Transport for London

TfL's Bob Kiley condemns haste on PPP
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date 17 April 2001
source Transport for London
type Press release

London Transport's bid to push through the PPP process by naming the preferred bidders after a truncated consultation period was described today by Bob Kiley, Commissioner of Transport for London, as an ill-judged attempt to circumvent aproper consultation process.

Mr. Kiley made his response to London Transport's attempts to impose a consultation period of just 10 working days before the preferred bidders for the London Underground infrastructure are named.

In a letter to Sir Malcolm Bates, chair of LT, London Underground's parent body, Mr. Kiley said: "The so-called consultation report submitted by LRT is simply a summary of the evaluations of the various bids but excludes key information, including all financial information.

"These deadlines, together with the limited ands elective information provided for consultation purposes, renders meaningless any possible role for TfL."

Mr. Kiley added: "The time allotted and the extent and manner of presentation of information onlypermits a rubber stamp consultation, hardly what Parliament had in mind."

Mr. Kiley's anger over the way a proper consultation process has been side-stepped is outlined in his letter to Sir Malcolm.

Mr. Kiley said: "The inadequate process fails to satisfy London Transport's statutory obligation to consult the Mayor and TfL."

He added that the only way for TfL to make an informed judgement was for LT to supply full disclosure, including the following:

o Access to the full reports of each bid team so that perceived risks can be properly evaluated.

o Access to the safety case for each bid team, together with responses to the specific issues raised by the Health and Safety Executive.

o A detailed presentation as to the relativemerits of each bid, compared with the Public Sector Comparator.

o A list of all open commercial and technical issues for each of the bidders.

Other issues raised include how the work of the private Infracos (infrastructure companies) would be monitored and how proposed work would affect the LU network services.

London Transport's sudden deadline before naming the preferred bidders has come only weeks before a judicial review at the High Court on 12 June to determine the legality of LT's proposed course of action over PPP and the future running of London Underground.

Mr. Kiley told Sir Malcolm: "The timing of your action creates the appearance of an attempt to pre-empt the Court's decision.

"TfL's lawyers will be writing to your counsel on this subject."

Railhub Archive ::: 2001-04-17 TfL-001