaxosmithkline.
The director will be Geoff Mawdsley, former senior adviser to the Scottish Tories, and the trustees are drawn from across the financial services sector.
And who has been in discussion with the heidie of Reform Scotland even before it is launched?
Step forward Wendy Alexander.
Support this declaration
Uisge Beatha on Woodlands Road is the place to go this Friday for the Glasgow West CND social night with folk music and signing of the Scottish Covenant for Peace.
The covenant was launched last year and the beautifully bound books for signatures have a cover illustration by artist and literary genius of this parish and Morning Star reader Alasdair Gray.
It's a simple enough declaration to support.
"I desire that Scotland should be known for its contribution to peace and justice rather than for waging war."
I am proud to say that Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has signed it and embarrassed never to have heard of any senior Labour leader doing the same.
I would be happy to be corrected on that.
You can sign the convenant online at www.scotland4peace.org if you can't make it to any signing events.
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