Deloittes and PwC clash over tube finance report.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, adviser to London Underground, has criticised aspects of the controversial tube report by Big Five rival Deloitte & Touche.
The firm said the report, released last Friday following a High Court ruling, was ‘selective’ in the material it chose to use and did not ‘present a balanced view’ of public-private partnership plans for the Tube.
The Deloittes report backs the assertions of London mayor Ken Livingstone and Bob Kiley, the sacked chairman of London Transport, that the PPP agreement does not demonstrate value for money when compared with the public sector alternative.
But according to PwC, the report contained ‘apparent inaccuracies, misunderstandings and unsubstantiated statements’. This, the firm said, may have been due to the limited time, scope, and access to information sources available, which Deloittes admitted in a letter written to London Underground in July.
PwC also said some of Deloittes’ comments contradicted guidance given by the National Audit Office, specifically its criticism of the preparation of the Public Sector Comparator, the model used for determining whether PPP achieves value for money.
Furthermore, PwC said Deloittes had not considered any of the ‘wider factors’ necessary to determine value for money including the benefits of private sector management skills and an assessment of LU’s ability to implement large projects. D&T declined to comment.