Purpose

Decision made and reasons:

Decision:

To extend the Council’s contract for Traffic Regulation Order
Consultancy with ADL Traffic & Highways Engineering Ltd for a
period of three-years (until September 2028) in accordance with the
contract awarded in September 2021.

Reason:

Traffic Regulations Orders are legal documents that restrict or
prohibit the use of the highway network, in line with The Road
Traffic Regulation Act 1984 – while Dacorum Borough Council
is not the highway authority, we do undertake parking enforcement
(on-street and off-street) that requires the making of Traffic
Regulation Orders.

The statutory process for making Traffic Regulation Orders involves
several key steps, including feasibility assessments, proposed
scheme design, public consultations, and formal advertising.

The Council does not have this expertise in-house hence the reason
for this contract originally and why an extension is now being
sought.

Background:

In September 2021 the Contract for Traffic Regulations Order
Consultancy commenced. This contract is delivered by ADL Traffic
& Highways Engineering Ltd (ADL).

The contract was for an initial period of four years, which ends in
September 2025. There was provision within the tendered contract
for this to be extended by a period of three years.

The initial value of the contract envisaged annual spend of
£60,000 per year so an initial value of £240,000 and if
extended for the full-term £420,000.

The current spend on the contract to date is £112,000 so well
within the threshold from when tendered. Based on current spend,
the value of the three years extension is likely to be between
£100,000 and £120,000.

Officers working with ADL since September 2021 have found them to
be responsive and knowledgeable in this area of work. There have
been no issues with their performance or professional
credentials

Commercial Board:

A report was presented to Commercial Board on 20 May 2025 and
approval was provided on the same date to extend the contract with
ADL Traffic and Highways Engineering Ltd.

Decision

To extend the Council’s contract for
Traffic Regulation Order Consultancy with ADL Traffic &
Highways Engineering Ltd for a period of three-years (until
September 2028) in accordance with the contract awarded in
September 2021.

Alternative options considered

In addition to the option to extend the
contract, the Council also considered:

1. Seeking approval to go to market and let a new contract

2. Directly employing and officer or officers with the necessary
experience to undertake the work done under the current contract
in-house.

Option one was discounted on several points but the primary one
being that there is not capacity to be tendering this contract at
the same time as mobilising the new Parking Enforcement
Contract.

Option two was discounted on the basis that the cost of employing
an officer or officers would exceed the current spend being made
with ADL. This would also likely require budget growth to cover
aspects of their work such as 1:1s, appraisals, training, etc. that
could not be charged to the Parking Reserve Account. Additionally,
at present the Council is able to pull on a pool of staff within
ADL and who have a breadth of experience – having the
resource in-house would reduce this.