[C]umbria County Council is determined to improve how it manages major contracts following a thorough review of the contract and subsequent legal case between Cumbria County Council and Amey.
Amey delivered a major contract for highways services worth over £272m between 2005 and 2012. During the contract the council expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the services received and as such withheld money. This resulted in a long and complex legal dispute with Amey. Following completion of the court case the Council voluntarily commissioned a comprehensive Lessons Learned report in order to learn from the experience and drive forward future contract management improvements.
The review process was peer reviewed by an experienced Chief Executive from another council to ensure that the process was transparent, independent, robust and thorough.
Katherine Fairclough, Chief Executive of Cumbria County Council said: “We are committed to providing the very best services possible for the people of Cumbria, and understand how important the highways service is to local residents. The council, together with many of our residents, were unhappy with the quality of services being delivered by Amey.
“As a result of this, a dispute arose with Amey who launched a legal claim against the Council for £30million and the council had no choice but to defend this claim. Following a lengthy court case the judge found that there were wins and losses on both sides.
“Following the conclusion of the legal process my predecessor commissioned a review to ensure that lessons were learned. The report makes a number of important recommendations. These include the need for better contract management and the need to resolve issues at the time they arise.
“We welcome the report and we are committed to being open and transparent. Steps have already been taken to respond to the recommendations and we are confident that the additional Action Plan will also help drive forward the improvements that are needed and will help us avoid any similar issues in the future.”
The report, its recommendations and the Action Plan will be discussed at the Council’s Audit and Assurance Committee on the 12 September.
