Cheshire East to abandon PFI waste scheme

CHESHIRE East Council looks set to abandon plans for a joint waste PFI scheme with Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Officers are recommended that the council’s cabinet votes to abandon plans for a 25-year private finance initiative which would have seen preferred bidder Viridor handle more than 180,000 tonnes of waste a year on behalf of the two authorities.

The project has been dogged by a series of issues. Following a Government review of all PFI schemes, it had the £130m of central funding which it expected to receive for the project cut. Both Cheshire councils sought a Judicial Review of this decision, but this was ruled out by the High Court.

Cheshire East Council has spent £1.6m on the project and had considered a number of other options to move the scheme forward but has said that abandonment presented the lowest-risk option. Cheshire West & Chester Council had also recently announced it was pulling out of the scheme.

Councillor Peter Mason, Cabinet member with responsibility for procurement, said: “It is with regret that we have to take this decision. However, Cheshire East believes it has no other option.

“Both ourselves and Cheshire West and Chester have spent considerable time, money and effort in attempting to minimise the impact that the loss of Government PFI credits would have on the project.

“This council is now in a position of having to write off the £1.6m spent on the scheme and we are still in the position of having to find a sustainable method of disposing of Cheshire’s household waste from April 2014.  

“We are keen to find a solution that meets the needs of Cheshire East from this date.”