Clause 17 - Financial powers
Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill
4:30 pm
Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I do not claim to be an expert on the matter, but is the hon. Gentleman concerned that those hospitals would be treated relatively badly because they would have to finance the pay-off, whereas trusts in a different position would have capital charges to pay back? Is there a way of ensuring that the capital charges in a public scheme are treated in the same way as the costs in a private finance scheme? That might get round the
problem that simply because something was privately financed, the hospital might not qualify for prudential borrowing if those liabilities were counted.