Council ordered to repay £2.1m for bridge contract

Cornwall Council has been ordered to pay back more than £2.1m of funding regarding the award of a contract for the construction of a bridge.

The High Court found the contract for a bridge over the A30 at Chiverton Cross was awarded, without advertisement, to Costain Jacobs Partnership (CJP) - the contractor already delivering the adjacent A30 dualling scheme.

The secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government said not advertising the contract did not comply with relevant procurement rules.

Cornwall Council said it was "extremely disappointed at the decision" and it was considering "options for appeal".

The council was also penalised for being "discriminatory" when it came to a separate tender which included a requirement for Cornish sub-consultants. It was ruled that bidders without established local networks were placed at a disadvantage.

That £10,500 tender was paid by the council to MWJV Limited in respect of a competitive award of a project management services contract, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

The court found the invitation to tender for it included a requirement for Cornish sub-consultants, which the Secretary of State determined was discriminatory and in breach of equal treatment.

The Hon Mrs Justice Steyn also dismissed Cornwall Council's challenge to a decision requiring the repayment of more than £2.1m in European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) support.

A Cornwall Council spokesperson said the ERDF bid had been "clearly set out the council's procurement strategy" and that it had been supported by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) team at the time.

It said: "As with any ERDF-funded project, this scheme was rigorously scrutinised and audited - indeed, the findings of an audit by MHCLG in September 2023 found no issues with our procurement approach.

"We believe the funding was spent appropriately, following the required processes to deliver the project within the timescales set out by MHCLG as fund administrators."

Cornwall Council received ERDF funding for the project in February 2021 and that, due to ERDF funding requirements, the bridge could only have been built during the same construction period as National Highways' project.

The council said it looked at "all available procurement options to meet the ERDF timescales" and found the "only practical choice was to use the existing A30 contractor".

It said MHCLG "consistently supported the use of ERDF funds for this project" but in September 2024 a second audit by the Government Internal Audit Agency "raised concerns about the procurement process" and "demanded" the return of the ERDF funding.

It said: "We responded to the audit explaining the technical reasons for our procurement strategy, but the demand for repayment was re-issued.

"Legal action was a last resort, but, in our view, the unique circumstances of this project and our efforts to comply with regulations had not been properly considered."

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