NEWSBRIEF

Four in wait for £50m PFI lighting deal

Four firms vying for a £50m private finance streetlighting deal in the Midlands face a two-month wait before they know which of them will plug into the scheme. Stoke-on-Trent council turned the spotlight on ABB, Balfour Beatty/Seeboard, Amey Highways and Scottish & Southern Energy/FEC Lighting Services to work up bids and was due to move to the best and final offer stage this month. Now it is understood that the council may move straight to preferred bidder in July.

Kier London and Lovell get refurb jobs

Kier London and Lovell Partnerships have both been awarded housing refurbishment contracts by the London Borough of Greenwich. Lovell Partnerships has won an £8.4m contract for refurbishment works on the Brook Estate and the Page Estate. Kier London has secured a £7.6m deal to undertake repairs and upgrading work on the Horn Park Estate and the Middle Park Estate. Together the two contracts comprise improvements to approximately 3,200 homes. Together the two contracts comprise improvements to approximately 3,200 homes.

Morrison ups business bases

Morrison Construction is increasing the number of its regional business units from six to nine. The new bases will be in central Scotland, Leeds and Swansea. There will also be a central team to handle major project bids, including PFI, led by David Jeffs. Morrison was bought by AWG (Anglian Water Group) for £260m in August 2000.

inquest reveals unlawful killing

Michael Mungovan, the student rail worker who died two years ago after being hit by a train outside Vauxhall station, south London (CJ 15 May), was unlawfully killed, the inquest into his death ruled earlier this week. Mungovan, whose rail safety card was invalid, was part of a two-man team securing a section of track for maintenance for Balfour Beatty. The coroner at Southwark Coroners Court said she would not be sending an official report as changes had been made to the safety systems since the accident.

TFL slammed for low cost tactics

Transport for London (TfL) has come under attack from one consultant over its "lowest cost" tactics in selecting teams for its five-year street management contracts. The consultant labelled the process as a "medieval form" of bidding, and is "pleased" that it wasn't chosen for the project. "It was a very sad state of affairs and raised serious questions over TfL's priorities," said the source. "As soon as we saw the reality of the bidding process we started to pull away from the contract." Managing director of TfL's street management division, Derek Turner, said that he had "sought views from the industry on how best to move forward the process by introducing a robust tendering process".

name and shame health and safety offenders

Three quarters of the industry believe that contractors who flout health and safety laws should be named and shamed. A fortnight ago, a Health & Safety Executive site blitz saw prohibition notices served at 110 of 223 sites visited in London. And as CJ went to press, 72% of respondents to the latest www.contractjournal.com survey believe that offenders should be 'outed', 20% believe they shouldn't, while 8% don't know. Log on to www.contractjournal.com to take part in a new survey every week.