08 March 2002
The mayor and his transport commissioner Bob Kiley originally set a deadline of 10am on March 6 for London Regional Transport to answer two key questions.
The first concerned the transfer of risk under the contracts and the second was connected with the total cost of PPP. The pair had originally asked for this information on February 22.
Despite receiving a 34-page document at noon on the deadline date, the Greater London Authority lawyers said the LRT had still failed to answer these key questions, and set a new deadline of 9am on March 7 for LRT to deliver.
If the questions remained unanswered by the time of the new deadline, which passed after Public Finance went to press, a return to the courts could not be ruled out.
Livingstone believes that if these questions cannot be answered, then it suggests that details of the contracts are still being negotiated. If that is the case, the London mayor argues, LRT had 'no business' recommending to Transport Secretary Stephen Byers that the PPP should proceed.
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