Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2021-03-22
Buyer: Oxfordshire County Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Works
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 45000000: Construction work | 45221100: Bridge construction works | 50000000 | 50100000 | 71000000

Technical requirements: The highways contract is for the contractor to develop, with the Council, a high performing comprehensive highways service. The highways contract encompasses highway maintenance, design, construction, transport planning consultancy, with other services including but not limited to vehicle and grounds maintenance.
On 13 July 2010 the Council entered into the highways contract with Atkins Ltd (‘Atkins’) to provide the above works following a tender process commenced by contract notice 2008/S 210-279078 dated 29 October 2008. The highways contract is for a contract period of 10 years commencing 1 April 2010, extendable by up to a further 10 years. So far, the contract has been extended by 3 years so that the contract period expires end of March 2023. The values set out at II.2.7) of this VEAT Notice represent the estimated remaining value of the highways contract across the possible remaining term.
Atkins contracted to sell its highways maintenance business to Skanska Construction UK Ltd (‘Skanska’). The sale proceeded by way of an asset sale and included the plant and equipment required to operate the highways maintenance business of Atkins, the transfer of leases or rights to use properties and facilities previously used by the highways maintenance business, and the transfer of approximately 1 200 employees, including around 80 in the central management and business support functions. It also included the transfer of customer contracts, including the Highways Contract with the Council.
The highways contract between the Council and Atkins permitted assignment by Atkins of the benefit of the contract with the consent of the Council. Atkins requested consent to assign the benefit of the contract to Skanska and the Council consented to such assignment. The highways contract also provided that the original provider should remain legally responsible for performance of the contract, even if the benefit of the contract is assigned. The Council relied on this provision.
Skanska have contracted to sell its highways maintenance business to Milestone Infrastructure Ltd. The sale will proceed by way of an asset sale, and will include plant and equipment required to operate the highways maintenance business of Skanska, the transfer of leases or rights to use properties and facilities previously used by the highways maintenance business, and the transfer of approximately 1 200 employees, including around 80 in the central management and business support functions. It also includes the transfer of customer contracts, including the highways contract with the Council.
The highways contract is for the contractor to develop, with the Council, a high performing comprehensive highways service. The highways contract encompasses highway maintenance, design, construction, transport planning consultancy, with other services including but not limited to vehicle and grounds maintenance.
On 13 July 2010 the Council entered into the highways contract with Atkins Ltd (‘Atkins’) to provide the above works following a tender process commenced by contract notice 2008/S 210-279078 dated 29 October 2008. The highways contract is for a contract period of 10 years commencing 1 April 2010, extendable by up to a further 10 years. So far, the contract has been extended by 3 years so that the contract period expires end of March 2023. The values set out at II.2.7) of this VEAT Notice represent the estimated remaining value of the highways contract across the possible remaining term.
Atkins contracted to sell its highways maintenance business to Skanska Construction UK Ltd (‘Skanska’). The sale proceeded by way of an asset sale and included the plant and equipment required to operate the highways maintenance business of Atkins, the transfer of leases or rights to use properties and facilities previously used by the highways maintenance business, and the transfer of approximately 1 200 employees, including around 80 in the central management and business support functions. It also included the transfer of customer contracts, including the Highways Contract with the Council.
The highways contract between the Council and Atkins permitted assignment by Atkins of the benefit of the contract with the consent of the Council. Atkins requested consent to assign the benefit of the contract to Skanska and the Council consented to such assignment. The highways contract also provided that the original provider should remain legally responsible for performance of the contract, even if the benefit of the contract is assigned. The Council relied on this provision.
Skanska have contracted to sell its highways maintenance business to Milestone Infrastructure Ltd. The sale will proceed by way of an asset sale, and will include plant and equipment required to operate the highways maintenance business of Skanska, the transfer of leases or rights to use properties and facilities previously used by the highways maintenance business, and the transfer of approximately 1 200 employees, including around 80 in the central management and business support functions. It also includes the transfer of customer contracts, including the highways contract with the Council.
This Voluntary Transparency Notice gives notice that Oxfordshire County Council (the ‘Council’) intends to enter into a contract in the form of a Deed of Novation (the ‘Deed of Novation’) to novate an underlying public works contract (the ‘Contract’) to Milestone Infrastructure Ltd (‘Milestone’).
The Council considers the effect of entering into the Deed of Novation to be a permitted modification to the contract under regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and, as such, does not require a separate procurement procedure.
In particular, the novation to Milestone falls within the safe harbour at Regulation 72(1)(d) on the basis that a new contractor replaces the one to which the Council had initially awarded the contract. More specifically:
1) Milestone is replacing the original contractor following a corporate restructuring in the form of a business sale to Milestone. This business sale has the consequence of the universal succession of Milestone into the position of the initial contractor (within the meaning of regulation 72(1)(d)(ii));
2) Milestone fulfils the criteria for qualitative selection initially established in the procurement of contract; and


Winner: Milestone Infrastructure Ltd