Highways construction giant Colas ends its troublesome contract with Wirral Council (From Wirral Globe)
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Highways construction giant Colas ends its troublesome contract with Wirral Council
9:20am Saturday 22nd September 2012 in News By Geoff Barnes
Highways construction giant Colas ends its troublesome contract with Wirral Council
Wirral Council’s troublesome contract with highways construction giant Colas is to be ended.
The firm has written to the town hall advising it does not wish to proceed with the agreement past March of 2014 under its existing terms.
The council, however, had already decided it did not want to extend the deal beyond that date due to "serious concerns regarding co-ordination, quality and communication issues."
A “value for money” report to the ruling cabinet next week shows that major problems have been encountered during the course of the contract, which was signed three years ago.
An extra £855,000 had to be found due to an “ambiguity” over repairing street lights.
This was off-set to a degree by £75,000 a year through reduced payments to electricity companies.
Around £92,000 above agreed budget also had to be found for filling roadside grit bins with salt from council stocks.
An inquiry earlier this year found councillors were not kept informed of the problems nor was their approval sought for a total of £1.4m of extra spending which became necessary as the contract progressed.
Ironically, repair and maintenance of the borough's roads, street lighting and pavements was "outsourced" to the private sector in a move that was supposed to save money.
Wirral became enmeshed in allegations of wrong-doing over the handling of the multi-million pound agreement, leading to the eventual suspension of technical services director Dave Green.
A report published in June by the Audit Commission concluded Mr Green “probably” broke European rules by meeting with a representative of Colas - and by then failing to declare an interest when the contract was awarded.
Birkenhead MP Frank Field even called for the Serious Fraud Office to investigate after being contacted by a group of council whistle-blowers.
The council is now set to appoint consultants to advise on the future of its road repairs and maintenance.
Their services are required as advice from the council’s own officers might be “inhibited by any perceived lack of public confidence.”
The cost of appointing a consultant has not been disclosed because it is “commercially sensitive.”
In a statement, interim director of technical services Chris McCarthy says he “considers it is an imperative that some manifestly independent analysis and advice is built fundamentally into the process.”
He further states that advice from the department's professional officers “might be inhibited by any perceived lack of public confidence in those officers in the current circumstances facing the council.”
Councillor Harry Smith, cabinet member for streetscene and transport services, said: “Wirral Council’s highways and engineering contract with Colas will not be renewed when it comes to an end on March 31, 2014.
“The process to decide how these statutory services will be delivered after that date is now underway.
“The interim director of technical services will present an options report to cabinet at the earliest opportunity.
“That report will be compiled with the assistance of an independent consultant – a specialist in the field – who will provide impartial analysis and advice on the range of options.
“At this stage the cost of appointing this consultant cannot be disclosed as it is commercially sensitive.”
March 31, 2014, was a scheduled point in the life of the contract when both parties could review progress and decide whether or not they wanted to extend it for a further three years.
Comments(32)
Jack Boot
says...
3:50pm Fri 21 Sep 12
And what is the point of appointing external consultants ? oh its because the council is "inhibited by any perceived lack of public confidence" no its not, we just want you to do your F***ing job properly.
Cheesy Peas
says...
3:55pm Fri 21 Sep 12
Talk about an understatement.
And now we need even more consultants that we who pay for them are not allowed to know much they charge.
This new chief executive appears intent on emulating the last three.
LocaLGovwatcher
says...
4:08pm Fri 21 Sep 12
Cheesy Peas wrote:Why are we employing costly Council Officers and also appointing external consultants?
........."might be inhibited by any perceived lack of public confidence in those officers in the current circumstances".
Talk about an understatement.
And now we need even more consultants that we who pay for them are not allowed to know much they charge.
This new chief executive appears intent on emulating the last three.
Much of the same with the new CEO then. He's also appointing expensive 'specialist officers' to add to the happy WBC family of useless officers and 'gravytrain' councillors.
Amazingly arrogant, the whole upper tier of WBC!
steady cyclist
says...
4:57pm Fri 21 Sep 12
Report flooding of roads and blocked drains, nothing done,
Report potholes and nothing gets done,
Also even if colas, walk away its going to be the samr e people failing to do the work asked of them when a new employer is found, all thanks to TUPE regs.
Just how hard is it to send a man out in a van with some tarmac and fill all these potholes, and some drain rods or a gully emptier to clean the drains.
Answer, we need to appoint consultants and we are not going to tell you how much they are charging, and theyre going to say they do an ok job, but heres the bill and some extra expenses added on because you asked us to more worjk than waht was neeed.
council officer
says...
8:24pm Fri 21 Sep 12
Jimrob
says...
9:26pm Fri 21 Sep 12
I think that before the contract ends, Colas should be made to undertake remedial repairs to their repairs, AT THEIR COST not ours.
PaulCa
says...
10:00pm Fri 21 Sep 12
PaulCa
says...
10:10pm Fri 21 Sep 12
Jimrob wrote:Come to think of it Jimrob, passengers in my car have told me that post Dave Green / COLAS, if they shut their eyes when I'm driving them down Woodchurch Road, the lurching movements bring back wonderful memories from the 1970s - of being thrown about on the waltzers in Wilkie's Palace Fairground.
Perhaps we can look forward to future road repairs and resurfacing that do not emulate fairground rides.
I think that before the contract ends, Colas should be made to undertake remedial repairs to their repairs, AT THEIR COST not ours.
So, not all bad..... AND it's free!
uncatom
says...
9:57am Sat 22 Sep 12
steady cyclist wrote:Why is it the fault of the TUPE regs? lets look were the blame really lays privatisation, deregulation, contractors bidding for contracts that they cant possibly complete because they tender with loss leaders and are under budget, short cuts here short cuts there,back to client for more money,prime example deregulation of the buses Thatcher promised us cheap public transport, buses outside your gateway every few minutes,in reality most of the small contracts went out of business in the first 18 months, running past sell by date buses breakdowns you name it, yes sir an overwhelming success,look at the railways the utilities yes TUPE has a lot to answer for not.
Report anything to streetscene and absolutely nothing seems to be done unless its west kirby, as they probably get milaeage allowance to go there.
Report flooding of roads and blocked drains, nothing done,
Report potholes and nothing gets done,
Also even if colas, walk away its going to be the samr e people failing to do the work asked of them when a new employer is found, all thanks to TUPE regs.
Just how hard is it to send a man out in a van with some tarmac and fill all these potholes, and some drain rods or a gully emptier to clean the drains.
Answer, we need to appoint consultants and we are not going to tell you how much they are charging, and theyre going to say they do an ok job, but heres the bill and some extra expenses added on because you asked us to more worjk than waht was neeed.
EddieGremlin
says...
6:35pm Sat 22 Sep 12
COLAS even resurfaced the road we live in, a few years ago, 70% of the stonechips they put down have VANISHED inside cars, houses & down the grids...
Ivorromaleyn
says...
10:54am Sun 23 Sep 12
at Natioal level and all the way down to local level.
Positive thinker
says...
2:25pm Sun 23 Sep 12
David Scott
says...
9:21pm Sun 23 Sep 12
Local councils can't do what will work best and at lowest cost for their areas even if they want to.
JADEE1
says...
1:36am Mon 24 Sep 12
Wirral_Man
says...
8:36am Mon 24 Sep 12
The next day I got a very agressive, pushy phone wanting to know why I was making a "complaint" and basically telling me to go away. I did explain it was only an enquiry and eventaully they confirmed that new trees would be planted - this was a while back and I'm still waiting..........
WirralAl
says...
9:27am Mon 24 Sep 12
Like the contract was going to be renewed.
Why our council need to get consultants in to do the job only proves that the incompetence and pointlessness of the positions.
Positive thinker
says...
6:53pm Mon 24 Sep 12
exonian
says...
7:57pm Mon 24 Sep 12
I am surprised that some correspondents appear to have had a two way dialogue with Streetscene as it was easier to breach the Berlin wall than to speak with a responsible employee.
JADEE1
says...
8:09pm Mon 24 Sep 12
Positive thinker
says...
9:08pm Mon 24 Sep 12
Positive thinker
says...
10:36pm Mon 24 Sep 12
DannyM
says...
11:00pm Mon 24 Sep 12
PaulCa wrote:PaulCa your comments above are absolutely correct , and others know too whats going on.
Let's hope the next contract is "robust" enough to avoid the subcontracting out of large quantities of maintenance work to two bit, throwback, unaccredited cowboys in unmarked vehicles without a CSCS card between them; no safety policies / procedures / risk assessments to speak of let alone adhere to, and staff working on the side, with little or no experience and not a clue on how to hold a shovel the right way up.
The facts are that there are 'un-accredited cowboy's' employed by Colas repairing our roads & are working illegaly every single day, on a number of false grounds .
God forbid if these gypsies were ever involved in a serious accident with a member of public .
These have their own inside people at Colas looking out and working for them and are completely out of control .
This is ultimately costing the council and the tax payer more .
If you let people get away with anything in life they will always carry on .
This is a FACT ,every day Its all a CON .
PaulCa
says...
11:42pm Mon 24 Sep 12
DannyM wrote:Do you have inside knowledge DM? The public always had a good idea this sort of thing went on. But how is it that sloppy, dangerous practices are allowed to creep in in the first place? This was supposed to be a tight ship and a professional set up. Can we assume that public money's being syphoned off in direct proportion to the corners that are being cut?
PaulCa wrote:PaulCa your comments above are absolutely correct , and others know too whats going on.
Let's hope the next contract is "robust" enough to avoid the subcontracting out of large quantities of maintenance work to two bit, throwback, unaccredited cowboys in unmarked vehicles without a CSCS card between them; no safety policies / procedures / risk assessments to speak of let alone adhere to, and staff working on the side, with little or no experience and not a clue on how to hold a shovel the right way up.
The facts are that there are 'un-accredited cowboy's' employed by Colas repairing our roads & are working illegaly every single day, on a number of false grounds .
God forbid if these gypsies were ever involved in a serious accident with a member of public .
These have their own inside people at Colas looking out and working for them and are completely out of control .
This is ultimately costing the council and the tax payer more .
If you let people get away with anything in life they will always carry on .
This is a FACT ,every day Its all a CON .
The public must now assume it's the unavoidable end result, and direct consequences of Wirral's stupid councillors being given the flannel; having their heads stuffed with impenetrable jargon, and being led by the nose like nodding donkeys through ridiculously complex charts and Powerpoint presentations given by charlatan senior officers.
Apart from one good man in particular, Brighton Street is stuffed to the gills with stupid, self-important, pompous, elected stuffed shirts, who are too timid and "obviously too knowledgeable in these matters" to bother publicly putting up their hand to ask, "What the hell are you talking about man? This is NOT rocket science; this is pot holes and this is lampposts, and this is laying the black stuff. Now give me that again in plain English!
But it never ever happens - so the relevant director gets suspended, £millions get squandered, so-called "internal audit" is a busted flush, giving out gold stars for obvious crookedness. Very faint and grudging criticism: "Probably breached EU rules" has to be dragged out of the district auditor by an MP on a mission, who sniffs around money but does nothing about learning disabled abuse.
And the roads are left crawling with incompetent shysters who've never even heard of the New Roads & Street Works Act.
steady cyclist
says...
1:23pm Tue 25 Sep 12
No , me neither has seen a single vehicle, obviously the wrong type of rain is falling, that may melt the workers and management.
Then there is the pointless painting of the lamposts down the a41 rockferry bypass, 2 men and the bypass down to one lane, yet a huge chunk ofit is going to be ripped up in the near future by the tranmere yacht club, to make a new junction all traffic light controled, so pointless painting the lamp posts..
Yet more blatant waste of tax payers money.
JADEE1
says...
4:37pm Tue 25 Sep 12
Hugo1008
says...
5:31pm Tue 25 Sep 12
Colas, United Utilities, Gas, Water, Telephones, Electricity, and most of the other companies who dig he roads for whatever purpose, seldom if ever put the surface right again, unless they are made to.
And that because they know they do not need to, because nobody ever examines what they do until the public complain.
Its money for old rope doing jobs for this council, nobody cares.
That is unless its election time then your normally dormant local councillor suddenly appears and bangs a drum, if the public moan at him or her..
PaulCa
says...
6:28pm Tue 25 Sep 12
The accumulation of easy money and the rapid collection and stashing of it into their coffers took priority over safety / quality.
Back then, Manweb, not quite privatised, still retained the vestiges of a "public service" and largely adhered well to the NRSWA 1991. I suspect that's gone now under Scottish Power or whatever entity it has become - because now they farm out their excavation and backfilling to others. You're so right that private companies now, such as COLAS are generally the baddies.
As an example, Nynex "reinstated" many roads with "builders' sand" (the pink coloured stuff). Every particle is the same sized tiny 'ball', and when you mix in water it flows / rolls and finds a level. So imagine you've just buried your green cable ducts in a trench the length of say Maddocks Slip, a steep hill in Wallasey and reinstated the surface, and it starts raining heavily.
Regardless of whether you've compressed the backfill with a wacker, if the rain is heavy, the sand at the top of the hill will flow to the bottom of the hill. With a modular surface, as the ground moves beneath it, the flags sink along the top half and raise up in the air along the bottom half of the road.
And a dangerous hazard is created.... all because the greedy money men interfered, cut corners and bought the wrong materials.
DannyM
says...
11:44pm Tue 25 Sep 12
PaulCa wrote:Paul Ca thanks for your insight , you speak sense and yes the knowledge you suggest is there .
DannyM wrote:Do you have inside knowledge DM? The public always had a good idea this sort of thing went on. But how is it that sloppy, dangerous practices are allowed to creep in in the first place? This was supposed to be a tight ship and a professional set up. Can we assume that public money's being syphoned off in direct proportion to the corners that are being cut?
PaulCa wrote:PaulCa your comments above are absolutely correct , and others know too whats going on.
Let's hope the next contract is "robust" enough to avoid the subcontracting out of large quantities of maintenance work to two bit, throwback, unaccredited cowboys in unmarked vehicles without a CSCS card between them; no safety policies / procedures / risk assessments to speak of let alone adhere to, and staff working on the side, with little or no experience and not a clue on how to hold a shovel the right way up.
The facts are that there are 'un-accredited cowboy's' employed by Colas repairing our roads & are working illegaly every single day, on a number of false grounds .
God forbid if these gypsies were ever involved in a serious accident with a member of public .
These have their own inside people at Colas looking out and working for them and are completely out of control .
This is ultimately costing the council and the tax payer more .
If you let people get away with anything in life they will always carry on .
This is a FACT ,every day Its all a CON .
The public must now assume it's the unavoidable end result, and direct consequences of Wirral's stupid councillors being given the flannel; having their heads stuffed with impenetrable jargon, and being led by the nose like nodding donkeys through ridiculously complex charts and Powerpoint presentations given by charlatan senior officers.
Apart from one good man in particular, Brighton Street is stuffed to the gills with stupid, self-important, pompous, elected stuffed shirts, who are too timid and "obviously too knowledgeable in these matters" to bother publicly putting up their hand to ask, "What the hell are you talking about man? This is NOT rocket science; this is pot holes and this is lampposts, and this is laying the black stuff. Now give me that again in plain English!
But it never ever happens - so the relevant director gets suspended, £millions get squandered, so-called "internal audit" is a busted flush, giving out gold stars for obvious crookedness. Very faint and grudging criticism: "Probably breached EU rules" has to be dragged out of the district auditor by an MP on a mission, who sniffs around money but does nothing about learning disabled abuse.
And the roads are left crawling with incompetent shysters who've never even heard of the New Roads & Street Works Act.
We could both do with comparing and sharing notes at some point , as we both seem to have similar information .
Although you seem to have a wider knowledge of how an organisation like the council works .
It's Corruption and Deceit ..in Colas unfortunately, amongst their unwilling ( ex wirral council ) staff and their friends the aforementioned un-accredited contractors .
As said before if you allow people to get away with any wrong doings in life they will always carry on .
uncatom
says...
8:15pm Wed 26 Sep 12
caroline-ann4
says...
9:50am Thu 27 Sep 12
A couple of days later i saw whilst walking my dogs later one afternoon the same vehicle and the 3staff were working on a nearby house laying tar-mac in the front garden.
But this time without any yellow Colas council tops on.
JADEE1
says...
10:03pm Thu 27 Sep 12
Cheesy Peas says...
3:46pm Fri 21 Sep 12