Complaints about tender process

It would be hugely tempting to say "we told you so" to the Scottish Executive. But it would also be a little premature.

In January, Contract Journal was among a number of organisations that spoke out against the tender process for Scotland's £350m five-year trunk road management and maintenance contracts. The accusations were two-fold: firstly that the base quantities used in the method were unrealistic; and secondly that the winning contractors were chosen on price, not quality.

Now, just a few weeks into the new contracts, the first serious complaint about one of the winning contractors, Amey Highways, has emerged. It is significant that the complaint has come from South Lanarkshire Council, which lost out in the tender process and which was a member of the Clyde Solway Consortium that launched a failed legal challenge against that process.

You can bet that South Lanarkshire's councillors have been looking for any reason to find fault, and a few complaints from members of the public about shoddy grass verge cutting and litter were more than they needed to write to Sarah Boyack, Scotland's minister for transport - she who was so staunch in her defence of the contract awards.

So, is it sour grapes, or a serious indictment of the tender process? Only time will tell. What is certain, however, is that the performance of the winning contractors, Amey and BEAR Scotland, will continue to be keenly scrutinised by all those with an axe to grind, and every failure documented and rubbed in Boyack's face. It is a shame for the contractors, who will be pawns in the game. And it might not be fair to Boyack - but neither, we still insist, was the original tender process that she excused.