Legal bill from procurement dispute pushes costs for Westminster to near £1m

The legal costs for Westminster City Council in dealing with a procurement dispute with parking services provider Mouchel were £320,000, it has been claimed.

Last month the local authority blamed expensive court costs and the risk of potentially having to pay out £4m for its decision to agree the £600,000 settlement with Mouchel. This was despite the fact that the authority felt it had a good prospect for success, had the matter gone to court.

The dispute related to a tender for the UK’s biggest parking contract. Mouchel had originally been named as the preferred bidder, but Westminster’s legal team discovered that the initial contract document was flawed.

The authority then ran an accelerated procurement process and handed the contract to NSL Services. Mouchel subsequently launched a legal challenge.

Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group at Westminster, revealed the legal bill for resolving the dispute was in addition to the settlement itself.

He claimed: “The cost of this massive bungle is now £920,000 and is absolutely scandalous when the council is sacking 250 more staff, when services to vulnerable older people and children are being axed and when the council is cutting £250,000 from the amount it spends on new library books.”