Taxpayers to dig for £20M for Liverpool Dock

[Andy Onchan]

2 minutes ago, b4mbi said:

Utter, utter shit show.

£70.6m... in the sweepstake earlier in this thread the best guess was £60m+

Who is responsible and accountable?

Must be why Reynolds "retired" in October. Government procurement also responsible - get the right guys from the start, not the f*ing cheapest.

How utterly thoroughly depressing.

Something tells me this project never even got as far as Procurement Dept. I'd hazard a guess and say it went straight from DOI/COMIN to AG's office.

[The Phantom]

Can someone instigate a protest (riot) against this Circus of a Govt now please? 

[GreyWolf]

Got to be a full clear out of the idiots who let this happen,  it’s such a regular occurrence that people just expect a clusterf—k every time  it’s so depressing how no one is ever really held accountable spewing out lessons to be learned bullshit, also didnt all this start on Gawnes watch.

 

 

[GD4ELI]

9 minutes ago, GreyWolf said:

Got to be a full clear out of the idiots who let this happen,  it’s such a regular occurrence that people just expect a clusterf—k every time  it’s so depressing how no one is ever really held accountable spewing out lessons to be learned bullshit, also didnt all this start on Gawnes watch.

If you clear out all the idiots there'll be very few left.

[GreyWolf]

Exactly couldn’t be any worse start afresh.

[Non-Believer]

Some on these boards say we must pay top dollar to attract the best.

Well, we've been paying top dollar for a while now so the best must have been attracted here and in charge for a while so this is/has been overseen by the best.

It's complete bollocks of course. What has happened is the dross that we have who have worked their way up through a dead man's shoes system that promotes the dross have decided that they're worth the same as people who are skilled, have experience and judgement and have responsibility that the dross couldn't even imagine. Half of our CS "executives" aren't worth the gum on their payslips.

My MHK told me on the doorstep that he thinks the terminal will cost £100M. He's on his way to being correct.

[Passing Time]

16 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

Some on these boards say we must pay top dollar to attract the best.

Well, we've been paying top dollar for a while now so the best must have been attracted here and in charge for a while so this is/has been overseen by the best.

It's complete bollocks of course. What has happened is the dross that we have who have worked their way up through a dead man's shoes system that promotes the dross have decided that they're worth the same as people who are skilled, have experience and judgement and have responsibility that the dross couldn't even imagine. Half of our CS "executives" aren't worth the gum on their payslips.

My MHK told me on the doorstep that he thinks the terminal will cost £100M. He's on his way to being correct.

Hopefully then, your MHK will be among those who pull the plug on this debacle

[Mistercee]

This situation  is simply staggering!! 

This project should not have even been approved, let alone started, until ALL of the costs/ potential costs had been identified, confirmed and approved in conjunction with a risk assessment to identify any possible "unknowns." 

From what I can make out the increased costs are being put down to problems with munitions and voids under the site and the need to protect the dock wall from propeller scour. The site is / was clearly not fit for purpose. We apparently purchased a long leasehold interest in the site - did no-one think to get a survey on the site as a starting point? Surely if that had been done then we would have a claim against someone's PI cover? Why was the Freeholder not contractually obliged to deliver a site that was fit for purpose? Who negotiated / agreed the terms of the lease? 

The propeller scour was an unexpected cost?? - How the heck did they think a boat docks? - Again - not fit for purpose. 

This is very simple basic construction project management. If properly planned there should be minimal "unforeseen" problems / costs with any project. To over-run on costs to the extent now disclosed should be virtually impossible on a project such as this. We are building a shed next to an existing dock - not a bloomin' space station!! 

This is yet another example of our Government getting itself into something they were ill equipped to deal with and clearly cannot control the civil servants and / or professional advisors who should be protecting our interests. 

Heads really must roll over this fiasco!!! 

    

      

[Barlow]

 

From March 2017:

Liverpool ferry terminal an 'excellent deal for the taxpayer'

 

Quote

 

Spending £20m-plus on a new terminal in Liverpool for island ferries is an ’excellent deal for the taxpayer’.

That’s the view of Chief Minister Howard Quayle

 

I like the "£20m-plus" wriggle room. However our Howard says it is an "excellent deal".

An excellent deal. If you start smuggly spewing those sort of words around, the other side is going to start thinking they are giving something away, aren't they.

But something like 400% increase is taking the fucking piss big time.

And those are the exact words that the Government need to start bandying about. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Barlow

[Numbnuts]

Mind blowing but the really sad part is no one is suprised . And clearly nobody in authority gives a toss. They get their salaries regardless while taxpayers pick up the tab ...again ..morons . From day one with Gawne its clear this should have been monitored and planned professionally . Once again the f***ing muppets in charge have excelled . Not fit to brush the streets but can spew large sums of money without a care in the world. I have to wait 2 years for a eye opp , 5 years for ankle surgery !! The figures wasted would make a massive hole in waiting lists going forward . Yes I'm pissed off with continued incompetance from our CS .

Also where was Cannan in all this . He was treasury minister throughout so why the hell wasnt he asking questions and calling a halt before sums like this are wasted. Did that main muppet HQ overrule him !?? 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Numbnuts

[b4mbi]

1 hour ago, GreyWolf said:

Got to be a full clear out of the idiots who let this happen,  it’s such a regular occurrence that people just expect a clusterf—k every time  it’s so depressing how no one is ever really held accountable spewing out lessons to be learned bullshit, also didnt all this start on Gawnes watch.

 

 

Black and Reynolds have gone, they must have known this was coming down the line, it was under their watch this project was started. With Reynolds being half of the dream negotiating team that set up the deal. Whoever was the other half of that team must walk also.

[joebean]

It was pure vanity that got us to a point where it was thought that the Island must have a Liverpool dock. I would suggest that the vanity came from the political level. This flawed decision was then handed to people who were simply not competent to negotiate a deal or even find a suitable site. Now we are in a position where we have spunked a huge amount of cash already on this project and nobody wants to make a decision to write it off, so the expenditure goes on and on. Stupid and cowardly politicians and incompetent senior civil servants are the enemy of the taxpayer but we seem to be committed to them as well as this unsuitable and unnecessary dock. At least Black and Reynolds have departed. But some of the idiots who put them in charge remain.

[Andy Onchan]

1 hour ago, b4mbi said:

Black and Reynolds have gone, they must have known this was coming down the line, it was under their watch this project was started. With Reynolds being half of the dream negotiating team that set up the deal. Whoever was the other half of that team must walk also.

To my mind the AG's office haven't covered themselves in glory with this either.

[asitis]

We simply cannot go on haemorrhaging money at the rate we are, and listening to bullshit in order to do so !

They got possessed with Easy Jet, or a n other low cost carrier, bombed a shed load of money, hired Reynolds to smooth the waves and sell a load of tripe to the travelling public, and look where we are now ! The Liverpool thing is a joke an absolute joke !

If there was a business case that made sense at 3 million, or indeed 20 million, how in hell can the same business case make sense at 70 million ?

The SPCO deal looks a bit sour now with two new vessels needed and 70 million in Liverpool, Revenue is going to be a bit thin for a few years methinks.

[2112]

2 hours ago, Numbnuts said:

Mind blowing but the really sad part is no one is suprised . And clearly nobody in authority gives a toss. They get their salaries regardless while taxpayers pick up the tab ...again ..morons . From day one with Gawne its clear this should have been monitored and planned professionally . Once again the f***ing muppets in charge have excelled . Not fit to brush the streets but can spew large sums of money without a care in the world. I have to wait 2 years for a eye opp , 5 years for ankle surgery !! The figures wasted would make a massive hole in waiting lists going forward . Yes I'm pissed off with continued incompetance from our CS .

Also where was Cannan in all this . He was treasury minister throughout so why the hell wasnt he asking questions and calling a halt before sums like this are wasted. Did that main muppet HQ overrule him !?? 

Alf Cannan? Missing in Action or Not me Guv. It was the civil servants. Documents got shredded. 
 

A big project costs tens of millions. I dread to think the cost of the new TT scoreboard, unless it’s going to made with MDF and some paint with a bit of stencilling.