FIRMS operating in Torfaen will be able to bid for highways and civil engineering contracts with the borough council up to the value of half a million pounds. 

The council is part of an agreement in place across south east Wales that covers the awarding of contracts up to the value of £10 million.  

The Highways and Civil Engineering Framework Agreement is intended to allow councils from Bridgend to Monmouthshire, as well as the Welsh Government, to award contracts to bids from a select group of firms that have already been accredited as able to carry out the work. 

Councils are then able to use those firms for construction projects without having to advertise each job on UK-wide services that notify firms of possible tenders. 

The framework for Torfaen covers two of four lots of work, ranging from minor works up to the value of £150,000 in the borough as well as Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire, Caerphilly and Newport to improvement works to the value of £500,000. 

Any potential employers based or operating within those areas can be awarded the contracts, while there are a further five, of 15, total lots for improvement works up to £10 million across the south east Wales region. 

Though Torfaen’s cabinet has agreed to sign the framework there is no commitment to using it but the cabinet was told “it will compliment other methods of procurement where appropriate”. 

Council leader Anthony Hunt said: “It will help local firms access and bid for those works and be good for the economy and the borough as a whole.” 

A previous framework expired on December 31 last year and the current agreement runs until January 3, 2027. 

Among contracts previously awarded under the framework was the  Pontypool and New Inn train station improvements which was worth just over £6m though the typical value of contracts struck through the framework valued from £25,000 to £850,000.