Malcolm Fraser has been campaigning against PPP – Scotland’s ruinous Private Finance policies for public buildings – since he resigned from A+DS over the matter, in 2006.
Most recently he has been working with partners at Jubilee Scotland, the Common Weal (of which he is Board Convenor), the European Services Strategy Unit and statisticians to critique the current malaise and set-out a path to prudential Public Funding that uses the existing “LEIP” Public Finance and other levers as a route forward.
The recent feature in the Sunday Herald on 26th Feburary, "Revealed: The £8.5bn bill for £2.9bn of Scots infrastructure projects", notes that Scotland is spending £8.5billion to achieve a mere £2.9billion of infrastructure – an incredible drain on future resources, and with a legacy of many buildings that are manifestly shoddy - see image of Oxgangs Primary School, 2016.
The team has co-authored the Report “Financing Public Scotland” on the Jubilee Scotland Website and Malcolm has sought to make clear that this is not just an issue of financial propriety, but that a proper public route should lead to more responsible public buildings and infrastructure, with the public interest leading rather than retrofitted onto a financial model, with issues of carbon, retrofit, placemaking and health and wellbeing at their hearts.
There is cross-party support in the Parliament and formal “Sponsors” from all main parties, and Malcolm is hosting a launch in Holyrood on 23 March.
