The aspiration is that the new collaborative partnerships, which are now live, will help to deliver the agency’s £2.6bn capital investment programme more efficiently.
Under the new arrangements, the old Water & Environment Management (WEM) framework is replaced by the Collaborative Delivery Framework (CDF). There also new national specialist frameworks for Marine & Coastal and Mapping & Modelling.
Legacy projects that are still being delivered through the old WEM framework will continue unchanged with previous suppliers.
The CDF runs for an initial four years until 2023, with the opportunity to extend to 2027. The national specialist frameworks run until 2023 with no extension opportunities.
The NGSA follow the recommendations from the government construction strategy. It is expected to lead to better long term team working with suppliers and new ways of engaging with local organisations and people, the Environment Agency said.
The CEEQUAL scheme will be used for assessing, rating and recognising sustainability performance across the whole of the programme.
As previously reported, the consulting engineer and contractor selected in each region for the Collaborative Delivery Framework are:
- Northeast: Ove Arup & Partners, BAM Nuttall
- Northwest: Jacobs UK , VolkerStevin
- Midlands: Ove Arup, Jackson Civil Engineering Group
- Eastern: Jacobs UK, BAM Nuttall
- Southwest: Atkins, Kier
- Southeast: Jeremy Benn Associates, VolkerStevin
The Marine & Coastal Framework is divided into two lots according to project value. For projects with a total value of between £5m and £50m, the selected suppliers are: BAM New Wave Solutions Joint Venture, Van Oord and VBA Joint Venture.
Chosen suppliers for marine and coastal works up to £5m are: BAM Nuttall, Van Oord, VBA Joint Venture and JBA Bentley.
The Mapping & Modelling framework delivery partners are Aecom, JBA Consulting and Jacobs UK.
Brian Francis, manager of the Marine & Coastal Framework Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The Marine & Coastal Framework will work alongside our new Collaborative Delivery Framework to mitigate climate change and reduce its impacts, protect the environment and promote sustainable development in all that we do.
“We welcome our new delivery partners and the specialist knowledge, skills and technology they bring to our projects. Together we will ensure homes, communities and businesses are receiving the best possible flood and coastal management for the challenges facing their area.”
Environment Agency operations director Toby Willison said: “Our ambitious new arrangements will help us to continue to deliver our £2.6bn flood and coastal defence programme in a way which ensures that sustainability, efficiency and value for money remain at the very heart of the work we do to protect people, homes and the environment.”
Jacobs client account manager Tom Brown said: “Our 25 year partnership in delivering flood risk management is about to go to the next level. Working closely together to create a new way of working will allow us to harness the potential of all our people and organisations to be successful.”
Jackson framework director Richard Neall said: “The new approach is a hugely positive step, not just for flood and coastal risk management, but also for the construction industry as a whole. Working together with the EA and Ove ARUP as fully integrated, long-term delivery partners, we’ll be able to provide more sustainable construction solutions to better protect communities from flooding.”
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