Client Support Framework (CSF)

The East West Railway Company (the Authority) is responsible for the delivery of East West Rail (EWR), a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project providing new and upgraded rail links between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. EWR Co. is responsible for leading the development, procurement, and commissioning of the railway.

The Authority is undertaking a procurement for Client Support Framework (CSF) Partners to support the development and delivery of the EWR programme.

Overview of the Intended Contract

The Authority is establishing a 3 lot / single appointed supplier per lot framework for the provision of Client Support Services (CSF) for a period of twelve (12) years.

Relationship with the ITOAE Partner

The Authority is separately procuring an Integration, Technical, Operations, Assurance and Environmental (ITOAE) Partner.

The Authority's current position is that the CSF partners will be structurally separated from the ITOAE, such that the appointed CSF Partners will not be eligible to be appointed under the ITOAE for the duration of the CSF contracts. The purpose of this separation is to protect the independence of assurance and advice, to mitigate real or perceived conflicts of interest, and to align with independent review findings on major programme governance (including the Stewart Review, 2025).

The Conditions of Participation are :-

Stage 0 - Expression of Interest and Ethical Walls Agreement where relevant.

Stage 1 - PSQ stage to include Legal and Financial Capacity , Conflict of Interest declarations and Technical ability.

Stage 2 - ITT stage for shortlisted suppliers to include Quality and Commercial evaluation.

Stage 3 - Optional negotiation.

All be set in accordance with the Authority's obligations under the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024.

Scope of Services

At this stage , the Authority has defined the high-level scope of services.

Lot 1 – Reporting and Controls / PMO Support

Programme, portfolio and package level reporting:

• integrated cost, schedule, risk, opportunity and change performance reporting;
• executive dashboards, KPI scorecards and delivery confidence assessments;
• consolidated programme performance reporting aligned to EWR governance and reporting cycles.

Planning and scheduling support:

• development, maintenance and assurance of integrated master schedules and performance baselines;
• critical path, float, milestone, recovery and scenario analysis;
• schedule risk analysis and integrated planning standards support.

Cost and performance controls:

• delivery cost forecasting, ETC/EAC management and performance reporting;
• reconciliation of cost, schedule, risk and change baselines;
• trend analysis, earned value management and early warning indicators.

Risk, issue and opportunity management support:

• maintenance of programme risk, issue and opportunity registers within ARM;
• quantitative schedule and cost risk analysis (QSRA/QCRA) support;
• risk reporting, mitigation tracking, assurance coordination and escalation management.

Governance, assurance and management information (MI):

• Board, Executive, Sponsor and DfT reporting and governance support;
• stage gate, assurance, change governance and gateway readiness activities;
• standardised reporting products, evidence packs and audit-ready decision records.

Controls systems, data governance and digital reporting:

• administration and optimisation of planning, cost, risk and reporting toolsets;
• Power BI reporting environments, automated reporting and data analytics;
• data governance, quality assurance, configuration control and document management interfaces.

Lot 2 – Commercial Management and Contract Administration support

Procurement support:

• pre tender estimation;
• commercial evaluation;
• commercial support during tender processes.

Contract administration:

• management of notices, instructions, early warnings and compensation events;
• administration of NEC (or equivalent) processes;
• maintenance of contractual registers and correspondence logs.

Change control and forecasting support:

• cost planning, estimating and cost engineering;
• development and maintenance of cost estimates;
• assessment and logging of change events;
• affordability and cost assurance of options.

Payment and cost management support:

• valuation support;
• payment application assessment;
• reconciliation against cost records.

Claims avoidance and dispute support:

• contemporaneous record management;
• support to dispute resolution processes;
• preparation of evidence packs (without advocacy role unless instructed).

Supplier performance and compliance monitoring:

• performance data collation against contractual KPIs;
• payment practice and supply chain compliance checks.

Commercial data and audit support:

• audit responses and evidence collation;
• benchmarking and affordability analyses.

Lot 3 – Project & Construction Management Support

Project and package management support:

• workstream coordination and day to day management support;
• delivery plan development and tracking;
• action management and follow up;
• Interface and dependency management;
• coordination across contractors, designers, third parties and stakeholders;
• management of interface schedules and logs.

Programme governance support:

• preparation of governance boards and working groups;
• action and decision tracking;
• support to stage gate and readiness reviews.

Stakeholder and third party coordination, including:

• support to statutory undertaker, local authority and regulator engagement;
• tracking of commitments and undertakings.

Transition and mobilisation support:

• support to phase transitions (e.g. design to construction);
• readiness planning and handover coordination.

Delivery performance support:

• progress measurement and reporting;
• recovery planning support (without authority to direct suppliers).

Construction Management:

• Clerk of works/Site Inspector
• Construction Supervisor/Compliance Manager
• Quality Assurance
• Health & Safety
• CDM compliance.

This procurement will be run concurrently with others. Bidders may tender for any or all of the Lots/Contracts identified in the table shown in Package Bidding and Award Constraints letter.

This approach is intended to support market participation and allow bidders to put forward appropriate delivery solutions.

However, submitting tenders for multiple Lots/Contracts across the Procurements does not mean a bidder will be eligible to be awarded all Lots/Contracts. Award decisions will be subject to the Lot/Contract interaction rules set out in the letter, which are intended to:

• Maintain independence between assurance, management and delivery functions.
• Avoid conflicts of interest.
• Prevent excessive concentration of specialist services within a single organisation.
• Preserve effective commercial oversight.
• Ensure suppliers have sufficient capacity and capability to successfully deliver awarded contracts.

Please ensure you refer to Package Bidding and Award Constraints letter for further detail.

• Contract Form – NEC4 Professional Service Contract
• Estimated total value - £230 million -£350 million