Agenda and minutes

          The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2013 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

In this case the Board has a discretion to exclude the press and public and, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it is RECOMMENDED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Board considered:

1)                   Whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

2)                   Whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:  That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Reason for taking the item in Part II of the agenda:

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

The Board considered a report of the Chief Executive which gave details on the procurement process for the Mersey Gateway Bridge project which had now reached the stage where Final Tender submissions had been received and the evaluation process was almost completed.

The Mersey Gateway Project Director provided Members with a detailed and comprehensive presentation setting out details of the three submissions received and the evaluation undertaken by the Mersey Gateway Team.

It was reported that at this stage, the evaluation process had produced a clear front runner and a clear second placed consortium.

In accordance with the Council's procurement process, the leading bidder had been identified as the provisional preferred bidder, with the final stages of the evaluation process involving the confirmation of arrangements for securing the proportion of project finance that was to be guaranteed under the HM Treasury scheme (the UK Guarantee Scheme – UKGS) to confirm the position set out in the provisional preferred bidder's submission.  It was reported that discussions with UKGS would be concluded shortly and were progressing positively.

Furthermore, it was reported that the Project Team were also seeking final clarification on a small number of technical matters, that had been identified to the Committee.

In conclusion, it was reported that until all matters had been resolved to the satisfaction of the Council and the evaluation process had been completed, the identity of the provisional preferred bidder should remain confidential.

After taking full account of all relevant and appropriate information it was:-

RESOLVED That:

(1)        The provisional preferred bidder (x) be awarded the contracts for the Mersey Gateway Bridge project subject to satisfying the Council on the outstanding matters identified at the meeting such that their tender remains the most economically advantageous, as identified by the Council's evaluation criteria; and

(2)        The Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader, the Deputy Leader, the Transport Portfolio Holder, the Mersey Gateway Project Director, the Operational Director (Transport), the Operational Director (Finance) and the Operational Director (Legal), be authorised, to take all necessary actions, to award the contracts for the Mersey Gateway project to the provisional preferred bidder (x) on being satisfied that the outstanding matters identified to the committee are resolved to his reasonable satisfaction.

MINUTES ISSUED:   14 June 2013

CALL-IN:                  21 June 2013

Any matter decided by the Mersey Gateway Executive Board may

be called in no later than 5.00pm  on 21 June 2013