Press Release

26^th September 2001

McNeil Welcomes Action on Amey

MSP for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has welcomed the action being taken by Transport Minister, Sarah Boyack, to address concerns over trunk road maintenance company, Amey.

Constituents and local councillors had raised a number of issues surrounding the Amey contract with Mr McNeil, who put them to the Minister. She has today assured Mr McNeil that action is being taken.

Mr McNeil has now announced that he intends to seek an early meeting with Senior Executive staff and representatives from Amey to discuss their activities in the local area.

Mr McNeil said:

"As a result of representations made to me from Councillors and constituents, I contacted transport Minister, Sarah Boyack to express my concern at the lack of understanding of the detail of the contract and its effects on my constituency. I also raised the issues of poor lines of communication with Amey; and the impact, if any, on the work to replace the West Station Bridge.

"The matter of the West Station Bridge was cleared up at the beginning of this month when the Minister confirmed in a debate in the Scottish Parliament that there had been no change in the timetable for its replacement.

"I am pleased that she has now assured me that the outstanding issues are being dealt with.

"To improve clarity and lines of communication, the Executive is taking action to ensure that there are better links between themselves, Amey, MSPs, local authorities and the police.

"Regular meetings will now take place between Amey, local authorities and the police to deal with the day-to-day operational issues and to look at forthcoming work programmes.

"Further, Inverclyde Council and Strathclyde Police will now be involved in general trunk road issues. They will meet with Executive Officials twice a year to discuss forthcoming programmes and review the previous six months."

"All this is underpinned, of course, by the fact that if Amey tries to shirk its responsibilities, then the Executive can serve a Default Notice and withhold payment. Should this happen, Amey must also say how it will correct the discrepancy.

"I now intend to seek an early meeting with Senior Executive staff and representatives from Amey to discuss their activities in Greenock and Inverclyde, including their plans for winter."

ENDS

Notes

• The contracts to manage and maintain the trunk road network in the South East and South West of Scotland, which were let to the private sector consortium Amey, started on 1^st April 2001.
• The body which oversees the contracts, the Performance Audit Group, is of the view that the Operating Companies (of which Amey is one) are performing better than the previous Units at similar stages in their contracts and that the ‘bedding in’ process has been considerably easier.

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