Chamber and committees

I confirm the award today of contracts for the maintenance of trunk roads in Scotland from 1 April 2001.As provisionally indicated in my response to Des McNulty on 23 January 2001 (question S1W-12726), the successful bidders in the competitions held for the four Operating Company areas were BEAR Scotland Limited for the North East and North West Units and AMEY Highways Ltd for the South East and South West Units.The competition for these contracts, worth over £350 million over five years, and part of a record level of increased funding for transport in Scotland, was run in accordance with UK and EC law. The contracts have now been awarded, following the report of an independent review, by Halcrow in association with Price Waterhouse Coopers, of the use of quantities in the tender assessment process. This report, published today, has demonstrated that the use of substitute quantities from the local authority consortia which submitted bids does not alter the identification of the winning bidder. This means that the bids from AMEY and BEAR Scotland Ltd represented the best value for money and the contracts have been awarded to these companies accordingly.The Scottish Executive's objective is to ensure high standards in maintaining our trunk roads while securing best value for money for the taxpayer. The award of these contracts achieves that and offers a saving on existing costs of £75 million over five years.Savings have not been at the expense of quality. Those selected to tender all had a proven record in trunk road management and maintenance. In careful scrutiny all tenders met quality standards and only then were cash bids assessed. Stringent quality requirements in the contracts should lead to standards being above those in existing contracts.We consulted widely before inviting tenders and explained fully in advance how the tender process would work. It was conducted equitably, transparently and fairly. This has been confirmed by three Court of Session judgements and the independent audit.In the case of all four contracts, the winning bid, as previously announced (question S1W-12726), was substantially below the comparable cost of the current contract for the equivalent work even though qualifying standards had been set higher in the new contracts.I fully understand that this outcome will be disappointing to local authorities, but for all four contracts, the local authority contractor bid was above the comparable cost of the current arrangements for the equivalent work.In view of the wide public concern expressed on this point, I invited each of the bidders for the four contracts to allow the figures for their bids to be published. Each of the bidders for the North West contract has agreed to the making public of this information for their competition. For the other areas, not all bidders authorised publication. The following table, giving the information which the Executive is able to release, demonstrates very starkly the scale of the differences in the bids received.

£ millionBid Values		Comparable cost at historic rates and prices	Comparable costs frombest bids	Comparablecosts fromLA Consortium Bid
South East		68.7	52.4	See Note 1
South West		119.5	93.3	See Note 1
North East		76.0	65.7	See Note 2
North West		99.8	89.4	152.0
Total		364.0	300.7	461.8
Total including 17.5% VAT		427.7	353.3	542.6
One year cost (ie previous row divided by 5)		85.5	70.7	108.5
Savings accruing per annum (£ million)			14.9	-23.0

Notes1. The local authority consortia bidding in these areas did not agree to the publication of figures.2. One of the private sector bidders in this area did not agree to the publication of figures.The tabulation shows the estimated cost for the work anticipated in each unit using:(a) derived rates and prices from existing contracts(b) best tenders and(c) the local authority consortium bidsThus while the bids from the best (lowest) tenderers offer savings of £15 million per annum over present costs, those from the local authority consortia would have cost an additional £23 million.The difference between the local authority bids and those from the winning bidders was therefore approximately £38 million per annum, or £190 million over the five- year contract period.The new arrangements will involve a considerable reorganisation of the way maintenance services will be delivered across the trunk roads network. How this will impact on employment will depend on how new contractors operate. However, I expect the TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)] Regulations to apply. The companies winning the contracts are fully aware of the importance of continuity of local experience and the need to achieve a seamless transfer of operations.The Executive has every confidence in the integrity and fairness of the tendering and assessment process. However, deeply held concerns have been expressed and I recognise that there is a desire for further reassurance that the matter has been properly handled. I have today therefore suggested that the Auditor General might be invited to undertake a complete review of the whole exercise from publication of the consultative document through to the award of the contracts. That should provide a totally independent assessment of the process. In the meantime, I am arranging for reports on the audit conducted by the Performance Audit Group to be lodged in the Parliament's Reference Centre.Now that the contracts have been signed, I look to the successful tenderers to fulfil their obligations and press ahead with all speed to achieve a smooth transition from 1 April.

I can announce today the establishment of an Interdepartmental Working Group on Freedom of Information. This fulfils a commitment made in the Executive's consultation document on freedom of information, An Open Scotland. The group's first meeting will be held in early February. The group will report to me and has been asked to ensure that all necessary measures are put in place to enable the Scottish freedom of information legislation to be implemented smoothly and consistently across the Scottish public sector.The group is to be chaired by a senior official of the Scottish Executive. It will include representatives of the Scottish Executive Departments, Agencies and NDPBs, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, CoSLA, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the NHS in Scotland and the Higher Education sector.I have made available in the Parliament's Reference Centre details of the working group's terms of reference and membership.

Applications to Higher Education Institutions in Scotland for pre-registration physiotherapy courses remain buoyant and are not a cause for concern.

The provision of the teaching of English to speakers of other languages is offered by a number of different institutions and in a wide range of courses. The provision of these courses and the level of provision is a matter for the institutions concerned. Some institutions have formed a consortium called the Scottish English Language Teachers in Consortium (SELTIC) which aims to promote and co-ordinate this sector.

In January of this year we published Working with Children: A Guide to Qualifications and Careers in Early Education, Childcare and Playwork. The follow-up Action Plan, published in July, describes how we want to work with other bodies to expand the workforce, widen training opportunities and enhance the quality of training. A key element will be the training provided to nursery nurses and this is an issue Ministers will discuss further with the Pre-School and Childcare Advisory Forum.

It is for local NHS Trusts to determine the number of specialist nurses required to meet the locally identified clinical needs of their patients, and to recruit the appropriately qualified nurses.Information on the current number of such specialist nurses is not held centrally.

The Scottish Executive has no proposals for giving local authorities further powers in this area.

There are no plans at present to do so.

A Review Group comprising representatives from various bodies with an interest in sport and chaired by me was established earlier this year to consider Scotland's progress in implementing Sport 21. This first review of Sport 21 has now been completed and sportscotland have today published the findings in Sport 21: Nothing Left to Chance - First Review: Report on Progress. Good progress has been made in most areas but we all must pick up the pace if we are to realise the full benefits of sport for people of all age groups and walks of life throughout Scotland.

A copy of the report is being sent to all members and additional copies will be made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

The Scottish Executive has no plans to introduce pre-natal hearing screening.

Following the recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee on Neonatal Hearing Screening, I have commissioned a comprehensive review of the implications of implementing a screening programme and the options for its introduction. The findings of the review will be available by March 2001.