Utilities 'must foot roads repair bill'

Utility companies whose substandard road repairs are costing Northern Ireland taxpayers millions of pounds a year must offer compensation, a Stormont assembly committee has said.

The assembly's public accounts committee has expressed "grave concern" about the standard of road reinstatement.

It has criticised the Department of Regional Development's Roads Service for failure to ensure the work was done properly.

The committee's report on road openings by utility companies and government agencies which provide water, gas electricity and telecoms, was published on Thursday.

Committee chairman Billy Bell said 35% of utility reinstatements had not met prescribed standards.

The report said that in 2000, of the 46,000 road openings dug by the utility companies, 15,000 were not properly repaired.

We have found that Roads Service is spending £10m a year repairing long-term damage caused by road openings

Billy Bell PAC chairman

Mr Bell said: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the inadequate regime operated by Roads Service has benefited the utilities and their shareholders at the expense of the taxpayer.

"We have found that Roads Service is spending £10m a year repairing long-term damage caused by road openings."

Mr Bell said that as the Roads Service maintenance budget was already under severe pressure, the department must explore ways in which utilities could be made to contribute to the costs of their substandard repairs.

He said: "The committee firmly believes that the cost of road openings should be borne by utilities rather than the taxpayer.

"Whether this is on a voluntary basis or through legislation, urgent action is required in order to ensure that the taxpayer does not continue to subsidise the activities of the private sector."

Stormont committee criticised Roads Service response

The Department of Regional Development Water Service, and private gas, electricity and telecoms providers have a statutory right to open public roads and footpaths to install their equipment.

But street works legislation introduced in 1995 was intended to give the Roads Service powers to control the activity and to make sure that the work was done to adequate standards.

Mr Bell said: "Unfortunately it took Roads Service five years to fully implement the legislation and I am concerned that there has been a lack of control during this period."

Mr Bell said it had also taken a long time to introduce a proper inspection process and fees were not introduced until January 2002, with the result that £600,000 a year had been lost from the public purse on inspection fees.

Peter Robinson: "Roads Service is already addressing many points"

The committee's report has recommended that the Roads Service should ask all of the utility companies for action plans detailing how they intend to improve their performance.

Regional Development Minister Peter Robinson welcomed the report.

He said it "supported his department's continuing work to deal with unsatisfactory reinstatement of roads".

Mr Robinson said the Roads Service had already put in place a detailed action plan covering "almost all of the issues highlighted in the original Northern Ireland Audit Office report in February 2001".

But he said the action plan would be reviewed in light of the PAC Report.

Mr Robinson added: "A number of successful prosecutions have already been taken out against those utilities who blatantly disregarded the warnings and other prosecutions are in the pipeline."