Ulster Unionist Party Economy spokesperson, Alan Chambers MLA, has said that the Department for the Economy and Invest NI must be open in explaining their decisions surrounding the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract and the building, renting and subsequent purchase of Invest NI Headquarters at Bedford Street, Belfast.

Alan Chambers MLA said:

“The history of the building of the Bedford Square HQ for Invest NI, its financing through a PFI contract, the establishment of a company to run it, the incredibly high rent paid by Invest NI, the involvement of NAMA and the eventual sale and purchase of the property deserves closer scrutiny in the wake of the BBC Spotlight programme on PFI.  The story is so convoluted and complex, involving vast sums of public money, that inevitably questions have been raised regarding value for money, due diligence and probity.

“Last year, the former Economy Committee at Stormont asked for clarification about the ownership of Bedford Square, and the nature of the Private Finance Initiative that initially funded it.  This arose out of what we perceived as ambiguity in the last Annual Report of Invest NI, which was tabled at the committee on 7 September 2016.

“My party colleague Steve Aiken MLA raised real concerns about the governance structure of the BSDL group which managed the PFI contract and was acquired by Invest NI.  He pointed out how unusual it was for a government Department to be running and taking over its own PFI.  Of course, this was just before the RHI debacle re-emerged to dominate the political agenda.

“There is a strong case for the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland to look into and report on the Bedford Square issue.  In addition, the currently mothballed Economy Committee at Stormont should re-examine this whole saga.  This will of course require the re-establishment of a functioning Assembly in the next few weeks, but it also requires  the role of the Economy and other Assembly statutory committees to be significantly strengthened.  The Ulster Unionist Party advocated in our manifesto that, in addition to simply advising and assisting Ministers, the committees should have a new duty to scrutinise the work and expenditure of Ministers, their policies and legislative proposals.

“It is essential, if the Assembly comes back, that the public has confidence that the committee system has teeth and the ability to get answers to questions and fully scrutinise the use of public money by all Departments and their agencies.”