Highways Services Contract

Concepts

• highway maintenance
• council’s highways maintenance and professional services
• ipswich
• industry-leading service provider
• professional services
• highways services contract
• highways maintenance
• appointed service provider
• core highways maintenance services
• highways maintenance activities

Location

Suffolk

Description

Suffolk County Council wishes to appoint an industry-leading service provider to become its partner in the delivery of the Council’s highways maintenance and professional services (Contract).The Council is looking to forge a long-term collaborative relationship with a service provider that delivers a Contract that actively supports the Council’s corporate objectives and provides added value to the County.At present, the majority of the Council's highways maintenance activities (including street lighting (SLS), intelligent transport systems (ITS) and professional services) are delivered through its existing highways contract which is due to expire in September 2023.The Council intends to put in place a new, flexible Contract to maximise the potential for success for both itself and the appointed service provider. The Contract will deliver both core highways maintenance services and certain professional services with a separate contract put in place for the provision of SLS and ITS

Total Quantity or Scope

The Council wishes to put in place a new, exciting and flexible arrangement to facilitate its highways activities. The current intention is to ensure that the new Contract encourages and facilitates the following:• Collaboration and partnership – the Council is keen to establish a partnership with the appointed service provider which embodies trust in service delivery and pricing, actively supports its objectives, promotes collaboration and embraces the needs of the Council as well as the people of the County of Suffolk.• Social considerations – in putting in place this important Contract, the Council will consider how it can bring Social Value benefits to its communities by ensuring these are embedded in the service specification, form part of its procurement decisions and are delivered through this Contract. • Climate Emergency – potential service providers will need to demonstrate how they will help the Council with its aim to be Carbon Net Zero by 2030. This will include reviewing and monitoring highway services activities to mitigate environmental impacts whilst actively working in accordance with the Council’s Climate Change Commercial Ask. • Environmental considerations – the Council also wishes to seek out opportunities within the highway maintenance services where it can make positive contributions to biodiversity and protecting the environment across Suffolk. • Communication and Engagement - communication for the highways service plays a key role in keeping customers and stakeholders informed about the different services being delivered (location and time) and informs the Council of defects, complaints and compliments.• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – the Council wants a service provider that is committed to ensuring fair and accessible opportunities for everyone from diverse backgrounds and promoting an inclusive culture and environment within the workplace. The Contract will provide for the delivery of both core highways maintenance services and professional services. Whilst the likely value of the professional services under the Contract is considerably lower than the value of the core maintenance services, the Council considers the quality and manner in which those professional services are delivered to be of equal importance to the overall success of the Contract and is committed to ensuring that the provider of those professional services engages directly with the Council and has an opportunity to influence the development of the Contract more generally particularly in the context of innovation, sustainability and social value. The service provider will provide professional services for small to medium size improvement and capital maintenance schemes as well as large and/or specialist type activities for specific tasks or programmes. Separate contracts will be put in place for the provision of SLS and ITS services in the first instance however, the Council reserves its right to bring those services into this Contract at a later date. The Council is aware that the approach it has decided to take in respect of the Contract may be different to many of the approaches currently in, or coming to, the market. The Council strongly believes that its approach will not only promote a closer working relationship with the service provider but will provide the best value for money for the Council, delivered through a platform which supports and anticipates change and improvement, and which has been established to promote and deliver on the key objectives. The Council will ensure a fair and transparent procurement process whilst complying with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and intends to invite the top four scoring Candidates to participate in and submit an initial tender. The top three scoring Bidders will then be invited to participate in and submit detailed and final tenders. Further information about the procurement process is set out in the Project Information Memorandum (PIM).

Renewal Options

The contract term will be up to a maximum of 20 years comprised of an initial minimum term of 10 years followed by an optional aggregate extension period of up to a further 10 years. The duration and number of extensions beyond the minimum term of 10 years shall be determined at the Council’s absolute discretion. The Council will explore the duration of any extensions as part of the negotiations

CPV Codes

• 45233139 - Highway maintenance work

Indicators

• Variant bids may be considered.
• This is a recurring contract.
• Options are available.
• Renewals are available.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** Selection Questionnaire responses and tenders are to be completed electronically using the Portal: www.suffolksourcing.uk. Please note that a ‘request to participate’ for the purposes of this contract notice (in particular, Section IV.2.2) is by completion and return of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire by the stated deadline.Bidders will remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from Bidders in connection with taking part in this procurement, regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, direct or indirect, of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Council at any time. The Council is mindful of the issues presented by conflicts of interest and will be proactively managing any actual or potential conflicts that may arise during this procurement. The Council has identified that one of the prospective Bidders, Atkins, is a member of the same group as one of the technical advisors, Faithful & Gould (F&G), advising the Council in this procurement process. The Council is taking appropriate action to ensure that F&G and Atkins have put in place all the necessary information barriers and precautions to manage all actual, potential and/or perceived conflicts of interest should Atkins chose to bid for the Contract.The Council reserves the right at any time to: i) reject any or all responses and to cancel or withdraw this procurement at any stage; ii) award a contract without prior notice; iii) change the basis, the procedures and the time-scales set out or referred to within the procurement documents; iv) require a Bidder to clarify any submissions in writing and/or provide additional information (failure to respond adequately may result in disqualification); v) terminate the procurement process; and/or vi) amend the terms and conditions of the selection and evaluation process.All discussions and correspondence will be deemed strictly subject to contract until a formal contract is entered into. The formal contract shall not be binding until it has been signed and dated by the duly authorised representatives of both parties.The estimated value of the Contract identified in II.2.6) is only an estimate at this stage and has the potential to be higher. There is some uncertainty as to the total value for several reasons including: (i) the flexible approach being adopted which anticipates change and continuous improvement; (ii) the availability of central Government funding for future projects/schemes; and (iii) the significant impact that inflation could have on costs under the Contract.In relation to Section II.2.10, variant bids may be accepted by the Council. However, this will only be in circumstances where the form and content of the variant has been approved by the Council in advance.