New Development: The PFI: Scotland's Plan for Expansion and its Implications.

The public expenditure implications of PFI projects in Scotland's NHS are substantial. This article compares PFI capital expenditure with projected unitary charges, examines the annual cost of existing PFI schemes and looks at future costs arising from the planned expansion of PFI. Unless the new Scottish National Party-led administration applies the breaks, the annual cost of PFI to Scotland's NHS is to increase almost five-fold, from £107.1 million in 2005/06 to £500 million by the early part of the next decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]