EADS' £12,000 bill inflames MPs

By DAN ATKINSON, MAIL ON SUNDAY ECONOMICS EDITOR
Updated: 17:36 EST, 13 November 2010

Defence and aerospace giant EADS tried to land British taxpayers with the cost of being grilled by a select committee of MPs, Ministers have claimed.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is refusing to pay a £12,000 invoice from EADS which, he says, is for the preparation and appearance of two senior executives.

They were summoned to explain the troubled £400 million FiRecontrol project to replace 46 fire brigade control rooms with nine regional centres.

Under fire: Robin Southwell, boss of EADS

EADS, better known for projects such as the typhoon strike aircraft, is the main it contractor for the project but MPs on the communities and Local Government Select committee have described this status as 'precarious'.

They were taking evidence earlier this year on the fact that FiRecontrol is running up to four years late with every hour's delay costing £1,500.

Dr Robert Diggle, project director for FiRecontrol, and Robin Southwell, EADS chief executive, were grilled on February 8 and, according to Pickles, EADS tried to charge 20 hours of 'consultancy time'.

Pickles has published the EADS invoice and Bob Neill, the communities Minister, said: 'We have not authorised any effort associated with this activity to be assigned consultancy support and do not agree that it falls within the scope of core project activities.

'it is wholly inappropriate to use taxpayers' money in this way and we have refused to pay it.'

Pickles has said: 'I have to say, we will not be paying that £12,000.'

Relations between EADS and the communities Department have deteriorated as problems have mounted with FiRecontrol.

Pickles said in September: 'our message is that a big company like EADS should not mess us around any more.

EADS said on Friday that the invoice, which has been in dispute since before the May election, was wrongly allocated.