County council paid £4million to unsuccessful highways contract bidder

A £4million settlement was paid to a company after it narrowly failed to win a lucrative highways contract from West Sussex County Council.
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In early 2018, the council was ready to make Ringway Infrastructure Services Ltd responsible for the upkeep of the county’s roads following what was described as ‘a successful procurement process’.

But a High Court challenge from rival bidder Amey brought the process to a grinding halt and led to Balfour Beatty being given an interim contract.

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Since then the council has decided to split the highways contract into a number of lots held by range of different companies, with the new arrangements set to go live at the start of April.

It has now been revealed Amey was paid £4million, which the county council has taken from its reserves, to settle the outstanding legal claim.

The figure has been revealed within draft budget papers for 2020/21 being discussed this month.

A spokesman for the county council said: “The budget report also identifies that money from reserves has been used to settle an outstanding claim and associated costs of the contested procurement process for highways maintenance. A sum of £4m has been paid to the claimant Amey after it instigated legal proceedings.”