National Highways Vehicle Recovery Service Contract (4th Generation)

National Highways is pleased to invite interested suppliers to a contract opportunity of up to 10 years for a sole supplier (or entity) to deliver and manage a statutory vehicle removal service on behalf of National Highways. This contract will assist National Highways Traffic Officers who have the powers sanctioned within The Removal and Disposal of Vehicles (Traffic Officers) (England) Regulations 2008, to effect statutory removals for the safe removal of accident damaged, broken down and abandoned vehicles from England’s motorways and all-purpose-trunk-roads (also known as the Strategic Road Network – SRN)

The SRN, which encompasses over 7,200km of motorways and major ‘A’ roads is the backbone of England’s national transport system and this network plays a critical role in connecting cities, facilitating commerce, and supporting economic growth, making its maintenance, enhancement, and management a national priority.

A statutory removal service is required by National Highways on a 24 hour, 7 days a week (including bank holidays) basis and is focussed on those sections of the SRN that are patrolled by National Highways Traffic Officers. This service will require a supplier to establish, maintain and manage (or self-deliver) a fleet of national vehicle recovery operatives (VRO) that can be mobilised to respond to requests for recovery assistance.

For this contract, the statutory charges that are set by the Home Office will apply under The Removal, Storage and Disposal of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Regulations 2023 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/331/contents/made

The services that the appointed supplier is expected to deliver and manage in collaboration with National Highways includes

1) A National Statutory Vehicle Removal Service - This service will require the supply, provision, and management of a national network of VRO’s that can be mobilised to recover and remove vehicles of any type, dimension, and weight from the SRN when requested and instructed by the client. All vehicles, and occupants, removed as part of this service are then expected to be taken to the nearest appropriate place of safety and any abandoned vehicles removed will need to be taken into secure storage.

Whilst the statutory charges are capped for vehicles up to and including 44 tonnes, this service may on occasion also require the removal of vehicles in excess of 44 tonnes (i.e. vehicles classified as abnormal loads) - where these situations occur, these will be dealt with as compensation events (full details are provided within the tender documentation)

2) Debt Recovery Management Service – In association to the statutory removal of vehicles, a debt recovery service is required to recover and chase the outstanding statutory charges from registered vehicle owners who have had their vehicle(s) removed, stored, and disposed as part of the statutory vehicle removal service.

3) Removal of Shed Loads (including waste disposal) – In association to the statutory removal of vehicles, National Highways will also require the removal of any shed loads from the SRN as part of the requirement to recover and remove vehicle(s).

4) Pre-Positioning – An enhanced recovery service, whereby VROs are effectively placed on standby able to respond and provide vehicle recovery services. This service is typically deployed during significant weather or high trafficked social events where it is known that traffic issues could occur.

5) Scheme Recovery – A similar service to statutory vehicle recovery but is used specifically for National Highways maintenance and roadwork schemes whereby a statutory vehicle recovery service (which is free to customers) is used on a call off basis, rather than a traditional on-site dedicated vehicle removal service. These are usually pre-planned activities but can also involve schemes for emergency works on the network requiring immediate corrective repairs

6) IT Provision – This will require interfaces and compliant systems (compliant to ISO 27001 or equivalent) that includes the following requirements and outputs

a) To track and trace registered vehicle owners to contact and recover outstanding fees and charges.

b) To enable customers to pay the statutory fees and charges.

c) To record, track & trace all vehicles removed and placed in storage.

d) To interface directly with each of National Highways’ Regional Operations Centres (ROCs) via ‘ControlWorks’ to enable to record, track and trace all statutory vehicle removal requirements made under this contract provision.

e) To track and trace VROs dispatched as part of this service.

Anticipated volumes of statutory removals are difficult to predict but is currently in the region of 22,500 vehicles per annum, however this volume of recoveries can vary and this figure is provided for information only.

In addition to a pipeline (UK1) notice, two prior pre-market engagement notices were issued December 2024 (links provided below)

1) Find A Tender Notice (FTS) Notice: https://www.findtender.service.gov.uk/Notice/038895-2024?

2) Contracts Finder Notice (CF) https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/f1c32b95-7f3f-4ec8-bebbc02a2b859780

Full details relating to the overall service requirements is provided in more detail within the accompanying tender documentation that is available for free download via the National Highways e-tendering portal that is also referenced within this notice.