Staffordshire infrastructure deal out to tender

A major infrastructure deal that includes highways has been put out to tender by Staffordshire County Council.

The local authority has published details of the tender that is initially worth up to £80 million per year and will run for between five and 20 years.

It plans to appoint a strategic partner to work with the council to deliver physical infrastructure works and services.

The partnership seeks to:

• Maintain and improve the condition and usability of physical assets



• Reduce cost of delivering the services and reach the lowest whole life cost of asset ownership



• Involve communities in decisions and delivery of infrastructure



• Improve customer satisfaction



• The partnership will be based around a standard contract but will be subject to a governance arrangement with agreed long term objectives and outcomes that will inform contract performance targets and payments.

Services in the scope of the tender include: Highways maintenance, highways improvement and development, highways professional services, country parks maintenance and rights of way maintenance and ground maintenance of the Shugborough Estate.

Mark Winnington, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: “This innovative approach brings in private sector expertise to help us invest in improving infrastructure as effectively and efficiently as possible.

“Excellent highways and transport links are crucial to a connected county and as the current highways arrangements end in April, it offers the opportunity to review the options available to see if we can getter an even better deal for Staffordshire.”