Purpose

Existing Framework Contracts ending February
2026. These Frameworks cover the Highway Planned Maintenance and
Schemes, and Professional Services. They are also used to cover the
Councils legal obligation to maintain the Highway.
 
Cabinet is recommended to proceed with
re-procurement of contractors to undertake the Highways Services
and Works Contracts, which will come into operation in February
2026.

Decision

Decision
 
For the reasons set
out in the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree:
 
i) 
The commencement of a procurement exercise for Highways
Professional Services Contract and a Framework Contract for
Reactive Maintenance, Planned Schemes, and Works at an aggregate
estimated value of £162m over a 6-year period, expected to
commence February 2026.
 
Alternatives
Considered
 

a) 
During the course of the previous six months, both the Highways and
Sustainable Transport and Procurement Teams have been in
discussions on the delivery of the contracts, to maintain the
Council’s obligations to maintain and improve its highway
network. During this period a series of possible options were
discussed and reviewed.

b) 
As the existing contracts are coming to an end, and there are no
further extension clauses that can be invoked, the Council has no
option but to procure works and professional services providers to
maintain service delivery continuity. The ‘do-nothing’
option would leave the Council exposed to not meeting its legal
obligation to maintain the Highway for Reactive Maintenance, whilst
relying on the TfL HMPF contract, as per 6.3, for the Planned
Maintenance and Schemes.

c) 
The Council could make use of the TfL HMPF contract. This could be
used for both planned works and planned maintenance as well as
professional services. The Council has already been using this
contract (and its previous iterations) since 2014, as a back up to
its existing suppliers to assist workload demands. Past experience
shows that the dedicated HMPF contractor for a given London region,
normally prioritises work for TfL as the contract administrator. It
has proven a useful back up, and it is recommended that the Council
maintain itself as a signatory to the TfL HMPF, so that it can
continue to be an option for scheme delivery and resilience in the
future. The new Framework Contract will be compared and benchmarked
against the HMPF Contract to ensure the most advantageous position
for the Council.