Technical planning services

Description

The Highways England (HE) has a requirement for a Term Arrangement under which there will be 6 contracts (Lots) for the supply of Consultants to advise the HE on spatial planning issues, including development proposals affecting the Strategic Road Network (SRN), in the English regions of (1) East of England, (2) Midlands, (3) North East, Yorkshire and Humberside, (4) North West, (5) South East and M25 and (6) South West. Please note, Lot 2, for the Midlands region will provide an additional capability to deliver workload required by the HE's Strategy and Planning Directorate. Other Contracting Authorities in the above regions may make use of these services on other routes of transportation mediums. An outline of the requirement, is the provision of consultancy services to give advice/support on spatial planning issues, including development proposals affecting the SRN, to the 6 regional offices within HE's Network Delivery and Development (NDD) directorate. The NDD regional offices reflect the regional Lots listed above. The Strategy and Planning Directorate will require advice on spatial planning policy and procedures. The HE may instruct services to be delivered for any HE region, when, but not limited to poor performance or conflicts of interest. The main aims of the contract are to: — To safeguard the interests of the travelling public by advising the Secretary of State (SoS), through the HE, of the likely impact of any development proposals (in the form of either individual planning applications or strategic local plans) on the SRN, whilst also ensuring that economic growth is supported. — To advise the HE of the likely effects, in terms of traffic performance, safety and environmental impact, on the SRN caused by any development proposals, and on such mitigation as may be required to allow the effective delivery of those proposals. — To assist the HE with the delivery of regional investment strategies for the SRN and also advise on the cost / benefits of any proposed improvements in order to obtain best value from the HE's budget. — To ensure that strategic highway development across the HE perform a best fit with the local enterprise partnership strategic economic growth plans, or their successor documents. — To promote studies, innovation and use of tools that will increase the HE's knowledge, awareness and ability to plan effectively within the spatial planning environment. The Lots are designed to have a 4 year duration. The HE reserves the right to extend the duration of the Lots. Any extensions to the Lots will be subject to satisfactory performance by the Consultant(s), and an on-going business need. The HE reserves the right to reduce the duration of the Lots for poor performance. The successful applicant for each of the 6 Lots will be appointed to support a HE regional office in the relevant region. The estimated value of the work that may be called off by task orders under each Lot will vary from region to region but the estimated annual total HE spend across the 6 Lots is approximately 45 000 000 GBP excluding VAT. The work will be placed as Task Orders. Over the 4 year period the likely expenditure for the HE, Local Authorities and other Contracting Authorities will be up to 45 000 000 GBP excluding VAT. No commitment is given to any expenditure or to the value of any individual Task Order. The proposed Arrangement makes provision for collaborative type initiatives such as working with the Department for Transport, local planning authorities and other Contract Authorities, in the regions referred to above, to secure services within the scope of this Prior Information Notice. An applicant Company may express an interest to tender for any of the 6 Lots. An applicant Company will not be awarded more than 2 of the Lots, subject to sufficient competition. If an applicant Company wishes to tender for more than 1 Lot they must express, in order of preference, which Lot they would wish to tender for and be awarded if they were potentially successful in more than 1 Lot. The HE cannot guarantee to meet any applicant Company's preference. This process is being conducted by the Highways England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. However, the Government is currently developing proposals to create a separate corporation or other entity (wholly owned by Government) which will assume the functions, rights and liabilities of the Highways England.