20 July 2001
With the judicial review beginning on July 23, the London mayor and his transport commissioner Bob Kiley conceded that the High Court was not their last throw of the dice. 'Whichever side prevails there is a possibility of an appeal,' Kiley told Public Finance.
Although Livingstone admitted they would not contest the judgment on a 'purely political basis', both he and Kiley were leaving the door open for further legal challenges if their lawyers advised them to do so. 'Next week is going to be a big week for London,' said Kiley.
Their comments came as the air around the PPP debate became ever more poisonous. On July 18, London Underground (LU) sought a court injunction trying to stop the publication of two reports, one into the safety of the PPP, the other into finance. Both reports are thought to be critical of the PPP.
LU succeeded in preventing a Deloitte and Touche report into the costs of the scheme being made public. However, a study by Parsons Brinckerhoff, a New York-based engineering company, was allowed into the public domain. Kiley said this claimed that under the PPP, safety standards would be 'incapable and inadequate'.
An LU spokeswoman claimed the organisation had tried to stop publication of the reports because of commercial confidentiality. 'It's nothing to do with secrecy,' she said.
But Livingstone said suppression was the motive. 'This demonstrates that the government's PPP simply cannot withstand serious public scrutiny.
'They will not be able to suppress the consequences of such a flawed system for the safety and efficiency of the Underground if it is ever put into effect.'
Kiley was due to present the two reports to London Transport's board before he was sacked as chair by Transport Secretary Stephen Byers, with the agreement of Prime Minister Tony Blair, on July 17.
Labour defended its position at the same time as Livingstone and Kiley launched their latest attack. Byers said the government was determined to press ahead with the PPP.
During Prime Minister's Questions on July 18, Blair said the decision to sack Kiley was taken because the American was incapable of negotiating with the private companies named as preferred bidders for the Tube PPP.
He told MPs: 'The dispute is not about the running of the Tube but about the financing of it. We have a duty on behalf of the taxpayer to get value for money and that is what we will do.'
PFjul2001
