Amey legal challenge forces Sussex highways rebid

Aaron Morby 6 years ago
Share

A legal challenge by Amey Highways has forced West Sussex County Council to retender a major road maintenance contract.

Amey launched the court challenge over the award of the term maintenance contract to rival Ringway after a closely contested bid race.

The new seven-year contract, which is worth around £30-£35m a year, was to replace a term deal with Balfour Beatty Living Places, which expired on 30 June 2018.

But now Balfour Beatty will be kept on until April 2019 to allow the term maintenance contract to be rebid.

West Sussex County Council officers picked Ringway after it ‘submitted the most economically advantageous tender’.

But Amey claimed that its score should have been higher than Ringway’s and that it should have been awarded the contract.

During the bid assessment, Ringway bettered Amey’s overall bid score of 85.48 by just 0.03.

But Amey launched legal action claiming that instructions given by the council about how it should structure its presentation of certain staff costs were unlawful.

It also alleged manifest error in the scoring of two criteria and that it should have been awarded a higher score for those criteria.

The council has denied the claims but has now decided to re-run the tender race, which saw Balfour and Skanska also vie for the job.

A West Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “The council received a legal challenge to the recent outcome of the procurement of our highways term maintenance contract.

“Following some preliminary legal proceedings, the Court has ruled that a full litigation process would be needed to agree an outcome for this case.

“Our priority in this case has always been to make sure we have the right contract in place to ensure our highways are maintained properly and to limit any unnecessary spending of tax payers’ money.

“As a result we have taken the decision to abandon the procurement process and start again, meaning that the legal challenge can be brought to an end.

“In the interim we have agreed our current provider, Balfour Beatty Living Places, will continue to deliver a high quality service across all aspects of highways for the County Council until at least the end of March 2019.”

Latest news

Multiplex signs off £400m Westminster barracks resi job

Super prime 179 flats to be built at former home of Royal Horse Artillery
53 mins ago

Road worker dies after crash on A30

Collision involving two highways maintenance vehicles and a lorry in Cornwall
10 hours ago

Kier and Bam star in two Welsh frameworks worth £1.4bn

Welsh hospitals and South West Wales building frameworks awarded
16 hours ago

Developer GPE targets 40% of reused building materials

Subcontractors will be asked for suggestions on how to cut use of virgin materials
17 hours ago

95 secure spots on major consultants framework

Host of firms win places on Procure Partnerships deal
16 hours ago

Arup restructures board to create new CEO role

Group chair Jerome Frost takes new role at consultant
16 hours ago

Winners revealed for £5.4bn electricity grid upgrade

SP Energy Networks unveils 19 winners - full list
3 days ago

Balfour and Flannery hit training milestone

1,000th student trained at Operator Skills Hub
16 hours ago

Fast-track skills hubs to train 5,000 extra apprentices

Plan for network of 32 skills hubs to train construction apprentices in half the time
3 days ago

Malaysian property giant to buy 50% stake in JRL

IJM Land to buy into diversified £800m turnover south east contractor
4 days ago

Luxury house builder files administration notice

£31m turnover Octagon Developments Ltd lodges court notice
4 days ago

Morgan Sindall takes on £22m stalled ISG Cardiff school job

Workplan is being drawn up ahead of restart on Penarth school
4 days ago

Walker Modular wins bathroom pod deal on student tower

Sealant-free construction method helps supplier dominate student market
4 days ago

Over £600m awarded for decarbonisation projects – full lists

Over 240 public building energy upgrade projects secure cash
4 days ago

Enabling works to start on £130m Huyton town centre regen

Phase one includes a new council HQ, hotel and 72 flats
5 days ago

Ridge buys rival consultant Jubb

Acquisition will see 100 new staff join Ridge
5 days ago

Grainger build to rent pipeline rises to £1.4bn

Rental specialist buys sites in Sheffield and Cardiff to build 600 rental homes
5 days ago

Kier wins Cambridgeshire County council estate upkeep

Firm will provide building and M&E services to 106 buildings across the county
5 days ago

Louvres and solar shading specialist files for administration

Hampshire based ALPS lodges court notice after 25 years in business
5 days ago

Speedy Hire posts a loss in latest results

Hire giant confident of better performance in next six months
5 days ago

Esh to lead next phase of Riverside Sunderland regeneration

Infrastructure work will allow further development of Sheepfolds area
5 days ago

Green light for £1.3bn Edinburgh coastal town revamp

First phase of Granton Waterfront scheme will see Cruden Homes create a new community
5 days ago

Vistry chief operating officer steps down

Earl Sibley exits as his COO role axed for more direct reporting to CEO
6 days ago

House builder Camstead goes into administration

Work stopped on three current sites
6 days ago

Death of piling legend Roger Bullivant

Industry innovator dies after long illness aged 85
6 days ago

ESS Modular went down owing suppliers £7m

Modular specialist owned by ISG owner Cathexis
6 days ago

Builders back farmers in inheritance tax protest

"A rethink is desperately needed" say National Federation of Builders
6 days ago

Willmott Dixon wins £36m leisure centre upgrade

Work to start on historic Westminster 1930s Grade II listed Seymour Centre
6 days ago

Graham wins £100m Cardiff Crossrail phase 1

Work on route to Cardiff Bay to start before end of next year
7 days ago

Laing O’Rourke appoints new European MD

Peter Lyons to take-up new role in February
1 week ago

Contractor services