Purpose

The purpose of the report is to seek approval in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 12.2.3(a), to modify the contract for the Project Management of the 2021/22 Highways and Transportation Capital Programme contract with Royal HaskoningDHV as provided for within Appendix A of the existing contract, by extending the duration by six months from 01/04/2023 to 30/09/2023.

The reasons for the decision are, as required by Contract Procedure Rule 12.2.3 (a): The modification is provided for within Appendix A of the existing contract, in precise and clear detail with regards to scope, nature and conditions under which the modification may be used.  The extension to the contract is required due to additional funding being received after the contract was awarded, which has changed the scope of the schemes.

Decision

i)     That, in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 12.2.3(a), the contract with Royal HaskoningDHV for Project Management of the 2021/22 Highways and Transportation Capital Programme be modified by extending the term as provided for in Appendix A of the existing contract, from 01/04/2023 to 30/09/2023.

(ii)       That the Procurement Team be authorised to issue the relevant modification documentation.

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing: Extending the contract and undertaking the works using existing resources within the Council was considered and rejected as the amount of works associated with the delivery of these schemes is too great for the resources that are currently employed by the Council, which would impact on the other statutory duties that the Highways and Capital Delivery Service currently undertake.  It should be noted that within other areas of the Council there is not anyone with the skills and experience to undertake the statutory duties or design and project manage the proposed safety schemes.

Not undertaking the works was considered and rejected as this would result in the Council not fulfilling its statutory function within the Road Traffic Act 1988 to investigate and take appropriate measures to reduce and prevent collisions occurring on our road network.

Seek Competition: Not extending the existing contract and undertaking a competitive tender to appoint a new contractor was considered and rejected as to arrange for a new contractor to be procured before the end of the current contract would be challenging and may result in an inefficient or expensive delivery mechanism being used, projects not completing as per the set deadlines or could result in no contractor being in place at all.