Committee
Local Government and Transport Committee, 15 Mar 2005
15 Mar 2005 · S2 · Local Government and Transport Committee
Item of business
Trunk Road Maintenance Contracts
Alan Mackenzie:
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I am in a reasonably good position to answer the question, because when the 2G contracts were being priced I was with a private company in Scotland working with the Clyde area local authorities and a private consultant to bid for the contracts. I led the tarmac element of the tender in the early days, but transferred to England in the middle of it, so I do not have to comment on the end result, thankfully. In my opinion, the local authority consortium dealt with the tender no differently from the way in which a private company would price and deal with it.Any incumbent in tendering will know some things that others cannot possibly know until the process is under way. I doubt that it would be possible ever to write a tender document that covered all eventualities. In the main, the tender document was a specified contract that asked for delivery of specifics to be priced accordingly, therefore the bulk of the price could be drawn from the specifics of the tender contract.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Item 4 is an evidence-taking session on the trunk road maintenance contracts. The first group of witnesses is made up of representatives of the current contr...
Joe Burns (Amey):
I always knew that being called Burns was a disadvantage. I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to say something at the outset.Our experience o...
Alan Mackenzie (BEAR Scotland Ltd):
As Joe Burns's surname begins with a "B", he has—unfortunately—anticipated me by saying many of the things that I was going to say. I agree with most of the ...
The Convener:
Lab
The two reporters who were appointed by the committee will ask opening questions. I will then draw other members into the debate. We will hear first from Mic...
Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab):
Lab
I have a couple of questions, which are based both on information that I have picked up from talking to people and from the written evidence.We received a jo...
Joe Burns:
Let me first deal with whether risk is placed where it can best be managed. The answer to that can be seen in the results of the tendering process. When a pr...
Michael McMahon:
Lab
The second question was whether you thought that the process was skewed in favour of the private sector rather than the public sector. When the last contract...
Joe Burns:
It is difficult for me to say whether the process was skewed. We were allowed to tender, so we tendered.
Alan Mackenzie:
I am in a reasonably good position to answer the question, because when the 2G contracts were being priced I was with a private company in Scotland working w...
Michael McMahon:
Lab
That is a helpful answer. You are now the incumbent, so is there anything in the specifications that was not there previously?
Alan Mackenzie:
Yes—that will always be an element, but I do not think that it was a substantial element amounting to millions of pounds of risk. If you were to place the co...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Good afternoon, gentlemen, and thank you for coming before the committee. I sought the committee's agreement to hold this mini-inquiry today for the simple r...
Alan Mackenzie:
We are more than happy to price for any specification that the Scottish Executive gives us. I am sure that the Executive is considering at the moment the asp...
The Convener:
Lab
I will let Fergus Ewing back in, but I want to come in at this point. Your being one of the companies that will bid for the 3G contracts puts you in a diffic...
Alan Mackenzie:
We deliver a good service within the current specification. There have not been many instances when it was found that there had been a dramatic failure on th...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Without asking you to express an opinion as to what might be desirable, perhaps you could suggest what might be possible in practice. I take it that it would...
Alan Mackenzie:
Yes, it would be possible to do that.
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
If that happened, what would the implications be for your operation? Would that require you to get more drivers or staff?
Alan Mackenzie:
It certainly would.
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Is that something that you have discussed with the Scottish Executive? I note from the tender documents that discussions took place in December.
Alan Mackenzie:
Yes, I think those issues were raised. It goes back to a balancing exercise. To increase the specification would lead to a large resource being required, par...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
I do not mean this to become a dialogue between Mr Mackenzie and me. Would Mr Burns like to comment?
Joe Burns:
I endorse everything that my colleague has said. We need to bear in mind the addition with respect to the specification and the factor of affordability. It i...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Do you have anything else in mind, other than better communication and information?
Joe Burns:
As Mr Mackenzie said, it would be possible to up the specification through providing more gritters and more drivers. However, there is a cost implication in ...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Since you have taken over responsibility for trunk road maintenance, has there been any change in winter maintenance? Do you carry out the same standard and ...
Alan Mackenzie:
My understanding is that the specification has not changed from 1G to 2G. Bill Taylor has worked in both areas, so he will perhaps be better able to answer t...
Bill Taylor (BEAR Scotland Ltd):
I was involved as a general manager of one of the 1G contracts. The specification for winter provision is based on a code of practice that was introduced in ...
Fergus Ewing:
SNP
Although Highland Council was not obliged to do so, it effected a higher level of maintenance than BEAR has done, because it chose to do more than the contra...
Bill Taylor:
The vast majority of the service is precautionary treatment. The precautionary treatment will be exactly the same today as it was under the previous arrangem...