executive summary

1 The Northern Ireland Court Service (the Service), a Department of the Lord Chancellor, is responsible amongst other things for facilitating the conduct of the business of the Supreme Court, the County Courts, the Magistrates' Courts, Coroners' Courts and certain Tribunals. In addition to providing administrative support to the Judiciary in the conduct of court business the Service also provides suitable accommodation where proceedings can be heard. The Belfast Courts handle the bulk of business in the criminal and civil courts.

2  In the early 1990s it was clear to the Service that the court buildings in Belfast would need to be updated or replaced and that a radical solution was needed to provide for the operational needs of the Service into the Millennium and beyond. A number of measures were contemplated, including the feasibility of refurbishing the Crumlin Road Courthouse to deal with increasing Crown Court business arising in large part from the impact of civil unrest and terrorist related offences. The courts themselves were not immune from terrorism and several were badly damaged or destroyed in attacks.

3  By the end of 1996 the Service was convinced, following an independent market study, of the feasibility of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to provide a new courts complex in Belfast to deal with Crown and County Court business. Advisers were appointed to assist in the procurement and by the end of 1997 the Service issued an Invitation to Negotiate for a larger complex, incorporating Belfast and Newtownabbey Magistrates' Courts, to three consortia.

In February 1999 the Service let a PFI contract (see Figure 2) to Consul Services Ltd (Consul) to design, build, finance and operate a 16 court complex (now known as Laganside Courts). The contract is for 25 years at a cost, in net present value terms, of £40 million. This was the first major accommodation PFI contract signed in Northern Ireland and the first of its kind to reach financial close in the court sector in the United Kingdom. The Service occupied the new complex in January 2002. A chronology of key events is at Appendix 1.

4  We examined the extent to which this PFI deal is likely to deliver value for money. Our report Examining the Value for Money of Deals Under the Private Finance Initiative (HC 739, 1998-99) provides an outline of the general methodology, which acts as the starting point for PFI examinations. The detailed methodology adopted for this study is set out in Appendix 2.