This report provides details and seeks authorisation to increase the value of contract DN625242 entitled “Transport Consultancy Professional Services Network Management Support” between the Council and Amey OW Limited by 50% in value from £799,000 to £1,198,500.

The report provides the background to this existing contract and outlines the reasons for the change in contract value.  The existing transport consultancy services contract is predominately used to provide additional support for the Council’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) Combined Authority Transport Plan (CATP) programme that is grant funded.

The increase in contract value will allow the appointed consultants to continue to deliver several on-going highway engineering schemes that aligns with the Council Plan 2023-2027, in particular: theme 5: working together to protect our environment, and theme 6: working together to create safe, resilient, and engaged communities.

The Director of Neighbourhood Services has approved an increase in contract value from £799,000 to £1,198,500 for the existing Transport Consultancy Professional Services contract with Amey OW Limited at a registered address of Chancery Exchange, 10 Furnival Street, London, EC4A 1AB in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Contract Procedure Rules, and National Procurement Regulations.

The proposals within this report will ensure that on-going highway engineering schemes included within the CRSTS CATP programme for 2024/25 continue to be worked upon that will allow the effective delivery of the capital grant funded schemes.  The contract scope has not varied, the 50% increase is required because the contract has delivered more than initially anticipated.

The proposals within this report will allow purchase orders to be raised for the appointed consultancy to be able to continue to work on capital grant funded schemes.

The delivery of the Council’s CRSTS CATP programme contributes to the following strategic objectives of the Liverpool City Region Road Safety Strategy:

·  A reduction in the number and severity of road traffic collisions working to a target of no avoidable collisions by 2040.

·  Creating the conditions for more people to make safer journeys on foot or by bicycle and enabling more children to walk and cycle to school; and

·  Contributing to improved air quality and reducing climate changing CO₂ emissions.

Failure to agree to this increase in contract value will result in stopping all associated works with Amey Consultants and the need to undertake a re-procurement exercise that will ultimately delay the delivery of ongoing schemes that Amey are working on.  Furthermore, if it is necessary to re-tender a new contract and should Amey not be successful then this will only further exacerbate the process as any new successful bidder is likely to go back to the beginning of the detailed design stage.

A strict management and monitoring regime will be in place to ensure that any further orders of work against this contract will be not exceed the 50% increase in contact value. 

Another option is for the Council to undertake a re-procurement tendering exercise for a new contract with a bigger contract value to allow the highway engineering schemes to be designed and delivered.  Whilst this is not practical now due to the impending work involved to deliver the highway engineering schemes within the scheduled programme, it is considered a viable option to procure a new contract for the medium to long term which is being worked upon through procurement.

Within the Council’s Highways and Infrastructure service, there is currently no staffing resource with the appropriate level of experience and skills set to undertake this work in-house should a re-procurement tendering exercise be undertaken, and it is felt that increasing the contract value to allow ongoing works to continue is the best option.