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21st November 2006 A Green Party motion raising concerns over the financial burden to be faced by NHS Trusts in Oxfordshire - when over £30m of PFI payments become due next year – was passed by the City Council on Monday 20th November. The motion was proposed by City Green Group Leader Cllr Craig Simmons. Says Cllr Simmons, “the already underfunded NHS will be further burdened by the PFI payments which will become due on the John Radcliffe and Churchill developments over the next two years. These additional costs amount to more that £30m only some of which will be offset by savings. The Greens are extremely concerned that the private companies will profit whilst services will decline further. Of course these new facilities are welcome – but for them to be truly sustainable, the funding should have come from the Government. Our aim in drafting this motion is to try and secure additional money from the Government to plug this shortfall.” Text of motion: "In the light of the funding crisis being faced this year by the NHS in Oxfordshire, this Council is concerned that the additional £20.8 million per year which will become payable by the Oxford Radcliffe Trust when the PFI buildings at the John Radcliffe site are completed in mid-2007 and the £16.3 million which will become payable when the Cancer Centre at the Churchill is finished in 2008 could lead to further cuts in NHS services for the people of Oxford. The Council therefore instructs the appropriate officer to write to the Secretary of State for Health expressing these concerns and requesting that additional resources are made available by the Government to offset the PFI payments."
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