North Yorkshire Council
Environment Executive Members
Procurement of a New Contract for Design, Supply and Installation of Traffic Signals Equipment
23 January 2026
Report of the Assistant Director – Highways and Infrastructure
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 For the Corporate Director - Environment, in consultation with the Executive Member - Highways and Transportation, to authorise officers to procure a contract for the design, supply and installation of traffic signals equipment in North Yorkshire, including upgrades to existing sites and installation of new sites.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 The Council manages a network of 322 traffic signals sites across the County. This includes 211 pedestrian crossing facilities and 111 signalised junctions. There is a need to ensure that these sites function in a safe manner and that they also maximise the efficiency and safety of the highway network.
2.2 There is an existing contract in place for day-to-day maintenance and repair of signals sites. This includes small scale repairs, call outs to rectify faults etc. Any capital funded refurbishment, renewal or new installation is managed through small scale procurement exercises for specific sites / schemes.
2.3 The current base budget for capital upgrades is circa £300K per annum. This is funded from the highway’s capital programme. This is supplemented by other funding sources such as Local transport Grant (LTG) and other grants such as the Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant (TSOG).
2.4 With longer term funding opportunities such as LTG, alongside potential further increases in Highway Maintenance block funding (HMB) there is likely to be a significant upturn in available funding for capital improvements over the next four to five years.
3.0 SUMMARY OF THE CONTRACTS
3.1 Traffic Signals Capital works are generally split by the following asset types
· Pedestrian crossing facilities
· Signalised Junctions
3.2 For each of these asset types, the following capital funded activities are carried out
· Asset upgrade and refurbishment
· Installation of new assets
3.3 Design work is currently carried out in house by the Council, external consultants or by traffic signals contractors.
4.0 PROPOSED WAY FORWARD
4.1 It is proposed to procure pedestrian crossing facilities and signalised junctions services as two smaller contracts to encourage SMEs and local suppliers. Suppliers will be given the opportunity to bid for either one or both contracts. Each supplier will be evaluated based on both their price and quality.
4.2 This approach does not guarantee a set amount of work each for each lot per year. Call off orders will be raised by the Council as required. The award will be made to the highest scoring suppler in each lot. If the highest scoring supplier is not able to carry out the required works, the next highest scoring supplier will be awarded the order. This approach helps to ensure resilience within the supply chain.
4.3 Within each lot, there will be the facility for the Council to obtain any of the following services per scheme:
· Supply of equipment
· Supply and install of equipment
· Scheme design, supply and install of equipment.
4.4 Contract Management and associated works orders will be carried out by the Council’s traffic signals team.
5.0 ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
5.1 Utilising an existing external framework was considered, however this would require a further competition exercise to be carried out for each new scheme / block of schemes. Procuring our own contract, provides improved efficiency compared to existing external frameworks.
5.2 Additionally establishing our own contract allows the specifications and terms of the contracts to be more aligned to the requirements of North Yorkshire. It also ensures that we can achieve best value and the relevant price / quality split for assessment meets the requirements of North Yorkshire.
6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
6.1 The anticipated maximum expenditure per year will be in the region of £2,500,000. The total whole life costs for the contract are estimated to be in the region of £10M over the proposed four-year term.
6.2 All expenditure within the contract will be accounted for within the highway maintenance block allocation and / or other funding sources such as LTG and developer funded works. Any new schemes identified will be included in future reports to Executive for approval.
7.0 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
7.1 The proposed procurement process for a new contract will be carried out compliantly in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2023. Legal Services will draft documentation for the proposed new contract as needed.
8.0 EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS
8.1 An initial equality impact assessment screening has been completed. This has identified that a full equalities impact assessment is not required as the proposals within this report do not negatively impact any individuals or groups with protected characteristics. (Appendix A).
9.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS
9.1 A climate change impact assessment has been completed. This has identified that the new contract should be beneficial as it will enable new traffic signals upgrades to be delivered which will help to improve network efficiency. This will result in reduced emissions and increased usage of more sustainable modes of transport. (Appendix B).
10.0 REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 The recommendations will enable a procurement exercise to be carried out to ensure that NYC is able to upgrade its existing and install new, traffic signal sites.
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11.0
11.1
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RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that, the Corporate Director - Environment, in consultation with the Executive Member - Highways and Transportation authorises the procurement of a new contract for design, supply & installation of traffic signals equipment from 2026-2030. |
APPENDICES: Appendix A – Initial Equality Impact Assessment Screening Form
Appendix B – Climate change impact assessment
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None
Barrie Mason
Assistant Director - Highways and Infrastructure
County Hall
Northallerton
Report Author – James Gilroy Team Leader Highways Asset Management
Presenter of Report – James Gilroy, Team Leader Highways Asset Management