Public Private Partnering

Durham Strategic Alliance

Durham Strategic Alliance

Project Value: £5-10m per annum over 7 years

Services Provided: Highway Design, Transportation, Engineering & Environmental Consultancy

Start Date: October 2002

Durham County Council has chosen the Balfour Beatty Consortium (comprising of Balfour Beatty, Capita Symonds, Cumbrian Industrials, Ringway and Babtie) as its strategic partners for a 7-year alliance with the Council's in-house service teams to deliver its highway engineering and environmental projects.

Each partner will work with Service Direct, Environment & Technical Services and Corporate & Legal Services of the Council in a collaborative arrangement that will see continuous improvement in performance, reduced costs and the elimination of waste. The groundbreaking strategic alliance is based on the Egan Report 'Rethinking Construction' which aims to raise the standard of construction in the UK through partnering, lean construction and a focus on the customer.

The consortium was selected following a rigorous and intensive tender process including wide-ranging quality assessments. Capita is keen to work with the Council's staff and see this as an opportunity for the Alliance to demonstrate excellence in construction and give Best Value.

Guaranteed delivery and continuous improvement are the aims of the Alliance with performance being monitored against tough targets including faster completion times, defect-free handover and increased customer satisfaction. Fair treatment of sub-contractors and recognising the contributions and needs of all staff and operatives under the Respect for People initiative will be fundamental to the operation of the Alliance.

Durham County Council is a Government backed national Pathfinder local authority for strategic partnerships and has been recognised as a Demonstration Organisation by the Movement for Innovation (M4I), which promotes the 'Rethinking Construction' message. With this comes a commitment to sharing with other local authorities the experience and lessons of the procurement process and the implementation of the Alliance.