MERSEYSIDE councils could foot the bill for a £166m spending spree on new health centres, they were warned last night.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) have spent the money building the facilities with the private sector over the past couple of years.

But councils may end up paying the £17.45m annual cost of renting the buildings when PCTs are abolished in 2013.

Once PCTs are axed the commissioning of care will be transferred to groups of family doctors.

But local councils will become responsible for public health and it is feared the cost of maintaining the new facilities will fall on local authorities. The Department of Health said that it was too early to say who would be expected to pick up the liabilities of its Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) buildings.

Senior Liverpool Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Clein, who is a pharmacist, said: “These are hefty sums to be shelling out each year.

“If these payments are going to be devolved to councils the Government needs to provide the funding.”

The £13.8m mini-hospital currently under construction in Garston, which replaces the Sir Alfred Jones memorial hospital, is being funded under the LIFT scheme.

LIFT is another form of public-private partnership. Unlike Private Finance Initiative it involves the creation of a profit-making company to own the buildings.

The NHS has a stake in the company, but the private sector must have a controlling interest.

The buildings are then leased back to NHS.