Parking giant ACPOA to sue Westminster council over contract-

Published: 9 April 2010
by TOM FOOT

BUNGLING council chiefs have admitted making costly mistakes in deciding which firm should be handed the country’s biggest-ever parking contract.

The admission came after the European parking giant ACPOA filed a £50million lawsuit over accusations Westminster Council acted “unlawfully and unfairly” during a competitive bidding process.

APCOA – formerly known as the Airport Parking Company of America – claims City Hall “steered” the £13m-a-year traffic warden contract to the French firm Mouchel, which was named as preferred bidder in February.

They say Westminster used “unpublished and unannounced criteria” when deciding which firm to hire and have demanded they are compensated up to  £50m for loss of profits.

The legal action, which names the Lord Mayor and citizens of the City of Westminster as defendants, says: “The claimant’s case is that the exercise ought to have been – and ought now to be – re-run in a manner that is fair... the claimant claims damages in any event.”

The council have admitted the process was “flawed” and agreed to start again.

Kevin Goad, head of commissioning for City Management, said: “This flaw came to light as a result of debriefing the different bidders. To be fair and transparent to those involved in the process we, as a result, decided to end the procurement process. We have now started a new accelerated procurement process with a successful tenderer expected to be announced next month.”

But the second round of tendering could cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Opposition leader Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg warned: “Westminster Conservatives have completely lost the plot on parking. Practically everything that can go wrong has gone wrong over the past two years. Re-tendering this parking contract will cost taxpayers nearly £1m extra.”