Four bid for £2.2bn Birmingham roads PFI

Four groups have finally hit the road for the biggest-ever highways maintenance PFI deal, ending months of speculation about the fate of Birmingham City Council's massive scheme.
On the bid list for the £2.2bn 25-year project are: Amey; Atkins/EDF Energy; Balfour Beatty/Mouchel Parkman; and Birmingham Street Services (Vinci/Amec/Laing O'Rourke).
At present, the timetable is for a preferred bidder to be on board next February, with a start on site due in October 2006. The latest chapter in the project's chequered history is that these deadlines are almost certain to slip, but it is not yet known by how much.
The scheme has been beset by wrangles between the government and the council about the scale of the undertaking. The Liberal Democrat-led council tried to scale down the plan, but was warned by transport minister Tony McNulty that this could lead to around £380m-worth of PFI credits being stripped from the scheme.
A compromise was reached last month when the government finally agreed to some amendments, such as emergency repairs and street cleaning being removed from the contract.
The present scheme includes maintaining the entire roads network in the area, along with winter maintenance and traffic signals.