Scotland's PFI liability jumps by £27bn

The Scottish National Party (SNP) claims the UK government is hiding the cost of private finance initiative (PFI) contracts.

It claims the schemes will cost £27bn more during the period to 2032 than stated in the March 2008 budget.

SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie told the BBC that in Chancellor Alistair Darling's March 2008 budget, the expected bill for PFI until 2032 was £188.6bn.

But figures in the pre-budget report show this has gone up to £216.1bn.

"We have always known that PFI was hyper-sensitive, but it is clear that the liability is rocketing out of control," Hosie said.