London Underground public private partnership: emerging findings

2001-07-18 Mayor says public has a right to know truth on PPP (Mayor of London)

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date 31 July 2001
source Transport for London
type Press release

The High Court today overturned an injunction preventing Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, and Bob Kiley, Commissioner of Transport for London, from publishing an independent analysis of whether the government's PPP for the London Underground provides value for money. Mr Kiley and Mr Livingstone had intended to publish the report by Deloitte Touche edited to remove commercially sensitive information.

In his judgement Mr Justice Sullivan said: 'The public interest demands this information be published.'

Emphasizing the seriousness of the issues, Mr Justice Sullivan said: `Whether the government's PPP meets the value for money test is a matter of vital concern to Londoners.'

The judge emphasized that the public debate on the PPP must be informed by freedom of information about a matter of vital public interest by `a highly reputable organization - Deloitte Touche'. He said the report was `a serious critique, by a serious player' of the value for money of the PPP.

The court did not accept arguments that the report should not be published in case it encouraged unsuccessful bidders to doubt the process of selecting a preferred bidder.

Mr Justice Sullivan made clear that he did not view this as a finely balanced case, rather: `The balance comes down very firmly in favour of making this information available.'

The judge accepted Mr Kiley and Mr Livingstone's proposal to publish an edited version of the document, stating: `There is no doubt that this is a case where the public interest demands that the information be published.'

The judge refused to give London Underground leave to appeal but he did delay lifting the injunction for 21 days to allow London Underground to apply directly for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Veteran freedom of speech QC Lord Lestor, acting for Mr Kiley and Mr Livingstone, told the court: 'It's 14 years since I argued Spycatcher. I argued it 16 times. I never thought to argue it a 17th time. I am frankly astonished by the arguments we have heard this morning.'

Ken Livingstone commented: `The court rejected all of London Underground's reasons for suppressing this report. It is a decisive judgement. The PPP has been shrouded in secrecy because it cannot withstand public scrutiny.'

Railhub Archive ::: 2001-07-31 TfL-001