The council is on the brink of inviting the shortlisted companies, which have not been disclosed, to submit formal bids for the three packages: Kent Environment Consultancy, Kent Estates Management and Kent Facilities Management, which includes Oakwood House.
Alan Phelps, planning and information manager at the council said that companies will be able to bid for each individual package or a combination of packages, but was unable to give further information about the bids.
Under the terms of the contracts, which will run for an estimated five years beginning in April 2002, the successful bidders will be expected to take on existing staff and make provisions for pensions under TUPE. The contracts are scheduled for award in December this year.
The property businesses, which are worth £1bn, employ some 125 council staff.
Kent County Council's Best Value Review, which started in April 2000, recommended that the council should adopt an outsourcing approach. Since then, the council has outsourced its building maintenance and design maintenance functions.
Kent County Council has said the next step could be to transfer its property and estate to a private partner under a PFI deal, but confessed that it would be a complex move.
Source
The Facilities Business