Client: UK Highways Authority

What the Advisor was asked to do

We were asked to review and recommend whether the Highways Authority should accept an offer of betterment of performance and new facilities from the existing Highways maintenance provider in return for a legally permissable extension of contract, we were asked quite frankly “is this value for money?”

We needed to undertake the review in a short space of time to enable the Council to make the necessary arrangements to procure the new Contracts should the extension not be granted.

What the Advisor Did

Our approach, as described within our Asset-Centric ™ suite of consulting tools and techniques, was to develop a hypothesis to enable us to robustly test the performance of the current contractor against his contractual obligations, and review whether or not the extension of the contract would in fact mean Value for Money, as measured by improvements in effectiveness, efficiency and economy.

We undertook a series of structured validation interviews within the Council to ensure we fully understood the dynamics of the Contract and existing levels of governance, and whether people ‘on the ground’ agreed with the potential option available to the Council.

We benchmarked the performance of the Contractor technically and commercially with other similar authorities, and we also discussed, at length, with the existing provider, the background to the offer, and their understanding of the commercial sense of the proposal.

Benefits

The Contract was extended but importantly more robust relationships were established between the Council and the provider, and the Contract was able to incorporate better performance metrics and more transparent commercial management arrangements.

Significant savings from avoiding another procurement in Highways Maintenance were made. The ‘new’ Contract renewal date is now at the same time as other arrangements for similar provision in adjacent Highways authorities will need to be made, so could complement a regional approach to maintenance should that be desired.