{"id":828104,"date":"2025-02-19T08:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T14:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/council-admits-procurement-breach-over-30m-demolition-contract\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T08:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T14:11:53","slug":"council-admits-procurement-breach-over-30m-demolition-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/council-admits-procurement-breach-over-30m-demolition-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Council admits procurement breach over \u00a330m demolition contract"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Legal_scales_shutterstock_2471885651.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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A council has acknowledged that it broke procurement law in a power-station demolition tender.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown and Mason Group Limited brought the claim over multiple breaches of public procurement law and unfair treatment from Cardiff Council over the award of a contract to demolish the former Aberthaw Power Station.<\/span><\/p>\n

The contract, valued at approximately \u00a330m, was subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rival demolition company Erith beat Brown and Mason to the job following an evaluation process, including an assessment of quantitative social value commitments.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the latter firm\u2019s lawyers argued that the council conducted its evaluation in a \u201cnon-transparent\u201d manner.<\/span><\/p>\n

This meant the demolition specialist \u201cwas deprived of a real chance of winning the Aberthaw contract\u201d, they added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown and Mason said the council failed to provide \u201cany sufficient, clear and transparent statement of reasons\u201d for its decision to select Erith.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, Cardiff Council disregarded Brown and Mason\u2019s \u201cintended quantitative social value commitments\u201d, the firm\u2019s lawyers said.<\/span><\/p>\n

They alleged that Cardiff Council refused to evaluate a revised submission when the company attempted to amend the social value commitments in response to the council\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown and Mason also argued that the council allowed Erith to amend its bid after the tender deadline, 20 January 2023, in contravention of procurement rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

Relevant documents related to Erith\u2019s bid \u201cwere not submitted and\/or made accessible\u201d to Brown and Mason until about six days after the tender deadline had expired, the particulars of claim document added.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Brown and Mason cited an 11 July 2023 message from Erith to the council, which stated: \u201cWe are currently not able to offer a bond due to the wider bond market, which has been severely rocked by the recent<\/span> collapse of Henry Construction<\/span><\/a> and caused the bond market to go into turmoil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later the same day, Erith sent another message contradicting this statement and saying \u201cwe will be able to provide a performance bond for Aberthaw\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown and Mason\u2019s lawyers said that the initial message should have rendered Erith\u2019s bid non-compliant, and that Erith was not entitled to change its mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cardiff Council\u2019s conduct and decision to choose Erith over Brown and Mason were therefore \u201cunlawful and in breach [\u2026] of the duties of transparency and equal treatment\u201d, the legal document stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The particulars of claim stated that Brown and Mason would have won the Aberthaw contract \u201cif the defendant had complied with its legal duties\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cardiff Council admitted liability in a hearing at the Technology and Construction Court on 31 January this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown and Mason is seeking damages from the local authority. Proceedings in that effort are ongoing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Ben Vogel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A council has acknowledged that it broke procurement law in a power-station demolition tender. Brown and Mason Group Limited brought the claim over multiple breaches of public procurement law and unfair treatment from Cardiff Council over the award of a contract to demolish the former Aberthaw Power Station. The contract, valued at approximately \u00a330m, was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":828105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4207,27471],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-828104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-admits","8":"category-council"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}