Constructing Excellence in Wales

Integration & Collaborative Working

Winner:   Monmouthshire County Council and Willmott Dixon

Monmouthshire is a rural area with four main towns, Monmouth, Abergavenny, Caldicot and Chepstow.  The Authority’s core values are: promoting social inclusion, equal opportunities, sustainable development and improving community safety.  Monmouthshie has been a passionate supporter of integration and collaboration from soon after the Latham and Egan reports were published.  In 1998 Monmouthshire CC started what was to become a single source contractor framework partnership with Willmott Dixon that has progressed through two fixed periods and has now successfully spanned more than a decade and 27 successful projects.   All of the schemes have been completed on time and on budget and it is important to note that the approach commenced at a time when the partnering of projects was relatively new.  There can be few other organisations and possibly no other Local Authority which have managed to maintain a continuing relationship over a period of more than ten years.  

Of particular interest is the innovative way in which Monmouthshire measures its projects. As well as measuring the Constructing Excellence KPIs such as cost, time and Health and Safety, the team have developed a process to measure the effect a building has on pupil performance and also a ‘Best Value Indicator’  which takes a number of factors into account to ascertain the performance of the framework contracts. This objective approach has shown an improving trend over time and an out-performance over benchmarked traditionally tendered schemes This has enabled  Willmott Dixon and the wider team to demonstrate value for money. 

The pressure of maintaining a relationship for a decade requires an approach to collaboration and partnering which always challenges the current environment and nurtures a culture of innovation. The case for innovation within this environment is a business imperative; without it neither party can demonstrate continuous improvement and ensure a dynamic and vibrant relationship is maintained.