The State spent 18.3 million euros more than expected in 2022, with public-private partnerships (PPP) in healthcare, which slipped by 15 million, and the railways, which suffered a deviation of 3.3 million, according to the report. of the Technical Budget Support Unit (UTAO), released yesterday, which compares expenditure execution between January and December of last year and budgeted by the government.
In particular, the higher-than-expected increase in costs with Hospital de Loures, which ceased to be a public partnership with the private Luz Saúde in 2022, and with the sub-concession of Metro do Porto to the company Viaporto, of the Barraqueiro group, explain the discrepancy in spending, according to the delegate support unit.
In 2022, the implementation of costs with PPP in the health sector amounted to 163 million euros, with an unfavorable deviation of 15 million euros compared to the National Budget for 2022, which estimated a lower expenditure of 148 million euros. Parliament’s experts point out that for this reason there was “an overall implementation level of 110.1%”, noting that the item with the most significant contribution to this variance was “Protocols/Others”, in which an implementation level of 280, 5% was observed (unfavorable deviation of 22.8 million euros). In this point, UTAO emphasizes the significant weight, in the increase of costs, of the payment of 18.3 million euros to the management body of the Hospital of Loures, in accordance with an arbitration decision, in relation to the HIV/AIDS protocol” .
The study also shows that about 35 million euros, equivalent to 21.8% of the total costs borne by PPP care, of 163 million euros, did not fit into the management contracts, a sharp increase in 2022 compared to 19 million euros or 7.7% of last year’s expenses. This deterioration compared to the same period “results largely from the payment made in 2022 to the management body of the Hospital de Loures”, according to UTAO.
Despite these slippages, there was a year-on-year cost reduction in PPP care in 2022 of 78 million euros or 32.5% compared to the previous year, a period in which the state treasury spent 241 million euros. However, this reduction is below estimate. The national budget provided for a total expense of 148 million euros, which is a cost reduction of 93 million euros or 38.6%. The reduction in expenditure in this area was due to the end of the contracts for the provision of clinical services with the managing authorities of the establishment of the hospitals of Vila Franca de Xira and Loures, which ceased to be PPP in 2021 and 2022 respectively . At the moment there is only one public-private partnership in healthcare, which was extended last year: Hospital de Cascais.
UTAO engineers indicate that since 2019 there has been a decrease in these costs, which is mainly related to the end of PPP, with another contraction estimated for 2023, of seven million euros or 4.1%. “If this prediction comes true, the state will have cut spending on PPPs in health care by EUR 313 million over the course of five years (2019 to 2023), ”he emphasizes. However, the study cautions that, in consolidated terms, this easing does not necessarily mean a decline in government spending on health care. Rather, it means that the form of health care was transferred to public corporate entities such as the hospitals in Braga, Vila Franca de Xira and Loures, which were previously PPS.
With regard to public-private rail partnerships, the government spent 58.1 million euros last year, 3.3 million more than budgeted in the national budget, which indicated a global expenditure of 54.8 million euros. That is, the execution rate was 106%. The only contribution to this unfavorable variance was the cost slippage with the Metro do Porto sub-concession, amounting to EUR 4.9 million, driven by the additional payment of the monthly fixed and variable components in arrears (EUR 3.4 million) and a transfer not budgeted, of 1.5 million euros, under the aging management protocol, to the private partner Viaporto, of the Barraqueiro group, according to the same report.
In this case, public expenditures in railway PPPs, as opposed to the health sector, increased year-on-year by €5.4 million or 10.2% compared to 2021, the year in which expenditures reached €52.7 million reached. Again, this increase is due to cost growth with Metro do Porto, as the other partnerships experienced a decline or stagnation. The costs of the Metro Sul do Tejo concession to Barraqueiro fell by 1.9 million to 7.5 million euros, as a result of the recovery in passenger numbers, which had fallen sharply due to covid-19. This also reduced the compensation for insufficient traffic. For Fertagus, which belongs to the same economic group and which makes the train crossing of the Tagus between Lisbon and the south bank, no costs were recorded because the fare reductions, in the framework of the Navegante passes, for 40 euros, and Metropolitano, for 30 euros, established in 2019, are not compensated by the Central Administration, but by Área Metropolitana de Lisboa.
Overall, and taking into account all sectors, spending fell by 12.3% to €1,326 million in 2022, above the budget forecast which pointed to a 6.7% reduction.
Overall, and taking into account all sectors, the net cost of the State with PPP decreased by 12.3% to EUR 1,326 million in 2022, above the budget forecast which pointed to a reduction of 6.7%. In other words, there was a favorable deviation of EUR 85 million, below the estimated allocation. Also on a downward path, investments by private partners fell by 27% to 166 million euros. From 1998 to the end of 2022, the money private companies invested in PPPs amounted to EUR 16,137 million, of which 87.6% or EUR 14,131 million relates to the road sector.
Source: DN
