West Sussex to relaunch procurement process in light of legal challenge

West Sussex County Council is to abandon its term maintenance procurement process and start again in light of a legal battle with Amey, Highways can reveal.

The local authority awarded its Highways Term Service Contract 2018-2028 to Ringway. However Amey challenged the award arguing that the council has given it unlawful instructions on how to present its bid resulting in it being scored lower than it should have.

Amey was denied a summary judgement in the case, which now looks set to go to court if no resolution can be found. 

A West Sussex County Council spokesperson said: 'The council received a legal challenge to the recent outcome of the procurement of our highways term maintenance contract. Following some preliminary legal proceedings the Court has ruled that a full litigation process would be needed to agree an outcome for this case.

'Our priority in this case has always been to make sure we have the right contract in place to ensure our highways are maintained properly and to limit any unnecessary spending of tax payers’ money. As a result we have taken the decision to abandon the procurement process and start again, meaning that the legal challenge can be brought to an end.

'In the interim we have agreed our current provider, Balfour Beatty Living Places, will continue to deliver a high quality service across all aspects of highways for the County Council until at least the end of March 2019.'

Highways approached Amey for comment.