Norwich City Council hit by injunction over procurement of £17.5m building maintenance contract

A court has granted an injunction against Norwich City Council over a multi-million pound building maintenance contract amid allegations that the successful bid was “abnormally low”, the BBC has reported.

Morrisons Facilities Services brought the High Court action over the council’s decision to award the contract to rival Connaught, which bid £17.5m.

Counsel for Morrison, which put in a bid worth £23m, told the judge that Connaught’s bid was at least 25-33% lower than all other tenders.

According to the BBC, Mr Justice Arnold said that Morrison had a “seriously arguable” case that the successful bid was “abnormally low” and the council had not properly investigated it.

The judge granted the injunction, rejecting the council’s submission that a payment of damages would be an adequate remedy if Morrison wins at the hearing.

The dispute will now be the subject of a five-day High Court hearing in June.

Philip Hyde, head of legal services at Norwich City Council, said: “Naturally the council is disappointed the court saw fit to grant the application for an injunction against the award of the council housing repairs, maintenance and improvement contract.

“We are, however, pleased that the application for an injunction against the award of the contract for the waste, refuse and recycling service was withdrawn. We will now be carefully considering the details of the judgement before commenting further.”