By David Williams
7 January 2010
The Highways Agency lacks basic information on whether it is getting value for money from its contractors, and must improve its commercial practices, MPs have found.
In a report published today, the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee said the agency lacks basic knowledge about the cost of essential works such as road resurfacing, and is failing to benchmark prices nationally.
Highways Agency: contracting for highways maintenance said that large discrepancies in what the agency spends on similar jobs in different parts of the country were cause for concern.
‘The agency does not know enough about what it is getting for the taxpayers’ money it spends,’ said chair Edward Leigh.
‘Without a better understanding of the costs of network-wide activities, it cannot hope to drive those costs down.’
Leigh called on the Highways Agency to ensure its staff become better informed and more robust in dealing with contractors, both in the procurement phase and across the whole life of the contract.
‘The ordinary taxpayer would not hesitate to challenge prices for jobs on
their own homes when higher than expected,’ he said. ‘The Highways Agency should be no less vigorous in challenging its contractors.’
But, the report does praise the agency for increasing the reliability of its maintenance schemes. It found more projects delivered on time and within budget have probably led to improved journey times on Britain’s major roads since 2007.
The committee also found that 80% of the agency’s total spend on maintenance schemes is not being subjected to a ‘whole life cost appraisal’ – which gives the accurate picture of a project’s value.
7 January 2010
The Highways Agency lacks basic information on whether it is getting value for money from its contractors, and must improve its commercial practices, MPs have found.
In a report published today, the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee said the agency lacks basic knowledge about the cost of essential works such as road resurfacing, and is failing to benchmark prices nationally.
Highways Agency: contracting for highways maintenance said that large discrepancies in what the agency spends on similar jobs in different parts of the country were cause for concern.
‘The agency does not know enough about what it is getting for the taxpayers’ money it spends,’ said chair Edward Leigh.
‘Without a better understanding of the costs of network-wide activities, it cannot hope to drive those costs down.’
Leigh called on the Highways Agency to ensure its staff become better informed and more robust in dealing with contractors, both in the procurement phase and across the whole life of the contract.
‘The ordinary taxpayer would not hesitate to challenge prices for jobs on
their own homes when higher than expected,’ he said. ‘The Highways Agency should be no less vigorous in challenging its contractors.’
But, the report does praise the agency for increasing the reliability of its maintenance schemes. It found more projects delivered on time and within budget have probably led to improved journey times on Britain’s major roads since 2007.
The committee also found that 80% of the agency’s total spend on maintenance schemes is not being subjected to a ‘whole life cost appraisal’ – which gives the accurate picture of a project’s value.
