S30106 Strategic Development - Scheme Development Targeted Studies Technical Partner 2026-2028

Overview

National Highways ("the Employer") is intending to set up a contract for provision of technical services to support the Strategic Planning Division's scheme development targeted study programme in 2026/27 and 2027/28 ("the study programme"). Strategic Planning Division within the Customer, Strategy and Communication directorate, are seeking to appoint a Technical Partner ("the Consultant") to work in close partnership with us to deliver a defined and prioritised programme of strategic and feasibility studies. The programme focuses on supporting growth, developing investment plans, and progressing early-stage scheme development across key corridors, combined authority areas and nationally significant locations. The Consultant will provide specialist technical services to develop robust, evidence led outputs that inform our enhancement strategy, including clear strategic, economic, performance and cost cases to support RIS4 and future investment planning. The study programme delivery will take place within the financial years of 2026/2027 and 2027/2028, and the commission will cover technical services related to supporting the delivery of studies spanning growth and connectivity priorities, corridor and investment plans, and scheme development activity. This will assist National Highways in developing the evidence base needed to develop long term strategy and select the right interventions for the network. The Consultant will flexibly deliver their technical services, developing and drawing upon robust evidence, to help us carry out studies in the most cost and time effective ways. The Consultant will also assist us in improving the quality of our outcomes through greater consistency of approach due to the programmatic nature of this commission. The Consultant will have the technical capability to provide outputs that efficiently support our decision making. They will deliver a range of studies and will be able to quickly react to changes in priorities and needs, which are driven by those of our stakeholders. Through our ongoing programme of strategic and early feasibility studies, Strategic Development plays an integral and business critical role within National Highways, delivering the evidence and early-stage feasibility needed to shape future investment in the Strategic Road Network (SRN). We lead the development of long-term strategies, investment plans and early scheme development, set strategic direction for future interventions, and assess nationally significant third-party proposals to ensure impacts on the network are understood and mitigated. Our remit includes progressing potential schemes through their earliest stages of assessment (equivalent to PCF Stage 0), and developing robust evidence bases that cover strategic need, value for money, performance impacts and cost to help inform our enhancement strategy, future investment pipeline and RIS4 planning.