By Press Release
Island Roads has received more than £250 million of public money during the first ten years of the controversial PFI Highways contract.
Payments made under the contract make up the vast majority of the £252.5 million (more than £227 million), but there has been £25.4 million of additional payments made outside the contract. Although some funding comes from central government rather than the IW Council, it is all public money.
In September 2020 it was revealed that 93 per cent of the Island’s roads should be brought up to the contractual standard by the end of the Core Investment Period (CIP). This was originally the first seven years of the 25-year contract, but despite being extended by two years until the end of February this year, only 71 per cent of the Island’s roads have currently been resurfaced.
2Despite the massive sums involved many Islanders are extremely unhappy with the state of our roads, you can see overleaf a few of the many comments we have received.
Cllr Phil Jordan, cabinet member for roads said: “The PFI contract is complex and multi-faceted, with many different targets. It was launched in 2013 by the Conservatives as the end to all our highway woes with a gold standard upgrade to all roads in the first seven years and maintained to that standard for the remaining 18 years. However, they omitted to explain that the contract doesn’t actually say any of that. It was never the case that all the Island’s roads would be upgraded, and it isn’t the case now. It is very clear that what was promised is not what is being delivered and never was going to be delivered.”
Cllr Jordan explained that there is a complicated independent assessment and scoring system, which, in broad terms, looks at the average condition of both the road and the PFI district – there are six of those covering the entire island – to inform what work needs to be done. It is based upon independent surveying of the roads by approved, vehicular equipment. As some roads become resurfaced or repaired, the road and district average rises, effectively reducing the amount of further work needing to be done – but, under contractual targets, simply does not. He described it as “A sliding, self-fulfilling outcome of the contract, which in my view, is fundamentally flawed in this respect”. He added, “I am deeply concerned about this apparent gap between what was promised and what has been delivered and have asked for a full explanation for the discrepancy”
Another concern is that the contract assumes an inflation rate of 2.5 per cent. But inflation is currently 12.6 per cent, and any extra payments will have to be found by the cash-strapped IW Council. Because of the contract in place, additional PFI payments would take priority over other areas of council spending. A spokesman for the council said that the latest forecast is that the inflation rate will fall to below 2.5 per cent over the next five years.
A spokesman for Island Roads pointed out that a huge amount of work had been carried out as well as resurfacing, including to traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and streetlights as well as drainage and geotechnical projects. He said: “Although the most intensive part of the work has been carried out in the CIP, further significant improvement work will be undertaken throughout the remaining 15 years of the project.
“It is not possible to predict precisely how much future work will be undertaken, it will be whatever is needed to maintain the required standard over the coming years. Individual roads are not allowed to fall below a certain standard, irrespective of the wider overall district average standard.”
We are still waiting to hear exactly how many of our roads currently meet the required standard!
