The £14m contract will see Capita develop a similar system to that used for the congestion charge whereby cameras identify number plates and check them against a database. The deal will run until 2009, Transport for London said.Capita also won a £90m extension to its contract to operate the London congestion charge. The scheme will be extended to areas such as Notting Hill and Kensington in the west of the capital in February.The fee, which has risen to £8 a day from £5 since it began in 2003, has been designed to reduce traffic. The scheme does not apply to cars, instead focusing on older buses, coaches, vans and minibuses.Transport for London has signed up Capita to develop a system for identifying heavy vehicles that do not meet EU emission standards. The scheme hinges on the results of a public consultation due to take place in November and final approval from the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone The project could be in operation by early 2008.
Its tariff zone is due to be expanded to the west of the capital early next year.Transport for London has pledged to improve air quality in London by establishing a "low emission zone" whereby vehicles that heavily pollute the air will be charged up to £200 a day to enter the Greater London area. BAE said the board vote in favour of selling the stake had been unanimous.. Capita has been contracted to develop a system geared towards penalising the drivers of polluting vehicles in London as part of a wider initiative to reduce pollution in the capital. The scheme could come into effect by 2008 when heavy vehicles face stiff penalties unless they comply with stringent emission standards set by the European Union. The company also won an extension to its contract to operate the congestion charge system in London. But the Government is working on an agreement with EADS that will give the UK a fixed workshare on Airbus, the right to nominate a director and guarantees on future research and development work.BAE will now have to convene an extraordinary meeting of its shareholders to approve the Airbus sale, although this is seen as a formality. On top of this Airbus is faced with the longer-term cost of replacing the workhorse of its fleet, the narrow-bodied A320, and a dollar exchange rate which is increasing the break-even point on new aircraft programmes.BAE's decision to quit Airbus will raise fears about the long-term security of the 14,000 UK jobs that depend on the programme. Of this, up to £500m will be handed to shareholders through a share buy-back.
BAE may also use some of the money to top up its pension fund. The rest will be used to pay down debt and finance the purchase of other defence companies.Airbus is facing major challenges to bring its A380 super-jumbo programme back under control after production delays which could cost EADS €2bn (£1.4bn) in lost profits. The new wide-bodied A350 jet which Airbus has decided to launch in competition to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is forecast to cost €8bn to develop - twice the initial forecast. BAE had hoped the sale would raise twice that amount.BAE said, having considered an audit of Airbus's prospects conducted by the accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, it had concluded "a significant amount of management focus, time and investment will be required to address the issues currently facing Airbus to improve its operating and financial performance and thereby increase its value".The company added there were inevitably risks in any such recovery programme and, had it decided to retain the shareholding, BAE might have had to wait an "extended period" before it could sell its stake at a materially higher price.The sale will bring BAE net proceeds of £1.2bn. But these are not problems we have at the moment."Mr O'Rourke added: "Customers are becoming increasingly sceptical of a City-oriented corporate world and there is a genuine opportunity for a mutual insurer to win customers' hearts and minds with a truly competitive offering.". BAE Systems is to hand back up to £500m to shareholders after confirming last night it will sell its 20 per cent stake in the commercial aircraft builder Airbus.