You won't believe how much money privatisation is wasting EVERY WEEK

Man looking shocked at his bills on the kitchen table

13 September 2019

This week, IPPR revealed the shocking cost of PFI contracts in the NHS. In total, by the time all these contracts are paid off, the NHS will have spent a staggering £80 billion, in return for just £13 billion of initial investment. The waste is appalling.

We could spend that money on doctors and nurses salaries, or on improving treatments, or making sure young mental health inpatients don’t have to stay in hospitals hundreds of miles away from their family and friends because of a lack of beds. 

But this is just part of the story. Privatisation of ALL of our public services is a costly waste, and has to stop. It’s OUR taxes and OUR bills that get wasted on shareholder profits, extra admin costs, and higher interest rates on borrowed money. 

We sat down to figure out just how much privatisation is costing us every week:

Rail - £1 billion a year or £19 million a week

Buses - £506 million a year or £9.7 million a week

Water - £2.3 billion a year or £44 million a week

Energy - £3.2 billion a year or £61 million a week

NHS - £6.65 billion a year or £128 million a week*.​

(*The cost of maintaining the internal market is (at a very conservative estimate) £4.5 billion a year or £86 million a week.  Add that to £2.15 billion a year in 2020-2021 on PFI contracts, and all together, the NHS is wasting £6.65 billion at a minimum every year - or £128 million a week. We need to end privatisation in our NHS as soon as possible to end this waste, especially with trade deals on the horizon. Take action here.)

Let’s add that up.

Every week, privatisation means more than £250 million of public money is wasted. 

What a shocking waste. Imagine how much better our public services could be with that money.

Bringing our services into public ownership is a good investment - it will pay for itself. We need to bring our services into public ownership as soon as possible, including these wasteful PFI deals so that we can cut out the middle man - which will pay for itself in two years

Make sure your friends know what a rip-off privatisation is, and how much of a great deal public ownership will be - share this blog on facebook and twitter.

Let's stop wasting our money on privatisation! 

Man looking shocked at his bills on the kitchen table

Do you believe in public services for people not profit?

Win campaigns for public ownership by subscribing to our mailing list! We'll hold your data in accordance with our privacy policy and send you carefully chosen information about current and future campaigns, projects and appeals. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Comments

Taraneh Ahmadi-... replied on Permalink

I totally agree with you on privatisation of public services .it is immoral and wasteful , and it is designed to profit from our hard earned taxes . Public services are not there for shareholders profit .. We need to take it back in public hands as soon as possible.

David Homer replied on Permalink

You could add Royal Mail to your list as prices have shot up and service standards have plummeted since privatisation. The workers now face a battle to preserve working terms and conditions in the usual mercenary pursuit of profit after the vultures take control.

Brian Russell replied on Permalink

I was an RMT Rep until i retired So I've fought the privatisation of the railways from the start

Kelvin Lewis replied on Permalink

Our families have payed so much only to make money for those financier who don’t use the NHS

Edward Robert Tate replied on Permalink

We knew it was a rip off, but such sums are staggering!!!

stuart radford replied on Permalink

NHS for the public not for profiteerng scum

stuart radford replied on Permalink

NHS for the public not for profiteerng scum

Brendan replied on Permalink

PFI contracts should be scrapped it is a absolutely waste of public money. Whoever set these contracts up should have known the consequences regarding the amount of money the tax payers would have had to pay back. Government should use the law to make sure you see if all challenges as the public don’t need to be taken to high court to lose their battle.

Charis Fygetakis replied on Permalink

Privatisation of services meant to serve the public means that few benefit at the expense of the majority.

That is just not right!

Arthur Leewis replied on Permalink

More than 10 years ago, I was one of the few that saw this rip-off materialising, and I made this clear on a number of occasions. The stance of government then, as now, was/is that the NHS and other organisations were not allowed to borrow to build hospitals, schools etc. I was silenced under a barrage of “ You don’t know what you’re talking about” pressure, and my working life was made very difficult, because I made my view clear at different levels of our NHS Trust, so much so that I eventually resigned. What needs to be done is that all PFI contracts are declared paid for after 10 years, the contractor will have recouped his investment by this time. If not, tough for the contractor. I always maintained PFI was a license to print money for the contractor. It should not be allowed to make excessive gains for public projects. There should be a modest gain, e.g. 8% for the contractor, which could be taxed differently to normal corporation tax.

Neil Forshaw replied on Permalink

A disgraceful waste of public money.

Roland Laycock replied on Permalink

This is the same with all privatised companies,

I worked in the Telecom Industry (Post Office Telecom) and it as not advanced since the day it was privatised, only thing that as advised is the price you pay for poor service.

Rachel Boulton replied on Permalink

Have you done a dividend calculation - because I think the sums above include the pathetic amount spent on infrastructure.

Jennifer Hall replied on Permalink

This is scandalous. Makes a mockery of the paltry erroneous sum of the 350 million a week for the NHS that BJ , NF and the brexiteers offered as a bribe to attract Brexit supporters, Wish we'd had these figures earlier.

John HARRIES-COULMAN replied on Permalink

Yes it is deindtly time to stop privatisation. Which is only for the rich.

Fiona Cameron replied on Permalink

I fully believe that our N.H.S is one of the finest institutions in the world , without it we would have a joke of a system like the do in the USA where people are allowed to suffer and die unless they are mega rich

We need to protect it with all our might , I come from a generation that has never lived without it , however remember stories from my grandma who had ,she knew of families that had babies dying because there was no money to bring a dr to the house , she ran a soup kitchen and had stories of those days that made me gals even as a child those days were gone , and I felt safe ,

I no longer feel safe , we have food banks , the N.H.S is in its 70s a human life span , I feel it fragile , and in need of our efforts to protect , respect , and value it , this can not be done by the present govt those who selfishly want to destroy it and privatise our NHS , I also believe that other essential services should be free of greedy fat cats making fortunes at the expense of all

stella shackle replied on Permalink

I was livid to read about the fact that the NHS owed £208 million - Why? Successive governments have

made changes to this amazing institution, and not always for the best, or I wonder with the best of

intentions as far as the Tories are concerned. I came into healthcare later in life, when I had the

opportunity to qualify as an Occupational therapist at the Royal London Hospital in 1992. I then witnessed

changes directly for myself, and the effect they had on every single person involved in patient care.

I think there should be a law to state that governments can establish the funding requirements, but only

with all NHS organisations - a 'big ask' maybe but a vital one. The money is the 'ring fenced' The running

of these establishments is then closely scrutinising and monitoring at a local level, by local experts, and not

a national establishment such as the CQC.

stella shackle replied on Permalink

I was livid to read about the fact that the NHS owed £208 million - Why? Successive governments have

made changes to this amazing institution, and not always for the best, or I wonder with the best of

intentions as far as the Tories are concerned. I came into healthcare later in life, when I had the

opportunity to qualify as an Occupational therapist at the Royal London Hospital in 1992. I then witnessed

changes directly for myself, and the effect they had on every single person involved in patient care.

I think there should be a law to state that governments can establish the funding requirements, but only

with all NHS organisations - a 'big ask' maybe but a vital one. The money is the 'ring fenced' The running

of these establishments is then closely scrutinising and monitoring at a local level, by local experts, and not

a national establishment such as the CQC.

Alan Bond replied on Permalink

Those of us with any sense knew what the figures were right from the start and we were betrayed by tony b liar who sold us down the river. Meanwhile, the tories cronies have remained on the bandwagon and WE are the ones who are losing out.

Carol replied on Permalink

Not only do we waste this money, that could be better used for our healthcare, prevention of illness could be better funded.

We also need to recoup the £ that's not collected from foreign visitors taking advantage of our HNS.

When abroad I had to prove I had travel insurance & EHIC card after an accident to get the emergency service to help me. Why are we not doing it here???

George Jeffreys replied on Permalink

We need public control of rail, water, ports, canals, airports, ferries, NHS, Met Office, Land Registry, FE, National Grid, Prisons, armed forces and aerospace. We also need co-ops & worker control.

Alex replied on Permalink

Couldnt agree more! We need strong communities to defend against the parasitic bodies that render the NHS and our services unable to function properly and tax us over and over!40 years of robbery and roll back of rights for the poor-a Nanny State for the rich and an early death and debt for us!

Alex replied on Permalink

Couldnt agree more! We need strong communities to defend against the parasitic bodies that render the NHS and our services unable to function properly and tax us over and over!40 years of robbery and roll back of rights for the poor-a Nanny State for the rich and an early death and debt for us!

Louise Stothard replied on Permalink

Whatever has bee,n is or is in danger of being privatised needs to be returned/turned over to public ownership

Peter Evans replied on Permalink

Our money should be spent on nationalised industries and services, definitely not paying for private sector scams.

Adele Fletcher replied on Permalink

This Government must stop putting the financial interests of itself & corporate companies & their shareholders before the interest of the population. Renationalise every service, put back into public hands.

Keith Shipsey replied on Permalink

There would be enough resource to service mankind, if the small minority that control our planet were not so hell bent on gathering and secreting the vast proportion of the wealth of the world and in the process using all such means as chasing the cheapest labour , using slave labour, and progressively destroying the environment instead of protecting it.

wilfred phillips replied on Permalink

Sadly it is too late to do anything about the vast sums of money wasted on interest paid and due on the PFI loans. We can however by clearly thought out legislation make sure it can not happen again.

Amanda Bouskill replied on Permalink

This is what a lot of people are unaware of & think on it as scaremongering. The truth has been withheld from us so long that people don't know what to believe.

Susan Saullo replied on Permalink

This is staggering !!!!!

Kathryn Bhola replied on Permalink

We must bring the public services into public ownership, especially the NHS which was never, and should not now, be a profit making company. It should be for healthcare, services and treatment for the sick, not a profit making company for the shareholders.

Valerie Kerry replied on Permalink

We must save our NHS ! OUR Nurseing Staff do a GREAT JOB & should get look after much better ?

Z. Sullivan replied on Permalink

I hope the fact that the EU treaties (Rome, Lisbon, Maastricht), mean as long as we are involved with the EU we are "directed" to sell-off our services & would be unable to re-nationalise! France is now preparing their state owned railways to be sold privately as EU require this!!

Surely Labour's 'customs union' would tie us in to this??

Jenny Tomkinson replied on Permalink

Agree a needless waste. Brexit has also been an appalling waste of public funding..

Aneurin Davies replied on Permalink

Democratic Socialism seeks to restrain the destructive excesses of Capitalism and Government's use of Taxes and Resources into creating opportunities for the Many Not The elite Few.

joan taplin replied on Permalink

Put a stop to all of this ASAP!!

Ian leggat replied on Permalink

James Meek Private Island still best expose of the shenanigans

https://www.versobooks.com/books/1731-private-island

Gordon Keegan replied on Permalink

On top of the scandalous PFI payments,we have to look at the new management structures. The legal teams that commission (private companies) services,private sector advisory teams, all this money comes from the NHS pot, and costs the taxpayer billions a year.

thomas lamb replied on Permalink

I am appalled at the waste.

mike perkins replied on Permalink

I am very dissatisfied by the large number of bus services that are continually reducing due to profit motive and private ownership.

Janet Courtenay replied on Permalink

Stop this lunacy, we are always crying about not having enough money for our services.

Now we know how much of OUR MONEY you are wasting. You are bringing down organisations such as the NHS when you should be I N V E S T I N G it them not throwing it away on companies that are trying to destroy the companies owned by the PUBLIC.

Christine Davies replied on Permalink

The NHS was launched by Aneurin Bevan the Labour Party in 1948 offering free health care for the people of Britain. The government at the time were given responsibility to ensure that this service would not be sold to private owners but always belong and stay with the people of Britain, therefor the NHS BELONGS TO US and a law passed that it will NEVER fall into privatisation of any kind or be taken over by any foreign buyer, eg. America.

Please read information about the NHS and understand the implications if ever we should loose it. Type: Aneurin Bevan and the Health Service, on computer or mobile.

Anthony Hetherington replied on Permalink

these services should all be brought back from the private sector

Helen Evison replied on Permalink

I don't know why people don't realise the phenomenal cost of privatisation. I have always known that private services have to pay shareholders so that there is not so much to fund the services themselves. Privatisation of the NHS costs the service more money so there is less to spend on doctors and nurses and patient needs.

Sandra Walter replied on Permalink

Nationalisation is the only fair way forward. Services should be making profits which are used to improve services and NOT to line the pockets of a few companies and their shareholders.

Sandra Walter replied on Permalink

Nationalisation is the only fair way forward. Services should be making profits which are used to improve services and NOT to line the pockets of a few companies and their shareholders.

Jean Edwards replied on Permalink

I believe very strongly in our NHS and it should stay in Public ownership. I am now 83 years of age and I have been into the hospital for four operations and have received consultant care and nursing care each time I have been admitted. Check ups from consultants and nursing staff following my operations have been excellent and I couldn't have been treated any better. We will lose this first class and excellent service if the NHS is privatised, we will find we have to pay for it through private insurance that wont come cheap. My worry is coming out of the EU is a danger to our NHS and Donald Trump stepping in and our NHS could become part of the American system. One of the Lies told by Boris Johnson and other conservative MPs when the referendum came to the Country was £350 million to go into our NHS if we leave the EU. We now know this is not going to happen. The Country as been divided over Brexit and I find it very sad.

George Howe replied on Permalink

This has being going on since Mrs Thatcher. The politicians behind this were Tories initially but when Labour came to power they just continued same old policies. Shameful of that Labour government but wasn't that the same government that joined American President George Bush in a illegal war in Iraq ? Capital runs the world !! God help us all !

S. Bell replied on Permalink

The present government are guilty of PFI mark Two. Most of the companies which are involved in this scam have mps in their pockets. the government pour "our" money and mps reap the cash.Doubles all round. The USA will fleece the NHS. The poor will pay with their lives. Thank you S. Bell

hetty replied on Permalink

Yep must have been the biggest SCAM on the planet, Labour party carried this out btw. Scotland is £BILLIONS in 'debt' to private companies for the next 25-30 years, for far from adequate builds, hospitals and schools, some not safe! The contracts cannot be reversed. and the buildings will not belong to the city or be in public hands even after the 30 years of debt. So you have councils like Edinburgh owe £1BILLION to private companies, it's a huge 'debt' across Scotland's councils. Labour's legacy. It's money taken away from essential services, improving infrastructure and making buildings safe! Not only that, the contracts also meant that hospital staff were forced to paymhuge amounts to private companies just to park at their place of work! The Scotgov ie SNP have managed to at least part put a stop to that.

What an utter disgrace and you can bet your bottom dollar that the throughers who made this policy are sitting in the HOL's paid £300 a day plus expenses, or even have shares in the private companies. It's corruption on agrand scale by a supposedly left wing government. A crime against the people.

Where is the media on this? State run right wing media hide this kind of crime from the people.

renationalising services etc will not wipe out the so called 'DEBT' of Labours' legacy that was PFI. Ps SNP have scrapped PFI we now have

NFP ( not for profit) though still usng private companies because as with railways, we are forced by UK England gov to keep services private! Though Scottish water is not private no thanks to Labour who privatised the non domestic arm of SW< and planned to priavtise the domestic arm as well had they held onto Holyrood!

Great Britain eh, ripped off by the government, only on eof 3 in the world to have an UNELECTED house, ie House of Lords! No where near democratic.

Heather Wilson replied on Permalink

Ps where can we see comments for this please?

Really important to make that open to people signing!

Charles Church replied on Permalink

Privatisations benefit the few not the many Boris will have us Americanised and some will make a bomb!

Wendy fletcher replied on Permalink

Why should the very basic needs of the people be priced in the private sector in such a way as to cater for The burden of keeping shareholders happy. This punishes everyone but mainly the poorer in our society. This is deeply, ethically questionable.

Suzanne Whitmore replied on Permalink

Stop wasting money. It should be used to fund essential services for British people.

margaret gordon replied on Permalink

privatisation does not mean better management. It means huge salary increases for senior management,profits go to shareholders and not mainly towards improving the business. Many previously public assets are now owned by other countries so their loyalty is divided.

Penny Jones replied on Permalink

I remember when these services were first made public- it was wonderful! Before then my mother had worried if we could afford to see the doctor! Do think controls should be put in place to avoid wastage. But to reinstate

the old system is madness!

Michael Skinner replied on Permalink

It does not say how the figures e calculated. If it is the total cost then it does not calculate what it provided for that. It also assumes that anything spent on doctors and nurses is good value.

Eddie Dougall replied on Permalink

I totally agree with you: we, the public, are being ripped off for the benefit of the private companies running (fleecing) the former public services. Also benefitting are the shareholders (many in politics) who bought into the various privatisations at knock-down prices.

Colette Quinn replied on Permalink

Keep Fighting. Never Give Up.

David McClarty replied on Permalink

I wonder how much of that money finds it's way into ministers pockets.

Viki Miller replied on Permalink

You can have competition without privatisation.

Margaret Bradshaw replied on Permalink

I absolutely agree that this government is wasting tax payers money on privatisation of services.

Hopefully we will soon see a change of regime.

Gary Bowman replied on Permalink

What about the banks we took into public ownership during the World financial crisis that they caused (with another looming apparently) being sold off at a knock down price. The fantasy of the garden bridge, the cut down in refuse collection that has led local councils to spend millions cleaning up after fly tippers. The list just goes on and on!

Jon DeGeorge replied on Permalink

Agreed unanimously.

Simply put: public services should be for people, not profit. (In other words, the 99%, not the 1%.)

John Carlisle replied on Permalink

Two things: 1. You are under-estimating the costs by not putting in the collateral damage, e.g. the defunding of Social Care put up bed delays in the NHS by 60% in 2106/17. This is 70,000/month at £500/day overall, which amounts to £420,000,000 EXTRA for the year. Now consider what it costs for the unarrested criminal, the unsupervision of people of probation, the ward that has half the nursing capacity - unnecessary deaths.Billions! The the human cost.

2. I am really pleased you have not followed the current trend of Trump/NHS comments. It is almost becoming a dead cat. The figures you have given say it across the piece, i.e. utter incompetence in delivering even policies that are based on neolib mindsets. Tories could not run a cake stall.

Add new comment