THE deal struck by health officials to buy themselves out of a private finance initiative which built a new mental health hospital in Darlington makes a lot of sense.

It also casts fresh doubt on the wisdom of the PFI process, pioneered by the old Labour administration. It was, of course, a very New Labour concept, bringing private money in to build public sector infrastructure. At one level, it delivered new capital projects – hospitals, schools and many other public buildings and schemes – quickly, but the cost has been higher than it might have been and a burden for future generations.

Now we can’t afford many of those PFI arrangements, conceived in an altogether different economic environment, a period of continuing boom and no bust, to paraphrase Gordon Brown.

The Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust has managed to extricate itself from the PFI arrangement with the private developer Aviva, which built the West Park hospital, and in doing so will realise savings of £14m over the next 23 years. It’s believed to be the first trust in the country to do so. It’s also a measure of the PFI folly.