§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many penalty points have been accumulated for each PFI road scheme in his Department; for which reason each of these points was awarded; what penalties were invoked; and if he will make a statement. [4459]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe overall performance of our PFI contracts is good. There have however been instances when it has been necessary to award penalty points for failure to achieve the required level of performance. The use of the penalty point system has been successful in improving poor performance as contractors have been anxious to avoid contractual warning letters and to face the risk of termination. The contracts are subject to confidentiality agreements and so the information cannot204W be given for individual contracts. Most points have been awarded during the construction phase of the contracts. During operations it has been necessary to award fewer points.