National Highways

Bridge House, Walnut Tree Close

Guildford

GU1 4LZ

UK

Telephone: +44 03001235000

E-mail: info@nationalhighways.co.uk

NUTS: UK

Internet address(es)

Main address: www.nationalhighways.co.uk

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

45233139

II.1.3) Type of contract

Works

II.1.4) Short description

This VEAT Notice relates to a Deed of Variation to a National Highways' Maintenance and Response Contract. This Contract currently provides and undertakes all cyclical and reactive maintenance, incident response, defect rectification and severe weather delivery on the trunk roads and motorways within Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and

Worcestershire (National Highways Area 9) (the "Contract"). Duties also include maintenance of roadside technology, the provision of traffic management for the contractor, maintenance and incident response activities, and traffic management for others who may be working on the network.

The variation will add three new roads into the Contract (covering half the A50 to the Toyota roundabout to the west) which are currently maintained under a Design Build Finance & Operate ("DBFO") contract which is due to expire on 30th June 2026. Consequently the total value of the Contract will increase by approximately 24%. It will also shorten the Contract which will have a new end date of 1st July 2029 instead of 30th June 2030 in order to align with the procurement process for the next Maintenance & Response contracts.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 407 560 000.00  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition

Justification for selected award procedure:

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive

Explanation:

The modifications to the Contract fall within the permissible grounds set out under Regulation 72(1)(e) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in that the modifications are not substantial within the meaning of Regulation 72(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because:

The inclusion of Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) roads into the Contract does not render the Contract materially different compared to when it was originally procured. The type of work originally required of the Contract (i.e. maintenance and response) is the same as that which it will carry out on the previous DBFO stretches of the Strategic Road Network, it is just a case that the total lane coverage to be maintained under the Contract increases.

Adding the additional roads would not have changed the outcome of the original procurement in any way. The Contract will be fully operated in accordance with their current terms and pricing;

As the current Contract will be operated for the new roads on the same terms and pricing, this does not alter the economic balance of the Contract in favour of the contractor;

The change does not considerably alter the scope of the Contract as the works and services provided will remain unchanged and the roads have been included in this Contract because they are adjacent in terms of geographical scope also. Any increase in scope is also mitigated by a shortening in Contract term;

This is not a change in contractor.

In addition, National Highways also considers that the exemption at Regulation 72(1)(b) would in any event apply. This permits additional services or supplies that have become necessary and were not included in the initial procurement where a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and another supplier/procurement would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority; and where any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original Contract.

The Deed of Variation ensures continuity of service on the Strategic Road Network and aligns with National Highways' wider asset delivery and procurement strategy, thereby safeguarding public value and network integrity. The Contract is being shortened to better align with the re-procurement strategy for all Maintenance & Response contracts. It would provide significant technical difficulties and duplication of procurement costs for National Highways to procure a contractor simply for this short stretch of network given the current re-procurement strategy.

IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure

Notice number in the OJ S:

2022/S 000-000820

Colas Limited

6210 Bishops Court, Birmingham Business, Park Solihull Parkway

Birmingham

B37 7YB

UK

NUTS: UKG

The contractor is an SME: No

VI.4.1) Review body