Two on waiting list for delayed Northants PFI

Two groups have gone head to head in the final run-in for a massively delayed PFI hospital deal in Northampton, estimated to be worth around £30m.
The scheme, to build a 137-bed mental health hospital at Duston, is being rolled out by the Northamptonshire Community Healthcare NHS Trust.
On the waiting list are Grosvenor House (with Morrison on board as its contractor) and Investors in Health (Balfour Beatty/Mill Group). Jarvis, was originally on the bid list, but subsequently pulled out.
The preferred bidder is expected to emerge towards the end of next month, with financial close set for December 2005.
A source close to the scheme told CJ the long delay between the two stages of the bidding process was in part due to the trust having to get full planning consent from the council.
He said there was also the "remote possibility of a judicial review. Someone may object, not to the scheme itself, but the way in which planning consent is obtained - but in practice such objections hardly ever happen".
The latest timetable features a start on site next January, followed by a construction period of 26 months.