Archived decisions

Contact: Phil Samms, ext 7072 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 On 5 April 2005 the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel supported the proposed retendering of the current Environment Department's Professional Services Contract for a further 2+2 years, to allow flexibility for a wider review of procurement options in this field from 2008. The Panel resolved "that the Executive Member for Environment be advised that the work to prepare for the renewal of the professional service contract should commence in April 2005 and proceed as recommended so as to ensure continuity of resources required for service delivery".

1.2 As a consequence of this resolution, a review of current arrangements within the existing contract has taken place within the Department, with a view to identifying improvements for the 2006-2008 contract. The findings of this review are summarised in this report.

1.3 This report sets out the basis of the new contract and seeks approval for tenders to be issued to a select list of consultants who have expressed an interest in bidding for the contract following an advert in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2. Background

2.1 Professional design services within the Department are currently provided through in-house resources (ie Engineering Consultancy, ITS Group, Passenger Transport, Landscape Planning and Heritage) and the current professional services contract, held by Atkins, together with ad hoc commissions with District Councils. This arrangement has been operating since April 2001.

2.2 Workload over the past five years has been sufficient to ensure that all in-house resources have been fully employed, and Atkins has provided an important source of fluctuating additional resource (average annual fees of £2 million) as necessary to deliver the annual capital programmes. Current predictions are such that workload will continue to be maintained at similar levels for the foreseeable future, and it is therefore essential that a new

Professional Services Contract, valued at an estimated £2 million per annum, is put in place to take over from the end of the existing one in April 2006.

2.3 As part of an overall review of procurement within the Department it was proposed to the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel that a short-term contract be sought, to enable an extended period of review of the wider issues to take place. This arrangement also allows other major term contracts, such as the Highways Term Maintenance Contract, to reach a convenient break point so that integration of contracts may be achieved in 2008, if investigations prove that efficiency savings will result.

3. Review Process

3.1 The existing contract was written as a bespoke arrangement in 2000 and has generally worked well. However, there are concerns that certain aspects of the contract have presented problems over the past four years, and it was decided that a comprehensive review of the contract and its administration was required before deciding on the best way forward for the 2006-2008 renewal.

3.2 A Professional Services Contract (PSC) Working Group was set up in early April 2005 with the aim of reviewing the existing arrangements across the Department and recommending improvements. The Group consisted of representatives from Transport Policy, Transport Implementation, ITS Group, Passenger Transport, Landscape Planning and Heritage and Engineering Consultancy, covering clients, designers and project managers. Various meetings took place, including an opportunity for the current supplier, Atkins, to discuss existing problems and agreement was reached on a way forward for the new contract.

3.3 The following key points were identified as the main areas for improvement required within the next contract.

Administration of the Contract

(i) Partnership Management Group required to monitor performance and encouraging partnering opportunities on a regular basis.

(ii) Formalised contract management of the contract by the in-house Engineering Consultancy, who have appropriate experience in this respect. Careful consideration is required, however, to ensure that the transport planning and other specialist needs are still met and the Management Group identified above could provide this function.

(iii) Establish a series of performance indicators to facilitate monitoring and ensure a year-on-year improvement in service delivery.

(iv) Establish a forum to allow best practice to be shared and disseminated throughout both organisations.

(v) Seek a commitment from the successful consultant to close geographical links and potentially co-located project teams to ensure local knowledge of staff and ease of communication.

Project Management

(i) Provide clearer briefs and train clients to be more informed of the whole process.

(ii) Standardise procedures and implement a process of gateway reviews throughout the development of a scheme.

(iii) Clarify client/consultant roles to minimise conflict opportunities.

(iv) Include arrangements for managing specialist services.

Specification

(i) Set specifications to ensure that County Council policies, quality, risk, sustainability and efficiency objectives are clear and that overall schemes are delivered to the Council's requirements.

(ii) Set level of design required, attitude to risk and the standards to be adopted in scheme preparation.

(iii) Set clear procedures for dealing with departures from standard and checking/audit processes.

(iv) Site supervision to be carried out by in-house resources as a first choice, however opportunities for consultant supervision to be considered when appropriate.

Fees

(i) Simplify current charge bands to provide more flexibility.

(ii) Enable fixed fee options for simple and standard packages of work.

(iii) Open book accounting.

(iv) Move towards target costing on schemes, where appropriate.

(v) Closer fee monitoring and feedback to clients.

3.4 Many of these recommendations require changes to in-house processes, which are already being covered as part of the Capital Programme Review and ongoing review of project management. Those requiring changes to the contract documentation have been considered and appropriate revisions made.

4. The Tender Process

4.1 It is proposed to tender the contract in mid September 2005, with returns to be received by early November 2005.

4.2 The tenders will be invited from a select list of between five and ten consultants who have been selected on the basis of their abilities to deliver the required services, and on their relative experience in delivering similar services for other local authorities and private clients. Information used in this assessment was obtained following the advertisement of the Contract Notice in the Official Journal of the European Union in July 2005.

4.3 Tenders will be assessed using a 70% Quality, 30% Cost split, in order to reflect the need for an effective, quality driven delivery of the capital programme. Costs will be assessed on the basis of rates for staff and a number of cost models for standard schemes. Quality will be assessed by a panel of key senior officers from all disciplines planning to use the contract, and involve both a written submission and interviews for the most preferential tenders.

4.4 It is envisaged that the tender assessments will take approximately five weeks to complete, with the most favourable tenderer identified in December 2005.

4.5 The contract will be awarded in January 2006, allowing a two and a half month mobilisation period for the successful tenderer. This will also ensure that adequate time is allowed for transitional arrangements with Atkins, if appropriate.

5. Impact Assessments

5.1 The consultant appointed will be obliged to follow national legislation and Hampshire County Council's equalities aims and procedures.

Recommendation

That authority be given to carrying out tendering procedures for the Professional Services Contract for a two year period with the option of two additional one year extensions, to ensure continuous service delivery of the capital programme following the end of the existing contract on 31 March 2006.

514Rpt/PS