NEWSBRIEF

ATKINS WINS NORTHANTS ROAD DEAL

WS Atkins has scooped a five-year partnership deal worth £22.5m per annum to deliver most of Northamptonshire County Council's highway engineering work. The contract, which begins on 1 October 2001, combines the traditional consultant and contractor roles and is designed to be flexible, transfer risk and offer incentives and shared savings. It covers highway and bridge design and maintenance, winter maintenance and emergencies, highway inspection, street lighting, traffic control and laboratory services. Some 130 council staff will transfer to WS Atkins.

worker dies after st thomas hospital fall

A worker, who sustained serious head injuries after falling 3m from an unguarded scaffold at St Thomas' Hospital, London, has died. Ian Malon was attempting to fit a linear accelerator at the site when he fell. He was rushed to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square, but died on June 23, six days after the fall. Health and safety inspectors have served a Prohibition Order until safety concerns have been addressed.

red tape threatens contractors' future

Red tape is the main threat to the future of contractors' businesses, according to the latest Federation of Master Builders survey. Of the 300 builders surveyed, 42% spend more than two days per week on administration; a third spend one to two days on it. Most said they do their own administration, which means they are desk-bound rather than onsite. Other threats include a lack of skilled workers, cowboy traders, the rate of VAT, and the VAT threshold.

hse confirms safety summit on course

The Health & Safety Executive has confirmed that October's construction industry safety summit is still on course. A spokeswoman was unable to say who would be chairing the summit but it is unlikely to be former construction minister Nick Raynsford. Construction Products Association's chief executive Michael Ankers said he hoped it would be "somebody who is willing to set the safety trophy on the mantelpiece for the whole industry to battle for".

walsall streetlighting job up in the air

David Webster and Amey Highways must wait until September to find out which has clinched preferred bidder status for a local authority streetlighting deal - Walsall Council's £80m project in the West Midlands. The 25-year concession includes replacing about 20,000 lighting columns, as well as maintaining and replacing streetlights. Work is due to start on site in October 2001.

conran slams scots parliament cost

Sir Terence Conran, whose designs for a Parliament building on the waterfront at Leith were rejected, told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that he could have built the new Scottish Parliament building for £40m (£210m less than current cost estimates). He said he could not understand why a building originally costed at up to £40m had gone "quite so dramatically over budget".

support fading for british museum plans

Government support to further develop the British Museum is diminishing, said the museum's managing director Suzanna Taverne at a public meeting last week. The museum is committed to a series of new developments, including the refurbishment of the King's Library and the creation of the new Wellcome Trust Gallery. But Taverne said its annual £36m government grant has been frozen for three years.