Doncaster Council signs off £7m+ contract for new airport radars after loan delay
According to documents published on the council website, the new radars are a “critical item” of the reopening programme,
Last updated 3 hours ago
Top officials at the City of Doncaster Council have signed off on a £7.4million contract for brand new radars at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, blaming funding uncertainty for the programme now being “off track”.
According to documents published on the council website, the new radars are a “critical item” of the reopening programme, but are currently “highlighted as being off track”.
It reveals Doncaster Council will pay Raytheon Systems Ltd, who had built the previous radars at the airport, a total of £7,387,168 for primary and secondary surveillance radars.
The payment will be made gradually with money being paid to the radar builders at a series of milestones laid out in the contract, signed off by executive director for corporate resources Debbie Hogg, chief financial officer Faye Tyas, and Mayor Jones.
The heavily redacted document does not reveal how much Raytheon has been paid up front for the contract award.
A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: “The procurement of a radar represents another crucial step forward to fully reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport. This technology will assist the safe and efficient movement of aircraft in the vicinity and brings added resilience to the airport’s growing Air Traffic Services team.
“It is worth mentioning that procurement was temporarily suspended whilst the council reconsidered CDC’s borrowing decision which was subsequently reaffirmed in May which was critical to being able to finance the programme including infrastructure such as the radar system.”
The sizable seven-figure contract was approved behind closed doors, after Mayor Ros Jones’ cabinet previously delegated airport decision making to officials.
The council also said that “significant global pressures” and rising demand on relevant technology sectors since the start of war in the Middle East has impacted on the estimated delivery time of radar at DSA.
“Despite this, we remain on track towards our previously advised timescales,” the spokesperson added.
It is understood that a number of key parts of the reopening project, including the renegotiation of the agreed lease with the Peel Group, were put on hold as councillors decided whether to rescind approval for a £57m loan supporting the reopening, after Reform UK’s Councillor Jason Charity proposed a motion to cancel it.
Coun Charity’s motion was subsequently amended after discussions between his party and Mayor Ros Jones’ team and the loan approval remained in place.
Reform UK group leader, Coun Howard Rimmer, called the council comment an “attempt to blame Reform” for the delay to the radar contract.
He said: “No one should confuse political scrutiny with political obstruction. Reform was elected to ask difficult questions, challenge major spending decisions and ensure taxpayers receive value for money. That is precisely what we have done throughout this process, and we will not apologise for holding the administration to account.”
His party said it remains “fully supportive of reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport”.