Priority 3

Delivery sub-action 3.1

Transport Scotland encourages market engagement where appropriate to ensure knowledge of any potential supply chain risks are identified and managed at an early stage. Supply chain risks and opportunities form part of the regular conversations Transport Scotland has with other bodies such as the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Association for Consultancy and Engineering, National Highways, Welsh Government and Scottish Water.

We awarded a Contract for the A985 Kincardine Bridge Southern Piled Viaduct Replacement at a time when the market was subject to constant fluctuations in pricing. In recognition of this issue a clause was included which enabled pricing to be reviewed on a monthly basis and rates to be decreased or increased in line with market inflation, reducing the risk of inflation for the supply chain.

Delivery sub-action 3.2

As well as regular feedback that suppliers receive from their contract managers, Transport Scotland operates a formal supplier feedback process to ensure that suppliers are receiving consistent feedback on their performance in key areas. Supplier performance on all of our contracts was provided biannually by Transport Scotland project managers. Reports were subsequently issued to suppliers to provide feedback on their performance. The supplier performance feedback can be used as a tool, by both Transport Scotland and the supplier, to enable comparison of performance across the supplier’s current contracts.

Transport Scotland awarded a Contract for Digital Data Travel Services for the Traveline journey planner in this reporting period which included a Service Level Agreement schedule enabling supplier management and objective targets which both parties agreed to from the outset. We have also included Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within the Operating Companies contracts for South East, South West, North East and North West units. This allows us to track performance in areas such as fleet optimisation and skills development for each unit and monitor these on a quarterly basis.

Delivery sub-action 3.3

Transport Scotland works with its supply chain to identify these areas by:

• undertaking effective engagement before the commencement of the procurement process
• using value engineering clauses in contracts to deliver value for money for the public purse
• effective management of our contracts to ensure compliance with the contractual terms and conditions and address any risks at an early stage
• using the competitive dialogue public procurement process for major projects that allows engagement of suppliers to encourage innovation and added value input prior to the issue of tender documents.

Transport Scotland considers the use of Prior Information Notices (PINs) and Supplier Information Events to support early market engagement on some procurements. During the reporting period, one PIN was published by Transport Scotland on the Public Contracts Scotland website. This was for the contract for the Caledonian Sleeper Franchise Replacement.

Delivery sub-action 3.4

Model contract documents for highly specialist goods, services and works are subject to on-going review by Transport Scotland. They are held in centrally available templates, which are updated as practice develops and lessons learned are embedded. During this reporting period Transport Scotland commenced engagement with industry stakeholders to review Transport Scotland's standard contractual terms and conditions for road construction projects. As a result of this work, it was agreed that the NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract would be used for the A9 Dualling Tomatin to Moy contract. This form of contract is commonly used in the construction and engineering sectors and its use was welcomed by industry and the Civil Engineering Contract Association.

For more routine needs Transport Scotland uses the Scottish Government model contract documents for selected contracts, frameworks and call-offs.