• the Department of Health launched the Local Improvement Finance Trusts (LIFT) in 2000 to address long standing under-investment in primary care facilities; this investment had previously been supplied through private ownership by general practitioners, the private sector and the National Health Service (NHS);414
• a national joint venture, Partnerships for Health, was established between the United Kingdom Department of Health and Partnerships to oversee and invest in LIFT. The local joint venture companies (LIFTCo) are 20 per cent owned by Partnerships for Health, 20 per cent by stakeholders in the local health economy,415 and 60 per cent by a private sector partner;
• the LIFT scheme aims to attract ₤1 billion of private investment by 2010; the department provided start-up funding of ₤195 million;
• total capital value of the first tranche of 42 schemes was ₤711 million, with an average building costing ₤5 million;
• the first LIFT building opened in autumn 2004; 51 had been established across England by December 2005. These joint venture companies have exclusive rights to develop in their local areas over 25 years, using a standard procurement process and subject to value for money tests;
• Although the partners in the LIFTCo contribute equity, about 90 per cent of the capital is provided through debt;
• The properties are owned by LIFTCo and income is earned through rent from tenants such as Primary Care Trusts, GPs, pharmacists and Local Authorities;
• tenants in LIFT buildings lease under Lease Plus Agreements, which cover the whole lifecycle cost of the building; LIFTCo as the landlord is responsible for maintaining the premises to an operational standard throughout the life of the asset. Rent increases are limited to the retail prices index (RPI);416 and
• On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and the Auditor-General, the Committee examined whether LIFT to date has been implemented effectively.
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414 Primary care is the care provided by people normally seen when they first have a health problem. It might be a visit to a doctor or a dentist, an optician for an eye test, or a trip to a pharmacist to buy cough mixture. NHS Walk-in Centres, and the phone line service, NHS Direct, are also part of primary care. All of these services are managed by local Primary Care Trusts (PCT)
415 Primary Care Trusts, local authorities and general practitioners who wish to take a shareholding
416 The Retail Prices Index is an average measure of change in the prices of goods and services bought for the purpose of consumption by the vast majority of households in the United Kingdom. It is compiled and published monthly. Once published, it is never revised