Highways Agency declares umpire 'out'

Not so long ago the consulting engineer cut a florid figure as the gentlemen umpire of the road construction industry, while contractors were mere forelock-tugging serfs. The last decade has seen quite a change. As the sands have shifted beneath the engineer's feet, so his influence has drained relentlessly away.

Another bastion is about to fall. The Highways Agency has confirmed that it is axing super-agencies (see page 1). Run almost exclusively by consulting engineers, these were to oversee highway maintenance on the HA's behalf for between three and five years.

The decision to replace them after just three years says much about a shift in the balance of power. But it says even more about the erosion of barriers between the disciplines. No longer is there an artificial distinction between design and implementation, thinking and doing. Procurement trends are pretty clear: clients don't want one organisation to think for them, and another to act. They want single entities that do both.

And that is what the Highways Agency is seeking to achieve by combining the role of super agent and term maintenance contractor.

Much important detail is still to be unveiled. For example, how long will the agreements run for? How big will they be? And how many organisations does HA want to use?

However, the industry doesn't need the answers to all these questions before it can gauge the drift of HA thinking. Talk of partnering, moves to a service specification and consultation on single point responsibility all show the HA to be at one with the Treasury's aim of promoting prime contracting across Government departments.

Consultants will be welcome to play in the prime contracting game - though few would choose to do so. But one thing is for sure, there is no future as the white-coated umpire.