Professional Services Contract for Cambridgeshire County Council

The purpose of this notice is to provide an update to the market following our initial engagement and to outline the planned next steps. The Council is looking for industry leading suppliers, who share the Council's values and behaviours, to develop a long-term collaborative relationship with the Council to deliver a Professional Services Contract ("PSC") in a way that actively supports the Council's objectives and enhances the County of Cambridgeshire. The Council anticipates that the services required under the PSC will consist of: • Transport Solutions • Project Delivery Studies • Consultation and Stakeholders • Planning and Statutory Services • Design services (feasibility, preliminary and detailed) • Commercial services • Surveys and investigation • Environmental Services • Future Mobility Services • Construction Phase services The Council has an existing in-house design team so it is looking to supplement and support that through the PSC. To do this, it needs access to technical specialities over and above simple design resource and the PSC will also be used to represent the Council with other suppliers e.g. through construction management. The Council's Highways & Transport Committee has now approved the initiation of procurement for a four-year NEC4 Professional Services Contract (with options to extend). This contract would appoint a single provider to deliver the services listed above. The Committee documents can be reviewed at agenda item 7 here: https://cambridgeshire.cmis.uk.com/ccc_live/MeetingsCalendar/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/397/Meeting/2566/Committee/62/Default.aspx It is proposed to commence procurement for the PSC in January 2026 and for the contract to start at the end of 2026/early 2027. The Council anticipates that the value of the PSC is likely to be around £5m per annum, increasing to £10m per annum when the Council's current Term Service Contract ends as the Council expects that most design services currently provided under that Term Service Contract will be provided under the new PSC. The Council wishes to undertake a flexible procurement process for the PSC, which balances an appropriate amount of face-to-face interaction with bidders combined with written responses and which will allow bidders to detail and explore their proposed solutions. To facilitate this, the Council currently proposes to utilise the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. Further details will be set out in the Tender Notice and Associated Tender Documents which will be made available when the Council launches the procurement in January. Please note that this notification is not the commencement of the procurement or a tender notice for the purposes of the Procurement Act 2023 and shall not constitute any invitation, offer or binding contract. The Council reserves the right to amend any of the details set out in this notification, including without limitation, details of the proposed contract and timescales. Following on from our previous market engagement and in receipt of Local Government Reorganisation guidance from Government, decisions relating to the procurement of the Term Service Contract have been deferred to a future meeting of the Highways & Transport Committee to allow officers to review the implications of this guidance. The Council intends to provide a further update on its preferred TSC arrangements in early January 2026.