Portsmouth City Council

PFI project, Portsmouth residential and day care centres

Facts and figures

  • A great example of our integrated approach in service delivery - We provided both the new buildings and the long-term facilities management services
  • £5.32m purpose-built facilities

Portsmouth residential and day care centres

This project, under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme, involved the design, construction, finance and operation of one residential and two day care centres for adults with learning difficulties; and the maintenance of a further three care centres for 30 years.

The new Portsmouth residential and day care centres were created under a partnership between Portsmouth City Council Social Services Department and Victory Support Services (Portsmouth) Limited, owned by Interserve and London Financial Group.

The day centres offer community-based facilities in Henderson Road, Eastney, and New Road, Copnor, and replace the outdated and inappropriate Dundas Lane facility. In addition, Russets 15-bed short-stay residential facility provides respite and assessment services for adults with learning disabilities.

Services

  • Catering         
  • Transport
  • Cleaning
  • Security
  • ICT/telecommunications
  • Refuse disposal

Official opening

Ex-health Minister, Jacqui Smith, officially opened the new £5.32 million facilities in March 2003.

Councillor Mike Park, the Executive member for health and social care, said: "We're very pleased that Jacqui Smith will officially open these new facilities. They are of the highest standard and we are rightly proud of them. We are committed to providing the best possible care in Portsmouth and these new centres go a long way to achieving that. In addition, this project is an excellent example of partnership working at its best."

Gaynor Birley-Smith, Ex-General Manager of Victory Support Services, said: "The scheme demonstrates how effective PFI can be at delivering facilities that meet important social needs. We spent time at the outset understanding the issues and incorporating them in to our designs, and in the process we formed an excellent working relationship with Portsmouth Social Services.

"Our shared determination to ensure that the centres took account of the clients' special requirements contributed significantly to the overall success of the project."