The Environment Agency has gone out to tender with a framework contract for client support services worth up to an estimated £80 million in total.

The Agency is seeking the provision of support services to help deliver its programme of capital investment and improvement works for flood defence assets (both fixed and active), as well as wider business requirements, in a way that delivers sustainable, best value outcomes.

The Client support framework consists of 2 Lots each of which covers a national delivery requirement

Lot 1: Technical delivery support (£20 million)

Lot 2: Contract, cost and carbon management support (£40 million)

Lot 1 is seeking to provide technical delivery support to the Environment Agency and to other public sector bodies across a wide range of services including:

• New engineering contract (NEC) Engineering and construction contract (ECC) site supervisors,
• Bought in services
• Technical staff
• National environmental assessment service (NEAS) Environmental project managers (Environmental assurance and Environmental impact assessments (EIAs), Landscape architects, Archaeology),
• Engineering
• Mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation (MEICA) and reliability engineering
• Asset management general consultancy support
• Support for strategic spatial planning and infrastructure work, statutory planning response work and permitting,
• Strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) support
• Reservoir engineering services
• Flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) research
• Environmental assessment research
• Other technical delivery support activities/services as required to support delivery programmes

Lot 2 covers the provision of contract, cost and carbon management support, including:

• Integrated cost and carbon target setting, forecasting, actuals, assurance and reporting, estimating, modelling and benchmarking using a full suite of top-down and bottom-up approaches
• Cost and price investigation and supplier bid assurance in collaborative, single-source commercial environments,
• Risk identification and evaluation
• Project controls (including gathering, analysing, monitoring, reporting and managing costs on an on-going basis)
• Data and digital assurance (develop our approach to digital technology and modelling to support EA decision making and assurance activities)
• Data analysis and reporting (deriving new knowledge from data, detailed analysis of a range of data including information that may sit outside of the EA, including business intelligence (BI) tools and approaches and associated programming capability)
• Client programme, performance and portfolio management support and advice
• Other cost, contract and carbon management activities/services as required to support delivery programmes

The Environment Agency is open to receiving expressions of interest from consortia, joint ventures, strategic alliances and other arrangements. Up to 13 suppliers will be appinted to the framework, which will run for 4 years.

Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 28^th September 2018 – click here to access the tender documentation.