Allyson Pollock
Encyclopedia
Allyson Pollock is professor of public health research and policy at Queen Mary, University of London
. She was previously director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh
and prior to that was head of the Public Health Policy Unit at University College London
and director of research and development at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
. She is known for her research into, and opposition to, part privatisation of the UK National Health Service
(NHS) via the Private Finance Initiative
(PFI) and other mechanisms.
regarding PFI.
In their statements of evidence, Allyson Pollock and her co-researcher Mark Hellowell argue that capital investment through PFI creates a large public sector cash liability. For example, they claim that the £5.2bn of PFI investment in Scotland has created a public sector cash liability of £22.3bn. This cash liability is 'off balance-sheet' and does not show up on government statistics such as the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
(PSBR).
Pollock and Hellowell also claim that, although the UK government's support for PFI is based on its supposed ability to deliver good value for money, the mechanisms for testing this are skewed. While developing PFI proposals, contracting authorities such as NHS trust
s are required to construct a theoretical alternative to the use of PFI, which compares the value for money offered by a public versus a private finance scheme. The publicly funded alternative is called a 'public sector comparator'. In theory, if this exercise concludes that PFI does not represent good value for money compared to public finance, then the latter should be used for the procurement. However, in practice this rarely happens.
The reasons for this are discussed in a paper co-authored by Pollock and published in the British Medical Journal
. Pollock et al. conclude that the true risks of many privately financed contracts are not calculated correctly. They argue that the system involves a high degree of subjectivity regarding the value of the risk being transferred to the private sector. They take one example of an NHS project in which one of the risks theoretically being transferred was that the target for clinical cost savings would not be met. The cost of this risk was estimated at £5m. However, in practice the private consortium had no responsibility for ensuring that there would actually be clinical cost-savings, and faced no penalty if there were none. The paper concludes therefore that the risk transfer was "spurious".
Jeremy Colman
, former deputy general of the National Audit Office
and the current Auditor General for Wales has supported Pollock's findings. In a Financial Times
article he is quoted as saying that many PFI appraisals suffer from "spurious precision" and others are based on "pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo". Some, he says, are simply "utter rubbish". He noted the pressures on contracting authorities to weight their appraisal in favour of taking their projects down the PFI route: "If the answer comes out wrong you don't get your project. So the answer doesn't come out wrong very often."
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. She was previously director of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and prior to that was head of the Public Health Policy Unit at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and director of research and development at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises the Eastman Dental Hospital, The Heart Hospital, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Royal London Hospital for...
. She is known for her research into, and opposition to, part privatisation of the UK National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
(NHS) via the Private Finance Initiative
Private Finance Initiative
The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
(PFI) and other mechanisms.
Work on PFI
Allyson Pollock has provided evidence to the British Parliament and the Welsh National Assembly regarding PFI. Under her directorship CIPHP provided evidence to the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
regarding PFI.
In their statements of evidence, Allyson Pollock and her co-researcher Mark Hellowell argue that capital investment through PFI creates a large public sector cash liability. For example, they claim that the £5.2bn of PFI investment in Scotland has created a public sector cash liability of £22.3bn. This cash liability is 'off balance-sheet' and does not show up on government statistics such as the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
Public sector borrowing requirement
Public sector borrowing requirement is the old name for the budget deficit in the United Kingdom. The budget deficit has been renamed to the public sector net cash requirement to avoid confusion with net borrowing....
(PSBR).
Pollock and Hellowell also claim that, although the UK government's support for PFI is based on its supposed ability to deliver good value for money, the mechanisms for testing this are skewed. While developing PFI proposals, contracting authorities such as NHS trust
NHS Trust
A National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...
s are required to construct a theoretical alternative to the use of PFI, which compares the value for money offered by a public versus a private finance scheme. The publicly funded alternative is called a 'public sector comparator'. In theory, if this exercise concludes that PFI does not represent good value for money compared to public finance, then the latter should be used for the procurement. However, in practice this rarely happens.
The reasons for this are discussed in a paper co-authored by Pollock and published in the British Medical Journal
British Medical Journal
BMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
. Pollock et al. conclude that the true risks of many privately financed contracts are not calculated correctly. They argue that the system involves a high degree of subjectivity regarding the value of the risk being transferred to the private sector. They take one example of an NHS project in which one of the risks theoretically being transferred was that the target for clinical cost savings would not be met. The cost of this risk was estimated at £5m. However, in practice the private consortium had no responsibility for ensuring that there would actually be clinical cost-savings, and faced no penalty if there were none. The paper concludes therefore that the risk transfer was "spurious".
Jeremy Colman
Jeremy Colman
Jeremy Colman was the Auditor General for Wales.He was born in London in April 1948 and educated at The John Lyon School, Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read Mathematics, and Imperial College, London....
, former deputy general of the National Audit Office
National Audit Office
National Audit Office can refer to:* Australian National Audit Office* National Audit Office * National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China* Swedish National Audit Office...
and the current Auditor General for Wales has supported Pollock's findings. In a Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
article he is quoted as saying that many PFI appraisals suffer from "spurious precision" and others are based on "pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo". Some, he says, are simply "utter rubbish". He noted the pressures on contracting authorities to weight their appraisal in favour of taking their projects down the PFI route: "If the answer comes out wrong you don't get your project. So the answer doesn't come out wrong very often."
External links
- Allyson Pollock homepage