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Forth bridge payment plan blocked Forth bridge payment plan blocked
(about 1 hour later)
The new Forth bridge will not be paid for with a cash advance from the UK Treasury.The new Forth bridge will not be paid for with a cash advance from the UK Treasury.
The Chancellor's department has rejected a request from the Scottish Government to spread the cost of the £2bn bridge over 20 years. The Chancellor's department has rejected a request from the Scottish government to spread the cost of the £2bn bridge over 20 years.
Finance Secretary John Swinney had asked for special permission from the UK Government to pay for the new bridge with cash from future capital budgets. Finance Secretary John Swinney had asked for special permission from the UK government to pay for the new bridge with cash from future capital budgets.
But the chief secretary to the treasury said this was not a "credible option".But the chief secretary to the treasury said this was not a "credible option".
Yvette Cooper has suggested alternatives such as building up a big underspend or using a public private partnership (PPP).Yvette Cooper has suggested alternatives such as building up a big underspend or using a public private partnership (PPP).
The Scottish Government said her suggestions were "ridiculous". The Scottish government said her suggestions were "ridiculous".
It now plans to pay for the bridge from existing capital budgets, which means other major public works will have to wait in a queue for funding. The chancellor explained the reasoning for the refusal to BBC Radio Scotland's The Business programme. I am sorry that for ideological reasons they have ruled out using public private partnerships Alastair Darling
He said: "Firstly there is no doubt that we need a second Forth crossing.
"We are happy to work with the Scottish government.
"If you are contemplating large projects like this you do need to make choices.
"The Scottish government's no different from any other large organisations.
"I am sorry that for ideological reasons they have ruled out using public private partnerships.
"We will work with the Scottish government, but their particular scheme where they were asking to borrow money from budgets which are yet to be allocated over an extremely long period - that's something that we simply don't do.
"I think they ought to have been aware of it and they could have found out if they had asked earlier."
The Scottish government now plans to pay for the bridge from existing capital budgets, which means other major public works will have to wait in a queue for funding.