ITOAE Partner (Integration, Technical, Operational, Assurance and Environmental)

Description

East West Railway Company (EWR Co.) intends to procure a single Integration, Technical, Operational, Assurance and Environmental (ITOAE) Partner to provide long‑term, client‑side professional services in support of the East West Rail programme. The detail provided is indicative information only and subject to governance and funding. The ITOAE Partner will act as EWR Co.’s independent integration and assurance coordination partner, supporting the programme through detailed design, delivery and entry into service. The role will include: *Programme‑level integration leadership across a multi‑party delivery environment, ensuring alignment of design, delivery and operational interfaces; *Technical assurance and objective challenge, providing independent scrutiny of cost, schedule, risk and technical outputs; *Assurance coordination and governance support, including preparation of evidence for decision‑making and sponsor assurance; and *Maintaining the integrity of programme information and reporting, enabling a consistent and reliable basis for investment and delivery decisions. *Environmental support and related assurance activities The contract is expected to be a long‑term services contract (up to c.12 years including breakpoints), structured to provide both a retained core capability and additional task‑based services as required across programme phases. The procurement will deliver a single supplier appointment to ensure continuity, accountability and a consistent “single version of the truth” across the programme lifecycle. The ITOAE Partner will be structurally independent from other delivery and client support roles in order to maintain assurance integrity and avoid conflicts of interest. The estimated total value of the contract will be upto £300m over the durartion of the 12 years including contingency. The current cost model forecast suggests an indicative value range between £110m and £170m. The procurement is expected to be undertaken using a competitive procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 with a negotiation stage focusing on the incentivisation mechanism.