MORE than a quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers' money has been spent on Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) by Surrey County Council in the last 15 years.
And it is estimated that by the time the contracts reach their end date, the taxpayer will have paid out an estimated £844,700,000 for services not provided by the council.
PFIs, which involve private companies paying for projects which local authorities repay over a lengthy period, have been used to pay for waste management, the installation and maintenance of street lights, and residential care for the elderly since 1998.
To date, the council's biggest PFI contract is with waste management service SITA UK, which was taken out in September 1999 and had cost the council £241.1 million as of March 2011.
The contract is for the operation of four waste transfer stations, 15 community recycling centres, the disposal and recycling of all waste collected and the development of capital infrastructure.
But if the cost projections stay the same until the contract expires in 2024, the total cost of the contract will be £482.2 million
Other contracts include payments to Surrey Lighting Services Ltd for the replacement and maintenance of 89,000 street-lighting columns, at a cost of £12 million a year by 2015. A third contract went to care home provider Anchor, which currently costs the council £18 million a year for the provision of residential and day care services to older people. It is due to end in 2018.
According to the council, contracts are awarded after a "comprehensive competitive tendering process" to make sure they are value for money, and are closely monitored once they become active.
In the case of the SITA UK contract, the council had to get the Government's approval before it could be signed.
And council spokeswoman Joy Ridley said that in most cases the council is able to cancel a PFI with 12 months' notice – although compensation may have to be paid to the affected company.
She added: "Providing local taxpayers with maximum value for money is a key priority in all our contract negotiations, and by driving a hard bargain we secure deals that ensure we do our very best to provide more for less for Surrey's taxpayers."
Some residents questioned, however, whether they were getting the best deal.
Ken McDougall, 51, from Redhill, said: "I think it's an unbelievable amount of money. This council doesn't have a good reputation for thrift so I don't know if they're getting value for money."
Sarah Abbatt, 47, who lives in Redhill, said: "What would be the alternative? I think it would be better done in-house but the way things are now, these things get signed because the council gets a better deal."
What PFI contracts does the council have, and how much have they cost the taxpayer? Surrey Lighting Services Ltd Contract went to tender in 2004/5 but began in 2012. During the first year the cost of the contract was about £6.5 million but this has risen each year and will peak at £12 million by 2015. The contract covers the replacement and maintenance of 89,000 street lighting columns and runs until March 2035. Anchor The contract began in 1998 and has a current annual value of £18 million. The PFI is for Anchor to provide the provision of residential and day care services to older people and expires in 2018 SITA UK Payments to SITA started in September 1999 and will run to September 2024. As of March 2011, the contract had cost £241,100,000 for the operation of 4 waste transfer stations, 15 community recycling centres, the disposal and recycling of all waste collected and the development of capital infrastructure