Three councils win share of £1bn PFI cash

26 March 2008

Sheffield, Hounslow and the Isle of Wight have won more than £1bn of highways private-finance initiative (PFI) funding, announced this week by the Department for Transport.

The PFI credits will go towards upgrades and improvements for 25 years. Under the arrangements, Sheffield City Council will receive £663.8M in PFI credits, which includes £79.3M announced in 2007 for a streetlighting PFI scheme; the Isle of Wight Council £325M; and the London Borough of Hounslow £198M.

In Sheffield, the money will be spent bringing all roads up to a high standard through either resurfacing or reconstruction, and then maintaining them at this level.

This will provide ‘a state-of-the-art network for drivers, public transport users, cyclists and pedestrians to use, making potholes a thing of the past,’ said a spokesman. Sheffield is also spending £96M of its own money on highways over the next three years, leading up to the start of the PFI contracts in 2011.

The Isle of Wight Council said the level of cash was ‘unprecedented’, and would allow it to roll out an improvement programme on every stretch of highway on the island.

Council leader, David Pugh, said that although it had been a long process, it was worth it, as the authority would now be able to make ‘much-needed improvements to the road network’.

Suresh Kamath, director for street management and public protection at Hounslow, where the council will also be increasing revenue spending on highways by £2.5M during the 25-year contact, said: ‘We have to upgrade our highway network of 450km and more than 16,000 streetlights, but this money will be spent on the whole of our streetscene, as part of our holistic street-enhancement approach.

‘We will introduce a single contract which will cover everything from fence to fence, including highway maintenance, lighting and street cleansing.’ Matthew Lugg, chair of the UK Roads Board, welcomed the announcement as a step in the right direction.

This is really important for the councils involved. PFI funding is one of the few ways out there for authorities needing to carry out large amounts of work on their highways, since conventional funding won’t be enough,’ he said.

The councils will now draw up an outline business case, with work scheduled to start in 2011. York and Redbridge councils, which were also shortlisted in December, missed out on the funding.

Register now for full access

Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.

Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors. Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.

Already a registered? Login

Sign In

Three councils win share of £1bn PFI cash

buying biaxin

ordering clarithromycin

Register now for full access

Login