DEVON county council has agreed to award the ’very, very significant contract’ to look after its roads to Swedish firm Skanska Construction.

The cabinet decision, which could still be ’called in’ for further consideration, means Skanska has pipped current contractor South West Highways to the deal. SWH has taken care of the the county’s roads since 1995.

According to industry website theconstructionindex.co.uk, Devon has a budget of £67.7m for highway maintenance in 2016/17.

Announcing the decision to councillors at last week’s meeting of Ivybridge Town Council, county councillor Roger Croad said this was ’a very very significant contract - probably the biggest to come to cabinet since my time at the council’. He added Skanska had been the best of the bidders on quality and price.

The contract, which is yet to be formally awarded, will run from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2024, with extension options for a further three years. The cabinet decision is subject to usual council procedures, and the county council will enter into a ’standstill’ period before Skanska Construction can be formally appointed.

But not everyone believes awarding a single contract for all Devon’s highways work is the best, or cheapest approach. County councillor Robert Vint represents Totnes and has been a long time critic of the way the county handles it highways contracts, and the size of the bills taxpayers are left faced with.

He said: ‘It’s not possible to ensure genuine competitive bidding and value for money when Devon County Council awards its contract in the form of a single monopoly that covers the entire county for several years.  

‘We know that whoever wins this contract can then charge remarkably large sums for individual local projects.’

The current contract with SWH, which covers routine, reactive, emergency and planned highway maintenance work expires at the end of March 2017.

It is anticipated that a large number of current South West Highways employees will be eligible to transfer to Skanska Construction UK Ltd, under TUPE legislation that protects workers when work passes to a new contractor.

Skanska Construction’s proposals, as part of its winning bid, include a range of initiatives to tackle potholes, job creation for Devon residents, introduction of an efficiency and performance manager, an affordability review every three years to target investment, and improved communications.

Devon has been working jointly with Plymouth City Council and Somerset County Council in developing the new contract, with companies invited to tender for one, two or all three contracts. Plymouth City Council decided to appoint SWH as its new highway maintenance contractor, subject to the same possibility of call in, and standstill period.

Devon county councillor Stuart Hughes said: ’This is a very significant contract for the council and we believe we have secured the best solution, with a focus on price and quality. We want to ensure the new contract provides value for money as well as providing a good service to Devon’s communities and users of our 8,000 mile highway network.’

The county council’s cabinet also agreed to continue collaborative work with Somerset County Council and Plymouth City Council, which it hopes will provide advantages through sharing experience and expertise to deliver cost savings. Collaboration between highway authorities in the region will also continue through the South West Highways Alliance, a partnership of 15 highway authorities in the south west.

Skanska began life in Sweden manufacturing concrete well over a century ago.

It has since expanded its operations into construction in the USA, Europe and the UK although its headquarters has remained in Stockholm.