Jarvis and Local Schools

1.25.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 13th Dec 2004

Since the earlier press release (7th December) reporting on Vincent Cable MP's parliamentary debate on local schools, Jarvis and the Private Finance Initiative there have been two further initiatives:

· Richmond Council has initiated legal action against Jarvis (reported in the Financial Times 9th December 2004)

· Vincent Cable has asked Ministers to change the current regulations to enable the Council (and other councils) to 'step in' when PFI contractors fail to complete work rather than wait until the end of along and complex legal process.

Vincent Cable said: "As Jarvis continues to nosedive, it is clear that the complexities and difficulties of a failing PFI contractor were never thought through. It is unacceptable and absurd for a school like Trafalgar Junior to be left half completed when only modest sums of money are needed to complete the work. Now that Trafalgar's problems have been lifted onto a national stage I hope more urgency will be shown in finding remedies."