Kent private finance initiative scheme will not save money

The National Audit Office has warned that the new Dartford and Gravesham Hospital in Kent, to be built under the private finance initiative (PFI) scheme, may prove more expensive than it would be under traditional methods.

The report on the £177m ($283m) contract signed in 1997, tried to look on the bright side but was “quietly damning”. The trust hoped that the scheme would save £17m ($26.5m) against public procurement, but the true figure of only £5m means that, …