Green light for Brum £2.2bn highways PFI

Birmingham City Council’s (BCC) £2.2bn, 25-year highways PFI is expected to receive the go-ahead next Monday, after transport minister Tony McNulty finally agreed amendments to the scheme.

The news follows a strongly-worded letter from the minister, telling BCC’s chief executive Lin Homer not to meddle with the scheme (CJ 20 October). But some changes have now been agreed: street cleansing, emergency repairs and public place management will be omitted from the contract.

Tree maintenance will remain within the contract, but will now come with tight specifications for contractors, coupled with heavy financial penalties for any infringements.

The latest developments end months of speculation after BCC announced plans to scale back the scheme three months ago.