I don’t especially want to give UKIP ammunition, but EDF,  aka Electricite de France, is not giving Surrey, and in particular my corner of Surrey, Knaphill and Goldsworth West, the service that we should be able to expect. And it seems Surrey County Council cannot do anything about it. Privatisation, intended to increase competition and so reduce costs and improve services, has led to a monopoly situation in which control has been taken away from public services leaving them powerless - in this case literally! This is yet another of Mrs. Thatcher’s malign legacies.

To explain the situation further, here is the question I recently put at Full Council, with the answer given:

EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR TRANSPORT

(12)     MRS DIANA SMITH (KNAPHILL) TO ASK:

 Light number 15 in Chobham Road, Knaphill, has not worked for at least four years, despite constant queries by myself and reassurances by Local Transport Officers. At the Woking Local Committee meeting in February Paul Fishwick, Local Highways Manager wrote in reply to my question on this subject: “This streetlight has somewhat of a potted history, in summary a new lamp column was installed after the original was found to have had power removed when the column had been vandalized. The original lamp column was in poor condition. EDF, the Regional Electricity Company were requested to connect an electric supply to the new lamp column from their low voltage mains. Unfortunately, EDF were initially unable to locate their mains cable, but found a cable that had been connected to the original lamp column, that was now deemed unsuitable by EDF.  EDF requested that the new lamp column needed to be relocated to the opposite side of the road where there was a suitable low voltage main. The County Council have relocated this column to the opposite side of the road, but are awaiting EDF to make the connection from their low voltage main.” The light remains unlit. Moreover I understand that the Toucan crossing of Redding Way in Knaphill has not been connected by EDF within the promised delivery time of six weeks, that this has put construction of the crossing on hold; also that four other facilities in the Borough of Woking face a similar delay. a) With regard to the Toucan crossing and other facilities, can the Executive Member confirm this is the case? b) What sanctions are available to Surrey County Council when delays by EDF prevent work being completed?  c) What action is the County proposing to take in response to this highly unsatisfactory situation? 

Reply:

 a) There are 4 schemes that have not been completed in Woking due to lack of electrical connections from EDF, these are at:-

• Brewery Road/Arthurs Bridge Road,
• A245 Sheerwater Road (Pedestrian Facilities)
• Redding Way J/W Tudor Way (Toucan Crossing)
• The Broadway, (Zebra crossing/beacons)

Ringway have placed the orders for these works with EDF and after much chasing were eventually given estimated dates for March, but nothing has happened since then.

 b) EDF is one of two Distribution Network Operators in Surrey and they cover the old Seeboard area  (the other DNO being Scottish and Southern Energy covering the Southern electricity board area) as a result of the Electricity Act 1989 which provided for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain.   The body set up to regulate these monopoly companies is Ofgem and they have set new performance standards in November 2007 that EDF have indicated that they intend to achieve.   Surrey County Council is a customer of the DNOs but has no flexibility to change DNO or seek alternative terms or conditions. c) In recognition of the poor performance of EDF, the Transportation Select Committee invited EDF to send a representative to their meeting of 9 April (Item 6).   The EDF representatives acknowledged that their performance had been poor and informed the Committee that Ofgem had set new performance standards that EDF were committed to achieve.   In the meantime officers are meeting with EDF to facilitate, as far as possible, improved performance. 

If performance does not improve significantly in the near future then we will need to consider at a Member and political level what this Council can do to spur EDF on.  As I have indicated, our legal powers are very limited, but we do have the option to publicise in a more aggressive way EDF’s shortcomings if the considerable efforts that the service is making to obtain a better service for our residents do not bear fruit in a very short time. 

I feel angry about this. Pedestrian crossings needed for children to get to school have been started but not finished, and there is a terrible sense of helplessness and muddle.

I’m not sure what the legal situation would be if I suggested sanctions that individual consumers might choose to bring to bear.  So I will play it safe and just say I really hope we get some better service soon.