To approve the award of a contract to Stantec UK Ltd for the supply of a Project Manager. The initial contract value is £33,743k for a 3 month period to the 30 September 2024 and should further funding be secured a further contract to 31 March 2025 will be awarded to Stantec.

A Project Manager resource is necessary to support the next stage of the Birkenhead to Liscard Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) Project.

The ESPO framework offers a compliant direct route to market under the Council’s Contract Procurement Rules and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This option presents the least risk to the council.

Previous contracts for Project Management (PM) support have been awarded to Stantec which will now exceed £100k therefore this approval is needed to support this 3 month contract award.

There is a considerable value for money justification in commissioning Stantec to provide PM support as they are able to capitalise on momentum from their previous involvement and have developed good relationships with stakeholders. A deviation from using Stantec on this programme would result in lengthy delays, an increase in cost and a loss of knowledge from the project manager.

Grant funding has been provided to support this initial 3 month appointment and should further funding be available to extend the PM post to the end of post Stantec are best placed to provide that resource,

The resource needed for this role does not currently exist in the Council’s current employment base.

The Council has in the past tried to advertise for short term contract positions to fill the requirements and has been unsuccessful.

An alternative PM could be sourced from a different supplier but there would be a break in programme and lack of continuity.