Press Releases

OGC to chair Local Authority PFI Project Review Group

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is to take over the responsibility for the chairmanship and management of the inter-departmental Project Review Group (PRG) from the Treasury Taskforce, Peter Gershon, Chief Executive announced today.

Welcoming this development, Peter Gershon said:

"The Project Review Group (PRG) has had an impressive two and a half years helping Departments to prioritise projects and helping local authorities ensure that their PFI projects are properly prepared before coming to market.

"I welcome the challenges to OGC in building on this record and in responding to the additional opportunities that the finalised spending review will create in modernising services across the country. We look forward to working closely with Departments and local authorities to meet these challenges."

"With the agreement of the relevant sponsor Departments I have appointed Peter Stanton-Ife of the OGC's Private Finance Unit to chair the PRG."

The approval mechanisms for English local authority PFI projects, which require central government support, remain broadly unchanged from previous arrangements. In particular, Departments will continue to be responsible for determining the priority of projects they wish to submit to PRG.

Partnerships UK, the successor body to the Treasury Taskforce Project Team, has withdrawn from day-to-day involvement in the PRG process. Departments have agreed that Partnerships UK will only be involved in the appraisal of PRG projects where there is clearly no conflict of interest with its role in co-sponsoring some local authority projects.

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The approval framework for local authority PFI projects requiring central government support includes the consideration of business cases by the Project Review Group. The PFG is chaired by the OGC with members drawn from the sponsoring government departments. The sponsoring departments are Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), Department of Health (DOH), Home Office (HO) and the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD). The 4Ps attend all meetings of the PRG as observers, as does a representative of HM Treasury Local Authority Spending Team.
• PRG oversees the approval process and has the task of ensuring the viability of all local authority PFI projects which receive revenue support before they go into procurement. The PRG meets regularly throughout the year to discuss and reach decisions on projects in line for support.
• As well as approving all schemes to be allocated PFI Credits, the PRG also monitors the progress of approved schemes throughout their procurement. The Department of Environment, Transport and Regions will publish and update the list of projects that have been endorsed and that are in line for revenue support, approximately three times a year. A timetable for PRG meetings is published regularly.
• Details of PRG mechanisms together with an explanation of how local authority PFI schemes can be structured within the framework of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance) Regulations are set out in detail on DETR's website at http://www.local-regions.detr.gov.uk/pfi/index.htm.
• Peter Stanton-Ife may be contacted at Office of Government Commerce, Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8AE : telephone 020 7211 1340, fax 020 7211 1346 or by e-mail at peter.stanton-ife@ogc.gsi.gov.uk
• The PRG Secretariat contact is Agnes Burke at OGC : telephone 020 7211 1349, fax 020 7211 1346 or be e-mail at agnes.burke@ogc.gsi.gov.uk
• Details of relevant departmental contacts can be found at: http://www.local-regions.detr.gov.uk/pfi/23.htm#con
• Press Enquiries to Malcolm Graves on 020 7211 1366. This press release can be found on the OGC's website at www.ogc.gov.uk