Contracts which deliver road maintenance projects, street lighting, gulley cleansing and technical support are being renegotiated by Peterborough City Council to ensure they are providing best value for money.

Currently the city council contracts four organisations to provide transport and engineering services on its behalf - Ringway (highways maintenance), Volker Mews (street lighting), ADC (gulley cleansing) and Atkins (technical services).

The city council wants to bring all four areas of work together into one contract from 1 August 2013.

The council is duty bound to re-tender for the contracts. It also has a duty to council taxpayers to ensure that the best possible services are being delivered for the best value for money.


Councillor Peter Hiller, Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning for Peterborough City Council, said: "We currently have four contracts to deliver services such as pot hole repairs, roadwork schemes, gulley cleansing and traffic light maintenance. These contracts will come to their natural end in July next year and we cannot simply extend them without ensuring we are providing services for the best possible price.

"At a time when we are receiving less money from Government to run services we need to make sure every penny we spend is providing good value for money.

"Reducing the number of contracts has the potential to save the council in the region of £500,000 a year, money which can be re-invested into providing other essential services for residents. It makes better financial sense to provide these essential services under one contract, thus reducing the cost of managing the contracts."

(CD/GK)