NoM - Highways - Briefing Note - Full Council 24 March 2026

Proposed · This went to the meeting on Tue 24 Mar 2026. What was decided is in that meeting's minutes.

A Notice of Motion from Councillor Georgia Taylor and Councillor Brett Wright, put to Full Council on 24 March 2026, calls on the Cabinet to consider bringing the highways service back into Council ownership and control by 2030. p1p2

The briefing note sets out the governance and decision-making process followed in procuring the current highway maintenance contract with Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP), which began on 1 May 2023 and runs until 31 March 2030, with a possible extension of up to seven years to 31 March 2037. p2

In the Outline Business Case for that procurement, an in-house delivery model was assessed but discounted because the Council lacked sufficient internal delivery capacity, the model carried higher operational and financial risks, and benchmarking evidence showed integrated external delivery models to be more effective. p9

Under the current contract, BBLP is to submit a business case for an extension on or before 31 March 2027, and the decision on whether to extend will be a Cabinet decision made no later than 1 April 2028. p11

If the contract is not extended, the note says the Strategic Commissioning Approach would be used to determine next steps, including the option of in-house provision, with options examined in detail and presented to Cabinet in 2027/28. p12

Show the 5 passages this is based on

• p1Notice of Motion at Full Council 24 March 2026
• p2Briefing Note 1. Introduction 1.1 The Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Georgia Taylor and Councillor Brett Wright calls upon the Cabinet to consider bringing the highways service back into Council ownership and control by 2030. 1.2 This briefing note sets out the Governance and decision-making process followed during the procurement of the current contract, and that is likely to be similarly adopted when considering the future arrangements for the Council’s highways service. 2. Existing Highway Maintenance Contract 2.1 The Council’s current highway maintenance contract with Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) is a fourth-generation outsourced contract, having first outsourced elements of its highway maintenance service in 1997. Since then, the Council has had highway maintenance contracts with Colas, May Gurney, Keir, Costain and most recently with BBLP 2.2 The current contract with BBLP, approved by Cabinet in September 2022, commenced on the 1 May 2023 and runs until 31 March 2030. The contract is for an initial six-year and eleven-month term and can be extended by up to 7 years to 31 March 2037. 2.3 The award of the contract to BBLP followed an extensive and thorough three-year procurement process that commenced in 2020. The process considered a range of options for delivering highway services, including provision of an in-house option. As the procurement process developed it provided for Member involvement through Place Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet at key junctures. 3. Highways Services Re‑procurement Project (HSRP) 3.1 The County Council adopted a Strategic Commissioning Approach for the re‑procurement of the Highways Infrastructure Services contract, beginning with an extensive analysis phase that assessed existing arrangements, service performance, asset condition, risks, customer satisfaction, financial considerations, and future service outcomes.
• p94.5 In the Outline Business Case, an in-house highways delivery model was discounted because it did not meet the feasibility, capability, and risk criteria used in the options appraisal. Although 15 options were assessed, only two market-based models were shortlisted; the in-house model was discounted because the Council lacked sufficient internal delivery capacity, it carried significantly higher operational and financial risks, and benchmarking evidence showed integrated external delivery models to be more effective. 4.6 A long list of delivery models was considered (including in house, multi provider, JV, framework, and hybrid options) of which only two were assessed as viable for the next stage:
• p114.7 These two options were recommended for development in the Detailed Business Case (DBC). 5. Detailed Business Case 5.1 A Detailed Business Case was presented to Cabinet in July 2021 prior to Cabinet approval to award the contract in September 2022 https://democracy.eastsussex.gov.uk/documents/s45674/Cabinet%2029%20September%202022%20Highways%20Service%20Reprocurement%20Project%20PUBLIC%20COPY%20FINAL.pdf 5.2 The DBC confirmed that other procurement options, including in house variants, were not considered further as they did not align with ESCC’s ability to efficiently and economically meet its statutory highways responsibilities. 5.3 The DBC subsequently evaluated the two shortlisted options from the OBC in detail, and after full economic, financial, commercial, and management assessment, the DBC concluded that Option 2: Integrated Single Provider as the Preferred Model. 6. Extension of current Contract 6.1 The current Contract with BBLP sets out the process for the Contractor to carry out a performance review during contract year 4 (2026/27) and to submit a business case for an extension of contract on or before 31 March 2027. The decision to extend the contract will be a Cabinet decision to be made no later than 1 April 2028. However, it is most likely that a Cabinet decision will be sought early in 2027/28 to allow sufficient time for procurement should the Cabinet decision be to not extend. 6.2 The business case that underpinned the decision to procure an outsourced highways maintenance service remains valid and was developed through a comprehensive process with extensive scrutiny overview including consideration of a range of delivery models and resulting scrutiny endorsement of the OBC. This included consideration of the length of contract and whether to allow extensions to the contract. However, an extension to the current contract cannot be assumed and must be considered in line with the specific requirements set out in the contract.
• p12This includes a requirement for the contractor to bring forward a business case setting out why an extension would continue to represent value for money. In line with the Council’s usual arrangements, that business case would again be subject to member scrutiny, providing an opportunity for scrutiny to consider the evidence and set out their views to Cabinet on the delivery of the service before any decision is taken. 6.3 The decision whether to extend the existing contract with BBLP will be based on BBLP performance over the first four years of the contract and the criteria is set out in the contract (Appendix 1). 6.4 If the Contract is not extended the Strategic Commissioning Approach will be established to determine next steps including the option of in-house provision. This and other options would be examined in detail during the Outline Business Case stage of the procurement process, as it was in 2020/21and be presented to Cabinet in 2027/28.