Shropshire Council paid WSP £43m over past five years

The five-year Built Environment Consultancy Contract (BECC), worth up to £100m, was awarded to WSP in 2023. At the time, Shropshire Council, then run by the Conservatives, said it would help improve the county’s roads, attract inward investment to Shropshire, keep money in the county, help meet the council’s net zero and climate change targets, and deliver social value benefits to residents and businesses.

The deal expanded on the council’s previous highway and transport engineering consultancy contract, which was held by WSP from April 2015 to March 2023.

At a full council meeting, Claire Rowbotham (a member of the public) asked the council to confirm the total amount paid to WSP UK Ltd and any associated group companies in each of the financial years from 2021/22 to 2025/26, and the sum committed, owed or forecast for 2026/27.

Councillor David Vasmer, portfolio holder for highways and waste, confirmed the following actual payments to WSP, which includes both revenue and capital (not adjusted for accruals).

• 2021/22: £10,310,652.22
• 2022/23: £9,678,674.53
• 2023/24: £9,036,117.66
• 2024/25: £9,657,137.36
• 2025/26: £4,571,496.19

That gives a total amount of £43,254,077.96.

Councillor David Vasmer, portfolio holder for highways and waste. Picture: Shropshire Council

Councillor Vasmer noted that the drop off in value from the 2025/26 figure is the North West Relief Road project being put on hold. Last February, Shropshire Council confirmed that WSP had been paid a huge £24.4 m for the ill-fated scheme.

For the current 2026/27 financial year, Councillor Vasmer said the forecasted figure is £7,646,442.04. He added that as part of its Statement of Accounts, the council has to forecast future contract commitment values, which for WSP is £5m for 26/27 against capital.

Ms Rowbotham also wanted to know the basis on which WSP is remunerated – chargeable hours against a sum of rates, fixed-price task orders, or other mechanism.

“Despite these sums, developers creating homes and jobs in Shropshire report that they cannot deal directly with the WSP consultant working on their scheme,” she said.

“Every query is relayed through council officers, adding a link to the chain that produces delays, repeat questions and avoidable confusion, and consuming scarce officer time.

“A different consultant is frequently assigned to each application even where several applications form parts of a single overall scheme, so knowledge of the site is lost and the same issues resurface.

“This is particularly acute for drainage, which is inherently site-wide rather than application-specific. What will the portfolio holder do to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these processes for all stakeholders?”

Councillor Vasmer said work is remunerated on a base of both chargeable hours against a schedule of rates and fixed-price task orders.

“The work of WSP is under constant review to ensure that the council receives best value for money,” he said.

“Recently, it was agreed that some of WSP’s work on drainage should be brought in-house so that the council can, in this instance, provide a more
flexible and efficient service.”

As part of a supplementary question, Ms Rowbotham asked that, if services cannot be brought in-house, what efforts are being made to scrutinise the work and prioritise “keeping the Shropshire pound in Shropshire” by supporting local experts rather than large expensive international firms.

In response, Councillor Vasmer said: "We will keep those under review and all aspects of WSP’s work. Where we can find alternative expertise, we’ll look at that.”