§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what assessment he has made of the way the contract to upgrade the A74 was awarded and carried out; and if he will review the guidelines for the awarding of such contracts; [10859]
(2) what assessment he has made of the way the contract for the A74 upgrading works has been carried out by the main contractor. [10860]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe contract to upgrade the Eaglesfield to Kirkpatrick Fleming section of the A74 was procured in accordance with the Public Works Contracts Regulations 1991—Public Procurement Procedures. These regulations govern public works
746W
Number of average available staffed beds for all specialties, acute specialties, geriatric long stay, maternity specialties and mental illness and disability, by health board area as at 31 March 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 All specialties Argyle and Clyde 4,103 3,976 3,939 3,875 3,685 3,592 3,522 Ayrshire and Arran 2,925 2,886 2,889 2,806 2,692 2,575 2,408 Borders 927 917 890 861 835 812 797 Dumfries and Galloway 1,439 1,389 1,353 1,316 1,287 1,226 1,183 Fife 3,062 2,987 2,891 2,666 2,577 2,455 2,322 Forth Valley 2,878 2,853 2,758 2,669 2,598 2,504 2,349 Grampian 5,276 5,155 5,056 4,956 4,633 4,414 4,276 Greater Glasgow 11,918 11,482 10,540 9,919 9,213 8,548 8,096 Highland 1,968 1,918 1,875 1,843 1,721 1,674 1,614 Lanarkshire 4,790 4,773 4,635 4,319 4,065 3,855 3,733 Lothian 7,578 7,207 6,938 6,703 6,313 6,287 5,998 Orkney 131 144 159 152 152 150 150 Shetland 162 151 146 143 142 137 136 Tayside 4,743 4,578 4,458 4,257 4,005 3,857 3,720 Western Isles 220 224 211 246 266 265 250 Scotland 52,121 50,640 48,738 46,731 44,185 42,351 40,555 Acute specialties Argyll and Clyde 1,346 1,315 1,286 1,248 1,204 1,188 1,140 Ayrshire and Arran 1,157 1,138 1,152 1,136 1,107 1,075 971 Borders 347 349 354 354 348 335 336 Dumfries and Galloway 444 447 435 419 406 405 416 Fife 876 863 851 800 791 774 754 Forth Valley 637 625 605 600 588 592 573 Grampian 1,653 1,618 1,640 1,918 1,885 1,843 1,804 contracts and allow for contractors from EU member states to bid. Under the assessment process, Impresa Castelli and Girola qualified for selection to tender for the scheme and were invited to do so. The selection process centres on the technical and financial capability of applicants. Impresa Castelli and Girola demonstrated sound financial standing and technical capacity and submitted the most competitive bid in a high-quality field.
In the event, the contractor did not perform well in carrying out the contract, although the standard of the completed works was satisfactory. The contractor was late in completing the works and substantial liquidated damages have been deducted from him for this reason. The contractor has submitted claims for additional payments which are in dispute and are now at arbitration. Several sub-contractors and suppliers have suffered payment problems.
In the light of experience of this contract, the technical and financial criteria for the assessment of prospective tenderers have been reviewed. The assessment of technical capacity now takes account of a contractor's understanding of the nature of the work to be carried out under the specific contract. It also takes account of the staff required to undertake the contract and the need to ensure that the management structure is adequate to the task.