Future unitary’s ‘hands are tied’ if county continues with highways contract tender

Liberal Democrat councillor Jonathan Harris, who represents the Brixworth ward on Daventry District Council and as a shadow councillor for the new unitary, had called on the county to postpone its process so that the new unitary can make its own decision.

In April, a new short-term maintenance contract was awarded to KierWSP for a period of 16 months, with an option to extend it for a further nine months. The contract will bridge the gap between the current county council being abolished and the two new unitaries – in the West and North of the county – replacing it next April.

But work is already ongoing in terms of tendering for a new long-term contract, and currently it is due to run through the transition period into the new council, with the contract set to be signed off by the new West Northamptonshire Council.

But Councillor Harris argues that it is the new authority that should take control of the whole process. He submitted a motion to the shadow council’s executive calling on them to request that approval of any contract is deferred until it can be considered by the new West Northamptonshire Council in 2021 and as part of that process, the option of bringing the maintenance work in-house is thoroughly assessed.

He also argued that the cost of bringing in consultants to advise on the process was costing the authority too much money. He said: “My concern is the spend of £1.4 million on taxpayers’ money on a tender process to guide the thinking of the new authority – a spend which may not be necessary at this time.

“An estimate from a professional in my ward suggests £600k is a more realistic figure for this work, and this is an expert with years of experience. It looks as though we may be paying over the odds at £1.4 million and we’re in no position to overspend.

“If the new administration chooses a different approach to the one recommended by consultants then potentially that is wasted money. It will make any new independent decision difficult for the new council. This may well tie the hands of the future administration.”

But the leader of the shadow council, Councillor Ian McCord, voted against the motion. He said: “My understanding is that what is being advocated by the Lib Dem group – that NCC do the work and WNC take the decision – is the process that is being followed. I believe NCC has already done an in-house versus outsourced appraisal.”

He also said that the £1.4 million cost was likely to cover the cost of consultants for both the West and North unitaries, and that it had to be viewed in the context of a multi-year contract that was likely to cost hundreds of millions of pounds.

Councillor McCord also said that the county council was in a good position to work on the new contract as it had learned a number of lessons about the ‘deficiencies’ of the previous 12-year contract deals it had had with KierWSP – which had been criticised by the council’s scrutiny committee.

The committee found earlier this year that KierWSP was effectively ‘judge and jury’ during its £50 million-a-year contract, and had failed to adequately monitor and investigate its own work.

Councillor McCord added: “The previous contract was deficient in a number of areas. The interim contract has made a number of improvements, so arguably lessons have been learned from the old contract. So you need to get expertise in to learn some of the other lessons, and you can’t then moan about the cost of bringing them in.

“I don’t think we’re doing anything that prevents the new authorities making decisions in their own way.”

County council leader Matt Golby, who also sits on the shadow council’s executive, added: “It’s a fair question to pose from Councillor Harris, particularly with the lessons from the scrutiny review. A lot of staff have been brought back in as a result, and this will be signed by the West by the time we’ve gone through the procurement process and it’s right they sign it when they have gone through that process.”