A.  The scope of PFI projects

Table 1 shows that by 1 September 2001 there had been almost 450 PFI project contracts signed with a total value of just over £20 billion, 40% of which has been accounted for by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR). The Department of Health has signed the most PFI deals, 105, with a total value of just over £2.5 billion. The largest of these, in monetary terms, is the University College London Hospitals NHS Trust PFI project. The £404 million project includes a development in Euston Road, London to house the University College Hospitals (UCHs), the Middlesex Hospital and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases all on one site.2

Table 1: PFI signed deals by department, as at 1 September 2001

PFI deals have ranged from small projects, such as the £100,000 Littlehampton Community School ITC facilities project in West Sussex, to Europe's largest construction project; the £4 billion deal for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). Table 2 shows the 15 largest PFI deals, in value terms, as at 1 September 2001.

Table 2: PFI projects (signed deals) over £200 million, as at 1 September 2001

Source: Office of Government Commerce

A full list of all signed deals as at 1 September 2001 can be found at the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) web site.3

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2  Jo Revill, "A Patient's Dream Hospital, But Figures May Not Add Up",  The Evening Standard, 1 September 1999, p17.

3  OGC web site as at 13 December 2001: www.ogc.gov.uk