The long-running legal dispute over Floating Bridge No.6 has finally come to an end, but the taxpayer won’t be finding out what the final settlement figure is.
The Isle of Wight Council, Burness Corlett Three Quays (Southampton) Limited and Mainstay Marine Solutions Limited have this evening (Thursday) confirmed that a full and final settlement has been reached at mediation to end the legal dispute between the parties relating to Floating Bridge 6 – known as the Wight Elephant.
However, it has been agreed that the terms of the settlement should remain confidential. This means that despite costing the taxpayer millions of pounds and causing years of disruption, Islanders won’t find out how much is to be paid back into the Council coffers.
Since entering service the Floating Bridge has been problematic, to say the least. And even now it is still not operating as it should with a work boat called upon on Spring tides.
No party will make any further statement relating to the terms of the settlement agreement.
In other words someone has taken a big backhander not to take it any further
I wander if we will see a penny off it
We have a right to know as it’s our money they have been throwing into the river medina for the last 5 years
freedom of information request https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/
Well that’s it ….
They will use our money to update their heating system and beggar us poor cash cow’s….
Bet they still raise our council tax !!!!!
Total scumbags the lot of them only out for themselves….
Typical of all councillors…..
All tarred and feathered with the same brush…
Should be made available to those that have paid for this piece of non floating heap!!!!!!
Yep another case of you Joe public can cough up the cash but…… You’re not entitled to know anything about what is done with it.
So IOW council doesn’t follow it’s policy of transparency and honestly yet expect public to ?. Bet actually they have spent more on legal than have received in compensation!.
Can a freedom of information act be pushed by us taxpayers?
yes https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/
Disgusting, that’s our money, local politicians taking the P..S. This is why people loose respect for politicians. Not good enough!
Agree Kev
It’s a great position to be in to be able to make others pay with public money for a load of rubbish that should of been scrapped ages ago, and the right people to pay for big mistakes and total poor managed workmanship and lack of accountability
as bacon was involved with this at the start, I suspect that the council has had to accept a lot of liability for accepting it as is – bet that settlement sees the taxpayer mugged off, so that bacon doesn’t have to face up to it
This public money that’s been tipped into this ferry for years, the terms should be made public. Also whether who is liable for future breakdown cost? This should be public as it is we that pay.
One thing we can all be certain of is this will not be the only thing that is shrouded in secrecy from those who are paid by and often squander OUR money.
Well that was no surprise ! This farce has cost the Island Council taxpayers many millions of pounds – and still we don’t have an effective craft capable of operating without the assistance of a separate pusher vessel. The cost of the pusher vessel will continue for the life of the Floating Bridge – with it’s own cost now budgeted by the Council at over a million pounds. It was always inevitable that whatever the outcome of the discussions – which have taken years to finally be undertaken – any financial payment, however small, would be conveniently covered off and justified by saying that the value would be “confidential”.
God after all the hoohaa around this white elephant we islanders have had to put up with, surely we have the right to know the outcome? Or a least they should have the decency to tell us.
No surprise .. IWC have used smoke and mirrors tactics from day one, and wotever little was given as settlement .. will be wasted .. IWC beyond a joke,
Not so much shrouded in secrecy as enveloped in secrecy.
Why Not????….it’s not council money, it’s council tax payers money….that thing has never been fit for purpose, the people of this island should know what settlement has been made…
Who the hell does this council think they are???…we are your employers and we want too know…That idiotic floating bridge should be sent back from were it came, I want a “transparent” explanation….where the hell is it ??…
Bet we don’t c a penny back from us tax payers
Is there no real democracy even at the local level of government? It is public money spent on public transport! Islanders should vote the shifty shysters out of office!
… so that we can vote some different shifty shysters in?
It’s standard practice not to divulge settlements such as this, largely to protect the reputations of the legals who will have creamed off a pretty penny.
Freedom of Information might beintersting …
Agreed H H . This should be deemed as damages for a product that is not fit for purpose, and this product was paid out of council taxpayer revenue. So, this information should be in the public domain. So, the amount of settlement should be made available to taxpayers on the island.
I believe the freedom of information act here could possibly apply. Any legal contributors on here???
We have a right to know and maybe the money could be used for the people that have lost out due to inconvenience that this has caused let alone the money we have paid
freedom of information request https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/
This country has lost its bollocks. The tax payer deserves to know as it’s us lot that get shafted every year when the council tell us that due to increased costs, cuts and tough decisions (after a pay increase for themselves of course) that we need to pay more council tax, loose public toilets and have to accept the consequences. How about the council be what they should be, transparent with the public for a change and instead of running a dictatorship actually listen to and work with what the public want. If not step aside and let the people take back control, oh wait, no one has any gumption or bottle any more. Oh well.
Despite council taxpayers being penalised every year, it’s a secret. Was it a bad outcome? Good news is they won’t add another sum to cover the tubs losses, on next year’s council tax bill?
Absolutely disgusting. Well given the fools that we have on the council and how shallow they are this can mean only one thing. It was a rubbish deal for us taxpayers. If it was not then the idiots at IWC would be shouting it as loud as they could. How the hell can this be kept secret???
Looking forward to a rebate next year.
The fact that the outcome is shrouded in secrecy is a bloody disgrace. What right do the Isle of Wight Council have to hide this result ? It’s the people of the Island that have had to suffer the extortion of the council tax rises since this wast of money has been in use, will we ever be reimbursed for with the money that our money grabbing council are going to hide from us ???? I for one don’t think so
Is the confidential clause at the request of the Isle of Wight council or the manufactures. It’s public money and should be disclosed and accounted for. It’s imperative that the people know how the overall costs. A full disclosure should be made including names of the decision makers
Sorry but its our money Ie the Taxpayer, we should know what the outcome agreed is.
if the council dont say then i would like to know why
Why keeping the settlement secret it’s our money that’s been waisted
Hang about. This is your money and mine. It does not belong to the council. We have the right to know the outcome, including the settlement value; we form our view about the competence of the elected few based upon their performance in precisely this area. But then, perhaps that explains the reticence to make it public.
No, the Island is their personal fiefdom and little people like you and me have no right to know what they are up to. They know we will vote for them again in 2025, half of them have been on the IWC since God was a small boy, but then the relationship between experience and competence was always a shaky one.
“No party will make any further statement relating to the terms of the settlement agreement.”
And that is just so wrong!! So who approved and signed off on the original design brief and specification?
Why are they keeping it secret ?? Have they something to hide ????
How dare they, so much for transparency. We are only the people who pay for this complete muck up.
Typical of this sleazy, shady council – maybe they should all follow the example of a certain Ms. Truss and fcuk off.
Disgraceful – it’s OUR money
An absolutely disgusting outcome.
The Isle of Wight Council may have been awarded £millions in compensation, but the local taxpayers will never be able to hold them accountable for what they do with that money.
The compensation could be £1.00 with the Council forking out £4million in paying all costs
The compensation to the Council could be £4million, plus costs – all money that will just disappear into a black hole, never to be seen again by the people that paid for the FB: the taxpayer
Where will the money go? Into a few individuals bank accounts? On a horse in the 3:30 at Sandown? Who knows, who cares? The Council obviously don’t
We have a right to know, why the secrecy is it because it is so low or that the council lost and are having to pay out
Typical. But this really is not good enough. Island Council Tax Payers have forked out for years to pay for the ongoing repairs but the outcome has to remain a secret!
Perhaps the IOW have been awarded ‘much’ compensation/ refund?????? They won’t tell us in fear of us demanding a Council Tax Rebate!
Of course it will be kept secret – that way we won’t know how little is coming back into taxpayers ‘coffers’ and how much is being paid as ‘consultation’ fees for those whose caused this almighty cock up. This piece of publicly owned junk was paid for by us, has never worked for us and it is left with us to pick up the pieces. How then, can it be democratic to deny us how much is being being paid back. We have a right to know and not be treated like mushrooms (as usual). What gives the Isle of Wight Council the right to negotiate a settlement on our behalf and then not tell us what it is. This is by far the most disgusting outcome that could have occurred. What are ‘they’ frightened of ‘us’ knowing!?!?!?!
But all receipts have to go through the councils accounts and they can’t be kept from the public, surely ?
So when the Council publishes its budget for next year (or whatever year the FB compensation actually gets paid into it’s account) we, the electorate, will have no idea if they are being honest about it and the need to increase the Council tax by another eye-watering amount?
Unacceptable.
Being a government body, coupled with the use of money from the taxpayer, could said taxpayer not file a freedom of information case to bring the details to light?
So why did the Council agree to this gagging clause? Was it because the settlement was for a derisory figure?
The settlement should cover the cost of a replacement vessel as the current one ordered and manufactured under the watch of the previous Independent Administration under the leadership of Cllrs Stephens and Bacon was not fit for purpose.
If this settlement is to remain a secret does that mean that the Council Accounts will be doctored to hide this information? The vessel was purchased with public money and the public should know what happened. So much for the openness and transparency the current Alliance Administration promised.
Possibly ” Oh here is a couple of quid they don’t need to know, Now what was it a large scotch” ………….Crass incompetence and cronyism as usual. there should be an investigation, we are not ‘Mushrooms’ kept is the dark and fed on B**S***.
It was the independents who signed us up to this bridge when they were in power, and despite the conservatives winning at the last election, the Independents control the council again, so they are the ones who are covering this up. But they are happy because the Conservatives will take the blame. Get rid of this lot of useless Independents.
Why is everyone moaning on here? It will achieve nothing. Write to the council and complain so that they can see how angry we all are over this. And if you really want action from the council, when the next elections come around tell the candidates that unless they tell us what the outcome of this case was, you will not vote for them. Armchair moaning achieves nothing.
Some of us do both
Isle of Wight council you stink from top to bottom. You should not be there. Time you were placed into administration and then run by people who have business brains and know how to be straight and not utterly corrupt as obviously you are. Go, now
Taxpayers money wasted by Isle of Wight Council but no one knows the settlement, what has happened to the freedom of information, another cover up. or back hander given do not ask questions.
This is utterly unacceptable, we have been paying for this fiasco for several years and it is certain we will continue to cough up more for years to come because our wonderful council will not do the right thing and get it towed away for scrap.
”it has been agreed that the terms of the settlement should remain confidential” … what possible reason could there be for making the figures confidential? It leads to talk of cover-ups etc, just tell the facts or speculation will go on for years!
I have heard from a reliable source that the sum of £1.2 million was agreed, I wonder if that’s why there not revealing the amount to us plebs as they must of sunk millions into that lump of useless metal!!
Utterly disgusting. If I were fighting that claim, there is no way I would be agreeing to a gagging order, which is what it is. It’s 100% unethical.and smacks of corruption and hiden secrets. My best guess is that both sides wanted to hide the agreement- the manufacturer so they don’t lose public reputation and the council so they don’t get the blame for approving the design of the Wight Elephant. There is probably no way of getting to see what the agreement was. Pointless asking sausage Bob to help…
I imagine that the final build was signed off by a clients agent (given the IWC are not naval architects – I presume) in which case the c*ck up is down to them. Hence secrecy to protect their reputation. That’s my best guess, but we shouldn’t have to guess in a democracy.
astards all of them..
How wrong is that ? Why on earth is it a secret , the breakdown’s cockups and disruption caused by a product not fit for the purpose, where are the morals of our council to agree such a solution to be a SECRET STINKS .
More money for the Clowncil Christmas event.
Might try with my Clowncil Tax not paying it.
Brown envelopes spring to mind.
Another cover up to pay for their failures.
Yeah but no but, are the problems fixed!!!