Essex to pioneer best value regime

Exclusive by Carol Millett



A procurement revolution is taking place at Essex County Council that will see its highways, maintenance and road works transferred to the private sector in the form of long-term partnering and private finance initiative agreements.

The Essex initiative, known as Contract 2000, has been put together after extensive consultation with contractors, consultants and other local authorities. It aims to meet the demands of the Government's best value regime, which wants councils to move away from traditional procurement practices to a less bureaucratic, more open way of working. (CJ June 30).

The new procurement regime will see all local works under £500,000 rolled into two major long-term partnering contracts, with no fixed end date, each worth £12-14 million a year.

The contracts will use "open book" performance specifications and each contract will cover one of two geographical areas. The two contracts will be reviewed every five years. Six contractors have been shortlisted for both contracts. One contractor cannot win both contracts.

The shortlisted contractors are Alfred McAlpine: Lafarge-Redland; Ringway; John Doyle; May Gurney and joint venture Fitzpatrick-Babtie. County Roads, the council's direct labour organisation will be privatised and divided between the two main contractors.

Contracts over £500,000 will either be let as partnering agreements or as PFI projects with the two main local works contractors in pole position to win these contracts.

All contracts will be monitored by an independent consultant, as part of a £16 million client support contract. This will replace the council's design-based term consultancy contract, presently held by WS Atkins until June 2000.

The new contract will provide an independent audit of contract performance to ensure best value is attained as well as providing a number of traditional professional services. The three consultants shortlisted are Mouchel, Maunsell and WS Atkins.

Essex County Council is predicting up to 15 per cent savings under the new regime.

Contract 2000 project manager Paul Hardy told CJ: "Contract 2000 is making sure that the funds and resources available go towards the actual output rather than in producing it. With less bureaucracy, administration and the checking of each others' works; and more trust, innovation and flexibility, we are sure we'll get the works carried out more quickly, to a better standard and at less cost."

John Amos, divisional director of Mouchel said Contract 2000 signalled a new culture at local authority level. "In the past local authorities have been very parochial but they are waking up to the implications of Best Value, which will be embodied in legislation next year. Local authorities are going to have to prove themselves and benchmark."