MPs savage Byers over Tube safety

The Tube faces mass chaos and serious safety threats from controversial government plans to fund essential work on the crumbling network, MPs warned today.

The onslaught, from the respected all-party Commons Transport Committee, comes just 48 hours before Transport Secretary Stephen Byers is expected to give the goahead for the Public-Private Partnership plan (PPP).

The report, from the Labour dominated committee, savages almost every aspect of the Government's plan. And in a further blow the committee says the Government should immediately consult Mayor Ken Livingstone to come up with a new scheme.

Safety: the committee condemns as "disgraceful" the fact that the official watchdog, the Health and Safety Executive, has been given just one month to decide whether safety plans are adequate. It points out that monitoring the safety standards of the companies running the trains will be the responsibility of London Underground and warns: "It is not clear that London Underground have enough staff to meet the increased workload."

Fares: The original plans assume that surplus fares would pay for a significant slice of investment and maintenance for the system. The report points out: "That revenue has been declining since 1998 and there is now a deficit ... it is essential that the Government and the Mayor of London revise their estimates of the contribution of fares to the investment programme."

Union Friction: The PPP for the Underground is the most complex scheme of its type ever attempted, with massively complicated contracts and an "experimental" funding structure. "We conclude that it is inevitable that the PPP will lead to significant and expensive disputes over the contracts."

Disruption: "The improvements will take a number of years to come on stream and during this time there will be considerable disruption." The report goes on to call for Transport for London to be given clear responsibility "to reduce disruption to the travelling public".

Value for money: The report condemns the initial claim by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott that the PPP would save £4.5 billion as "inadequate and flawed". The Government has since abandoned that original forecast.

The report concludes: "We recommend that the Government does not approve the PPP deal."

Most of London's Labour MPs have either maintained silence or, in public and when pressed, defended the government line. Wellinformed sources say that a big majority are privately deeply unhappy. Opposition parties have also condemned PPP.

Today Downing Street said the Government had always made it clear the PPP plan would only go ahead if it was shown to offer good value for money and the highest safety standards.

Date switch ruins SWT strike plans
Rail rebel pays £300 for a seat in court
Blunkett names the union 'wreckers'