Jobs at risk under Council's latest 'bright' idea

12.00.00am GMT Tue 23rd Feb 2010

Plans by Labour-run Durham County Council to use private finance to renew street lighting will jeopardise jobs and cost taxpayers millions of pounds. Despite the recent revelation that using similar funding to build the city's hospital added hundreds of millions to the cost, the council is considering the same option for street lighting.

At present the council has a rolling programme of renewal for street lights which make sure that lighting is renewed as needed and that new green technologies can be incorporated in to the programme as they become available.

The new proposals, which have not been made available to most councillors, will see all the lighting renewed in the next five years, but then Durham will have to live with the new lights for 25 years until the contract ends.

Lib Dem councillor Cllr Carol Woods said "It is estimated that the council will borrow £125 million via the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which will cost the council many hundreds of millions more over the years and result in a completely out of date street lighting stock by the end of the contract".

"Much of Durham's street lighting stock does not need renewing now, as it has been updated on a rolling programme. Many light columns have 10-15 years life left. It is totally wasteful to replace those that are not past their sell by date and borrow millions of pounds to do it."

Private Financing of this sort has been discredited as a form of finance to fund large projects. It ends up costing the taxpayer millions more than it should and leaves the organisations at the end of the contract with little to show for all the expense.

Carol Woods added, "Given the Council's perilous financial position, this is like someone who has fallen behind on their mortgage borrowing thousands at extortionate rates of interest to refurbish their entire house - even the rooms that have just been done. Then they are left with no more money to do anything for 25 years. Most sensible people would spread the work over the time, allocating money to do that so that they did not have to borrow. The council should do the same.

"This is another knee jerk reaction by the Labour run council that has lost control of the council's finances and is looking for quick fixes to fill its budget hole. It will also see many people who work in street lighting lose their jobs as the function is privatised. I am now calling on the Council to withdraw this bid from the Department of Transport in order to save local jobs and in the best long-term interests of County Durham."