THE future of road maintenance in York could be decided this month, when council chiefs learn the result of their bid for millions of pounds of public money.

City of York Council has submitted a bid to the Department for Transport for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits, in an attempt to revolutionise the way the city's roads are maintained.

Council leader Steve Galloway has said a successful bid would enable the city's roads, footpaths, street lighting and street furniture to be brought up to a decent standard, and help sustain York as a world-leading city.

But opposition councillors have voiced concerns about committing to a 25-year-strategy, which the PFI option involves.

A response is expected from the DfT later this month, and councillors will meet today to draw up a fast-track scrutiny review of the proposal, ahead of that response.

A Highways PFI Ad-Hoc Scrutiny Committee will prepare a plan-of-action to study the project over the coming month.

Tracey Simpson-Laing, the Labour councillor who called for the scrutiny review, said: "The PFI is a tremendous amount of money, and we were a bit concerned just to make sure we got this right.

"If we were one of the accepted authorities, you are tied in to that like with a mortgage, and we want to make sure it's the right move for York, because we are committing York residents to that way of working for the next 25 years."

York's Green Party leader Andy D'Agorne has also voiced fears over the plans.

He said: "My concerns are about the impact overall on budgets. PFI does bring in additional funding from the Government, but it potentially ties us into long-term contracts, which reduces flexibility to meet the needs of the city as I see it, in terms of responding to changes. The sort of things we can envisage being the requirements now could, in 20 years, be different."

Coun Galloway said the council would hear the outcome of its bid in late January.

He said: "I am pleased that the council has made it so far in the process. This reflects the strong work undertaken by council officials.

"Although I am myself sceptical about the principle of PFI schemes, I do recognise that the present Government is very committed to the idea. Like the decision taken to use PFI to provide modern primary schools in the city, it is essentially "the only show in town" - the only option where we can raise the standards of all our highways and footpaths - and associated street furniture -to an "excellent" standard and keep them that way for the next quarter century at least."