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Thames Water’s £4.2bn ‘super sewer’ faces backlash over procurement guidelines

A £4.2bn plan to build a 25km sewer under the streets of London has faced controversy as critics suggest the scheme could breach the government’s procurement guidelines.

Thames Water is planning to set up a new company to own and manage the Thames Tideway, according to the Financial Times.

The new company will be responsible for overseeing procurement and raising bank debt, while the government will bear the cost of overruns or incidents during construction of the multi-billion pound project.

Currently, there are two consortiums competing to finance and build the project. This has raised concerns as the government advises three bidders must battle it out for contracts of this size.

Martin Blaiklock, a former director of utilities at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said the project should be paused:

“Given that there are only two bidders left for the ownership and financing and that questions have been raised as to whether the Thames super sewer is value for money or even needed, is it not, therefore, appropriate that the bidding be halted so that these matters can be properly and transparently resolved?”

Thames Water said it could not “comment on the details of a live procurement”.

A spokesperson said: “However, the strong competitive response of the market to this exciting investment opportunity is expected to deliver excellent value for money for our customers, with bill impacts significantly lower than originally envisaged,”

The Thames Tideway, which is the UK’s second largest infrastructure project after Crossrail, is the biggest investment in London’s sewers since 1858 when Sir Joseph Bazalgette built the network in response to the “great stink.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .