Contractor told to get on and fix unholy mess of city roads Council punishes Amey for potholed streets by docking millions in payments
BIRMINGHAM’S roads contractor has been ordered to sort out the city’s pothole-ravaged streets after they were condemned as “unacceptable”.
The city council has demanded Amey get on with repairing the appalling state of the roads after the firm tried and failed to rip up its £2.7 billion maintenance deal until 2035.
In a withering assessment of the company’s performance, assistant highways boss Kevin Hicks said the authority had spent four years trying to get Amey to make good on its commitments.
He said: “The council notes that Amey has stated that it wishes to withdraw from its contract in Birmingham.
“During the last four years we have tried a number of ways to get Amey to provide the investment that they signed up to and that is needed on our highways network.
“We are disappointed that Amey has not provided that investment and as a result they have performed poorly.
“It is this poor performance that has led to significant deductions in payment to Amey.
“We need to address the unaccep-
We need to address the unacceptable condition of our roads
table condition of our roads, which is evident through the number of potholes that we all see.
“The way forward must provide the best possible value to the public purse, delivered by a contractor who can give us the confidence and assurance that the required services can be delivered properly.”
Amey previously announced it was facing a £209 million loss after losing a Court of Appeal case to the council earlier this year.
The company was found to have “deliberately” left defects in selected roads after wrongly reinterpreting the contract in its favour in 2014.
Amey’s report for the first quarter of 2018 said it had set aside £209 million to cover extra investment as well as potential penalties from its failure to deliver the highways repair service.
It said it was looking to withdraw from or renegotiate the “onerous” contract with Birmingham. The details were revealed in the latest financial report from parent company Ferrovial.
The report stated: “The company has reassessed its forecasts regarding the level of penalties and deductions, given the stance that the council has been seen to adopt during recent months, when it has applied penalties and deductions in extremely high amounts. All of this has led the company to set aside additional provisions in the amount of £237 million euros (£209 million) as an onerous contract.”
It said the sum was on top money set aside last December cover the costs.
The report added: “The company continues to focus on improving contracts with low rates of return, and on withdrawing from non-profitable contracts.”
Under the 25-year PFI contract, Amey is responsible for looking after 1,550 miles of road and pavement until 2035. The contract included heavy investment in new street lights, the city’s tunnel network and resurfacing roads for the first five years, to bring all streets up to a basic standard.
Amey then has to keep them at that level for the next 20 years. The contract is the largest private finance initiative deal in local government. of to and we are considering all the available options to help achieve this.
“In the meantime, we continue to deliver our essential service to the city to maintain the safety of the Birmingham roads, and play an active part in the wider local business community.”
Assistant highways boss Kevin Hicks