07.04.17
HS2 to scrap and rerun £10m management services contract bid
HS2 has told companies bidding for its £10m commercial management services contract that the process will be scrapped and rerun, RTM has today learnt.
Firms including Arcadis, Mott MacDonald and Turner & Townsend had been competing for the £10m commercial services contract, which was due to be awarded in February – but now it has been revealed that the entire process will be halted and rerun, due to apparent conflicts of interest.
The news follows a plethora of problems with multiple procurement contracts with HS2, as last month the company announced that CH2M had withdrawn its interest from the £175m civil contract for Phase 2B development.
This followed losing bidder Mace complaining about the competition and threatening legal action against HS2 as it stated: “we have never seen a procurement process like this”.
Now, the Transport Select Committee said it will be launching an investigation into the procurement activities of the HS2 Phase 2B development contract, and will ask project leaders some serious questions about how contracts are being managed.
Louise Ellman MP, chair of the committee, said: “Given the scale of HS2 and the amounts of money involved, the Transport Committee is keen to understand the reasons behind the latest developments.
“I will be suggesting to Committee members that we hold a session as early as possible after recess. It is important that business, industry and public have confidence in the processes involved.”
Today’s development also comes on the same day that HS2 launched its design ambition, which set out the project’s vision ‘from the pixel to the city’.
It also follows Lord Berkeley calling for a review of the entire project, as estimated costs for Phase 1 alone have soared to £48bn – more than twice the price previously quoted by HS2.
The Peer stated that should this cost prediction be correct, then almost the entire budget for the project would be spent on Phase 1, leaving no cash to finish the rest of the Phase 2a to Crewe and Phase 2B to Leeds.
More information to follow.
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