In Cumbria this is almost certain to include the A595 Parton to Lillyhall Improvement in West Cumbria and any future improvements to the A66 east of Penrith.
Last year the Highways Agency announced a bold new strategy for procuring its projects. These framework agreements are part of that strategy and will be the key to the early involvement of consultants and, together with other initiatives, are expected to cut the time to build a road by as much as five years. Current projections indicate a £22 billion road building programme over the next ten years.
The Agency has awarded 22 framework agreements: six in the north, midlands and south eastern regions and four in the south west. CAPITAdbs are one of the successful companies who will work with the Agency on all its capital road schemes worth over £5 million.
The Highways Agency does not expect any single consultant to see a projectthrough from start to finish, but rather will need the flexibility to move from project to project as resource levels dictate. With a strong emphasis on knowledge sharing, the Agency has gone to great lengths to ensure its framework consultants have the correct company culture. We need to know they will be able to deliver the right people, and they have the right people policy to achieve this, explains Steve Roswell, the Highways Agency procurement chief.
The project teams formed by CAPITAdbs to deliver the roads programme do not simply comprise highway engineers but also include a sizeable number of environmental specialists (e.g. ecologists, landscape architects and archaeologists) to ensure a thorough environmental assessment of each project.
With the framework agreements lasting for five years the Agency has to be satisfied that either the staff in the selected companies will still be there in 2005, or that the company is capable of training replacements.
To do this the Agency are now using ‘reality checks’ that involve a scrutiny of the companies’ training and development policies and recruitment and retention records, both through written submissions and, more vitally, by meeting the companies’ staff at all levels.
David Knight, Capita’s Project Manager for the commission, said: our appointment follows successful tenders for both the A66 Stainburn Great Clifton Bypass and the M6 Extension in the last 18 months. It signals the emergence of CAPITAdbs as a major player in the Government’s road building programme. It is our intention to build on this award and expand our business even further with the opening of a new office in either Manchester or Leeds within the year.
