Waste campaigners are to protest outside the Treasury on Tuesday 19th May [1] ahead of a closed meeting where officials are expected to commit millions pounds of public money to controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste contracts.
Very little information has been made available about the Treasury advisers’ meeting, termed “the Project Review Group” (PRG) [2]. The PRG authorises the spending of £100 millions of public money on large PFI projects [3]. PRG members interview DEFRA, who are the sponsors of the proposals and local authorities making the bid, but do not investigate concerns raised by objectors. The protesters are demanding the right to highlight factual errors in these PFI bids, just as they are entitled to comment at planning committee meetings.
Warwickshire waste campaigner Keith Kondakor said:
By not allowing local citizens to have their say in these mammoth and expensive projects, the Treasury is effectively holding a trial where only one side can submit evidence.
The only scrutiny outside the Treasury is by the very organizations that stand to gain from the funding of the project.
The official projections for the Coventry Solihull & Warwickshire project – to be discussed at the meeting – use inflated waste figures that are wrong by some 50,000-100,000 tonnes [3]. This will lead to a contract for an oversized waste disposal facility, wasting around £125 million over 25 years. This will in turn undermine the local recycling in the region [4].
Notes:-
[1] The protest will be at the Treasury near the Parliament street entrance between 9AM and 10AM on Tuesday (19th May)
[2] The PRG is chaired by a Charles Lloyd who has been seconded from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. PriceWaterhouseCoopers did the early financial work on the Coventry Solihull & Warwickshire PFI.
[3] The waste PFI budget was increased by £2 billion in the 2007 spending review
[4] The OBC was submitted on 31/10/08, as of 30/9/8 the waste tonnage was running 50,000 tonnes below PFI projection and falling.
[5] The current round of PFI waste incinerators workout at around £100 to burn each tonne and have 25 to 30 year contracts. The PFI contracts are based on burning a waste tonnage between two close limits. Supplying less that the lower limit will result in paying for waste incineration capacity that is not used.
[6] UKWIN (UK Without Incineration Network) is a network of groups and individuals campaigning against the building of incinerators in the UK
[7] Further information:
· Dirty Truths – the climate impacts of energy from waste and residual waste treatment
· Up in Smoke – why Friends of the Earth opposes incineration
· Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding for waste infrastructure
Long contracts… 10 key questions – presentation by Michael Warhurst, Friends of the Earth, outlining ten key questions to ask your council if they are considering a long waste management contract, and warns of the risks involved.
Contacts
Coalition for Recycling and Against Coventry Incinerator
Keith Kondakor 024 76 344 079 or 07712 893745 pfi@greennuneaton.org.uk
-=-=-=
The protest will take place at the parliament side of the treasury on Parliament street (this is the very south end of Whitehall).
This is very close to Westminster Tube.
Protesters will be on the opposite corner to Parliament. I have put a big cross on the map.
They have a diagram on the web
The official address is
HM Treasury
Horse Guards Road LONDON SW1A 2HQ
Protesters will be at the parliament end of the Building not the park end
