The long wait for the Scottish Futures Trust to begin building new public infrastructure was almost at an end yesterday.

The long wait for the Scottish Futures Trust to begin building new public infrastructure was almost at an end yesterday.

The first pilot area announced the opening of bidding for a private partner to co-manage projects over the next 20 years.

The new concept will see a profit-split between public and private sectors where private finance has to be levered in, but some projects could be financed by traditional public procurement, it was claimed.

The south-east of Scotland will be the first area to trial the "hub initiative" in which all the local authorities, health and emergency services in a region combine with a private company to create a new "hub co" to commission future buildings such as health and community centres, many of them to be shared.

To critics it is just another variant of the Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnerships, but the Scottish Futures Trust insists that it will come to be seen as a genuine innovation in ensuring value for the public purse.

Initial projects will include a library/community centre in Edinburgh's Drumbrae area, community centres in Muirhouse and Firrhill in Edinburgh and in Blackburn, West Lothian, and a GP surgery and day care centre in Gullane, East Lothian.

SFT chief executive Barry White said of the hub concept: "This will maximise value for money by promoting local collaboration between the public and private sectors."

A spokesman for SFT insisted the concept differed from previous schemes in that the private partner only assists in the initial management of contracts and is not involved in the design and build phase.

But David Whitton, Labour shadow finance minister, said: "The SNP have spent two years dithering over the Scottish Futures Trust to produce a scheme that experts say is no different from PFI."