Decision

The Director of
Neighbourhood Services has approved the Direct Award of a contract
to ECON following a procurement process through the ESPO Framework
for a term of 26 weeks from 20.10.2025 for an estimated contract
value of £290,838.00 for the hire of 11 x 18t gritters with
ploughs and 1 x 3.5t mini gritter for Winter Maintenance Season
2025/2026.  All servicing and 24/7
breakdown assistance plus replacement of gritter, if required,
included in award.
 

Reasons for the decision

The Highway Winter
Service requires the hire of gritter vehicles from ECON in order to
carry out the Council’s highway winter service operations
during the winter period 2025/26 for the treatment of carriageways,
footways and other areas where required in order that the council
can meet its statutory duty.
 

Alternative options considered

The decision to hire
is because purchase of gritters would involve initial greater
expense and commitment. The required number of gritters may change
to support service, and the vehicles would be unused for approx. 6
months of the year. Purchasing vehicles would also place huge
pressure on transport maintenance to ensure compliance with safety
inspections every 6 weeks and laden brake testing at least 4 times
a year. This would mean the service would need to employ an
additional technician to support the service.
 
Vehicles could be
leased but leasing tends to be for a minimum of 12 months. In the
circumstances, it was concluded that there is more availability and
flexibility to meet the requirements of the service through hire
frameworks. Other suppliers were available through the ESPO
framework, however, Econ were the cheapest option.