Rt Hon David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, has welcomed the next stage of the £674 million programme to renew Sheffield’s highways infrastructure – and has called on the project bidders to make sure that local jobs factor highly at every stage of the process.
Sheffield City Council has today announced that Amey and CarillionMouchel have been selected to move on to the next stage of the Sheffield Highway Maintenance PFI Project – the undertaking to repair or renew the city’s highways, sewage and road lighting.
The two companies will meet Council negotiators to discuss how they would implement their plans. They will then submit fresh bids to the Council in December, with a ‘preferred bidder’ being chosen next April.
Mr Blunkett said: “I welcome the fact that this project has moved on to its next stage and that progress continues towards choosing a bidder.
“Sheffield’s Labour MPs worked hard under the previous Government to get agreement to the enormous expenditure required to renew our roads and lighting system, as well as the upgrading of the drainage following the floods three years ago.
“I am very pleased indeed that the coalition Government is not standing in the way of this project and that it can continue to move forward.
“I hope that whichever of the two bidders wins the final contract, they will be able to assist in dealing with the consequences of the massive cuts in expenditure that our city is facing – and the job losses that the Council is confronting. It is crucial that the companies consider local employment prospects as they complete their final bids for the Council’s approval.
“There needs to be joined-up thinking and action between the winning bidder and the City Council to save as many jobs as possible in the years ahead.”
ENDS
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