Issue - meetings

Report of the Assistant Director of Place (Highways and Public Protection)

Further to Minute No. 68 of 5 October 2023, the Cabinet considered the report of the Assistant Director of Place (Highways and Public Protection) seeking approval to amend the contract end dates of three Highway Maintenance Service Contracts, namely HM01 (Carriageway Resurfacing); HM08 (Surface Treatments); and HM10 (Highway Maintenance).

Decisions Made:

That

(1)           the Highway Term Maintenance Contract HM01 (Carriageway resurfacing) be extended until 31 July 2026;

(2)           the Highway Term Maintenance Contract HM08 (Surface treatments) be extended until 31^st August 2026;

(3)           the Highway Term Maintenance Contract HM10 (Highway Maintenance) be extended until 30 September 2026; and

(4)      the Assistant Director of Place (Highways and Public Protection), in consultation with the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer, be authorised to formally extend the contracts to the revised dates.

Reasons for the Decisions:

To align the end dates with the delayed start dates of the contracts.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

All three contracts were currently due to end on 31 March 2026, as per the original contract documents, and the Council could decide not to change this date.

In accordance with the provisions within the Contract, the Council agreed 2-year contract extensions with the Contractors. However, as the commencement dates were delayed when the original contracts were issued in 2016, recent advice had highlighted that the current end dates would result in the contracts running for a shorter term than tendered for. Therefore, not changing the end dates to align with the actual commencement of the contracts could result in challenge, a need to re-negotiate rates and potential compensation events.