Issue - meetings

The County Council is required to manage its road network to ensure safety and to minimise congestion.

Traffic control systems are an essential tool in achieving this. They include: traffic signals at junctions, pelican, puffin, toucan, and equestrian crossings, variable message signs, fire station warning lights, car park counting equipment, electronic bridge height warning signs and rising bollards.

Current contractual arrangements for the maintenance and inspection of these systems come to an end in June 2017 and on this basis it is necessary to appoint a new contract in order to be able to continue to maintain these systems in accordance with our obligations/duties under the Traffic Management Act 2004, “TD24/97 All Purpose Trunk Roads Inspection and Maintenance of Traffic Signals and Associated Equipment” (Volume 8, Section 1, Part 2 of the Design Manual for Road and Bridges 1997), and  “Management of Electronic Traffic Equipment  - A Code of Practice Sept. 2011” (DfT/Roads Liaison Group).

This report provides details of the procurement process to award two separate contracts for the Inspection and Maintenance of our traffic control systems, including the results of the evaluation process, and in conjunction with the Part 2 report, demonstrates why the recommended contracts offer best value for money.

Due to the commercial sensitivity involved in the contracts award process, the financial details of the potential suppliers have been circulated as a Part 2 report for Members.

N.B. an annex containing exempt information is contained in Part 2 of the agenda – item 11

[The decisions on this item may be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board]

RESOLVED: That;

the Cabinet approved the award of the contracts to Siemens PLC as agreed on the basis set out in the Part 2 report.

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding who advised that the Council was legally required to inspect and maintain Surrey’s Traffic Control System. This was a niche service which limited the number of suppliers who were able to bid for the contract. The Council had introduced more robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) into the contracts in an effort to ensure effective performance from the supplier while contracts would be awarded on a 3 + 2 years basis to incentivise good performance. The Cabinet was further informed that SCC had sought to collaborate with other local authorities on the procurement of this service but this had not come to fruition due to varying requirements regarding the maintenance and repair of Traffic Control Systems. 

Mr Goodman congratulated officers for their work in identifying potential risks arising from the contract and for detailing measures to mitigate these risks clearly in the report.

RESOLVED: That;

the Cabinet approved the award of the contracts to Siemens PLC as agreed on the basis set out in the Part 2 report.

Reasons for Decisions

The revised contractual proposals enable Surrey County Council (SCC) to continue to inspect and maintain traffic control systems on its highway network across the county.

Surrey County Council has a general ‘Network Management Duty’ under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and the County’s Traffic Systems Assets play a key role in delivering this Duty,

The Council Manages its Traffic Control Systems assets to the technical specifications set out “TD24/97 All Purpose Trunk Roads Inspection and Maintenance of Traffic Signals and Associated Equipment” (Volume 8, Section 1, Part 2 of the Design Manual for Road and Bridges 1997), and in accordance with “Management of Electronic Traffic Equipment - A Code of Practice Sept. 2011” (DfT/Roads Liaison Group)

A full tender process for the inspection and maintenance of traffic control systems, in compliance with the requirement of EU Procurement Legislation and Procurement Standing Orders has been completed, and the recommendations provide best value for money for the Council following a thorough evaluation process.