Agenda item

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet approves the award of the Term Maintenance Contract to the successful bidder; and authority be delegated to finalise and enter into contract with the successful bidder to the Executive Director for Environment, Transport and Infrastructure in consultation with the Executive Director for Resources and the Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure.

Reasons for Decisions:

For several years, the Council has worked with private sector partners to deliver highway maintenance and improvement activities across the county on its behalf, and with the current arrangements expiring in April 2022 a new contract arrangement needs to be determined.

Following approval of the Procurement Strategy in September 2020, officers from Highways and Transport supported by officers from across the Council including Procurement, Legal Finance and Strategic Commissioning have conducted a “Competitive Procedure with Negotiation” procurement exercise to identify the next Term Maintenance provider.

Following the recent completion of that procurement process, officers are now able to recommend the contract be awarded to the most “economically advantageous” bidder as explained in the Part 2 report.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]

Sinead Mooney left the meeting at 14:40

The Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure explained that the report provided an update following a procurement exercise for the Term Maintenance

Contract and proposed a recommendation to award the contract to the successful bidder. The award of the contract would enable the Council to preserve and improve Surrey’s infrastructure and support the connectivity that would facilitate growing a sustainable economy and tackling health inequality. The procurement process undertaken would also enable a greener future through the commitments achieved on environmental sustainability and reductions in highway operational carbon emissions. The contract would last a minimum of ten years and a maximum of 21 years. A robust tender exercise had been undertaken with the three bidders, Amey, Ringway and Kier. The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources explained that a financial deep dive had been undertaken with the contract and pricing mechanisms had been incorporated into the contract. The Cabinet Member was happy with the financial outlook for the contract.

There was a discussion around social value and it was explained that social value outputs were expected to be a core benefit of the contract. The Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure gave some detail around the Surrey Infrastructure Academy and S-Skills which were great examples of offering employment opportunities for young people in tandem with the county council.

The local member for Woking South stated that concerns had been raised about all three contractors and if the council had considered running the service in house. The Cabinet Member explained that the council had good oversight over contracts and took a vigorous and thorough approach to these. Running the service in house had been considered but it was felt that working in partnership with a contractor was the best approach forward. The Leader explained that the Select Committee would monitor the delivery of the contract and that a six month mobilisation period had been built within the contract.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet approves the award of the Term Maintenance Contract to the successful bidder; and authority be delegated to finalise and enter into contract with the successful bidder to the Executive Director for Environment, Transport and Infrastructure in consultation with the Executive Director for Resources and the Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure.

Reasons for Decisions:

For several years, the Council has worked with private sector partners to deliver highway maintenance and improvement activities across the county on its behalf, and with the current arrangements expiring in April 2022 a new contract arrangement needs to be determined.

Following approval of the Procurement Strategy in September 2020, officers from Highways and Transport supported by officers from across the Council including Procurement, Legal Finance and Strategic Commissioning have conducted a “Competitive Procedure with Negotiation” procurement exercise to identify the next Term Maintenance provider.

Following the recent completion of that procurement process, officers are now able to recommend the contract be awarded to the most “economically advantageous” bidder as explained in the Part 2 report.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]

Sinead Mooney returned to the meeting at 14:58