Issue - meetings

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

38.1     The Head of Service Highways introduced the report. He set out that of the thirteen recommendations contained in the Scrutiny Review of Pothole Management all of but one of the recommendations had been implemented, and only recommendation 1 remained to be completed. This was around the asset management approach for highway drainage, which is currently being work on, with completion anticipated to be in July when a report will be submitted to the Lead Member.

38.2     The Head of Service Highways outlined that the work on the asset management approach had been expanded to include the updating of other asset management plans including those for carriageways, footways, cycleways, and soft landscaping as well as the one for drainage. Work has started on reviewing these plans and it is expected to have a final draft ready for April/May time, with a view to presenting them to the Lead Member in July. There will be a second phase of work which will review asset management plans for lighting, traffic signals, signs and lines, carriageway skid resistance and structures which is due for completion in December. It was clarified that the Committee has seen a response to the letter written in regard to recommendation 2 regarding utility company regulation and re-instatement work.

38.3     The Committee discussed the report, and a summary of the questions raised, and points made is given below.

Drainage asset management review

38.4     The Committee commented that it would be useful to have a bullet point summary of what the review of the drainage asset management plan is covering. The Head of Service Highways outlined that it would be possible to provide a bullet point summary of what the drainage asset management plan will cover (Action: Andrew Turner). He considered it important that residents and the Committee have a clear understanding of what level of service can be delivered within the budget and capacity available. This will be included in the information about the drainage asset management plan.

Pothole safety defect repair flexibility

38.5     The Committee observed that recommendation 9 refers to the Council taking a flexible approach to repairing safety defects and that if repair gangs find other safety defects that meet the intervention criteria, they should have the flexibility to repair them at the same time as those that have been reported. Residents still question why the Council does not repair all safety defects at the same time and this inconsistency is a key issue for residents.

38.6     The Director of CET responded that the scrutiny review had explored the reasons why it was not possible to repair every pothole if they do not meet the intervention criteria. The Council has a limited amount of funds for pothole repairs, and it should be noted that safety defect repairs are paid for via a lump sum in the contract which remains the same even if all the safety defects are not repaired at the same time. If the Council fixed all potholes at the same time, it would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

6.1       The Performance and Service Development Team Manager introduced the report. The report sets out the first year performance of the highways maintenance contract with Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) and an update on the implementation of the recommendations from the Scrutiny Review of Pothole Management. Ten of the recommendations from the review have been completed and the remaining three will be completed during the current financial year.

6.2       It was acknowledged that there have been some factors outside of BBLP’s control, but the performance of the highways contract is not where the Council would expect to be and this is being proactively managed. The report provides information on the performance against the Service Performance Indicators (SPIs) which were agreed as part of the re-procurement of the contract. The performance of some areas of the contract are measured in other ways and are not covered by the SPIs. Actions in these areas could involve early warning notifications, risk reduction meetings and improvement plans.

6.3       The report outlines that BPLP have met and exceeded expected levels for some SPIs, whilst other SPIs have not met the target levels set. These are being proactively managed by the Contract Management Group (CMG) and the contractor. Particular attention has been paid to the backlog and quality of pothole repairs through an improvement plan. There has been a marked improvement in performance over the last six weeks and there is no longer a backlog of pothole repairs.

6.4       The Committee discussed the report and a summary of the questions and comments raised is given below.

Service Performance Indicators (SPIs)

6.5       The Committee asked if ESCC had got the Service Performance Indicators (SPIs) right for the contract bearing in mind the poor condition of some sections of road which need to be monitored, recorded and action taken. The Director of CET responded that in his opinion the Council had got the performance indicators right. There are metrics which measure the percentage of roads requiring repair and these drive the programme of planned repair works. The performance indicators are more about measuring the performance of the contract and have a commercial impact on the contractor if they are not met. So it is in the contractor’s interest that the required levels of performance are met. Also, the previous scrutiny committee reference group that worked on the re-procurement of the highways contract were involved in the performance indicators for the new contract to ensure they were the right ones, and a number of SPIs were developed as a result of input from the scrutiny group.

6.6       Quality Assurance SPI 6 Defect free works. The Committee asked for clarification on what ‘defect free’ meant in relation to quality of work and the actions being put in place to address the failure to reach the agreed quality standard for repair works. The Performance and Service Development Team Manager clarified that SPI 6 measure is made up of two elements, the quality of reactive pothole repairs and wider improvement schemes. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

Report by the Chair of the Review Board.

23.1     Councillor Hollidge, Chair of the Review Board, introduced the report. He outlined that the review had been established due to the condition of roads in the County and the impact this was having on vehicles, people, and the public realm. The review looked at the causes of potholes and the areas that the Council could influence by considering the existing policies, procedures, and funding. The Review Board had good conversations with Balfour Beatty Living Partnerships (BBLP) who are the new highways maintenance contractor. Councillor Hollidge thanked the Board members and officers their work on the review. He recommended the Committee endorse the report and make recommendations to Cabinet for comment and Full Council for approval.

23.2     The Committee discussed the report and thanked the Review Board for its work on the review. The Committee made a number of comments and raised some questions which are summarised below.

Improvements and monitoring

23.3     The Committee noted that there had been a noticeable improvement in pothole repairs since the start of the new contract with BBLP, but it was uncertain whether this level of performance would continue. It was commented that the Council is in the early days of the new contract and the Committee can monitor progress and performance of the contract through future monitoring reports and annual reports on performance.

Recommendation 13

23.4     The Committee discussed recommendation 13 and whether there should be a specific recommendation around improving information for councillors and members of the public on defect reporting, as it was not possible to see all reported defects at present. It was explained that work was already in progress to rectify this, which was why it was not included as specific recommendation in the report.

Drainage and footway maintenance

24.5     The Committee welcomed the recommendation on drainage and that the review had considered the issue of drainage as it is a contributing factor to the number of potholes. It was noted that the report highlights that more work is needed on the topics drainage and footway maintenance, and these topics should be considered as part of the future work programme of the Committee.

Utility company reinstatement works

23.6     The Committee members noted the recommendation regarding utility company reinstatement work and questioned whether this might increase costs for utility company customers and whether it would lead to improvements. The Assistant Director Operations commented that one of the biggest causes of potholes is utility company reinstatement work. The Council can only operate within the current legislation which allows utility companies to make a temporary repair and gives them six months to carry out a permanent repair. Officers support the recommendation for changes to the regulations which would lead to better quality reinstatement work.

Cluster of potholes and advisories

23.7     The Committee asked what percentage of advisory requests were approved within two to three working days and how long it takes for work to take place once approved. The Assistant Director Operations explained that advisories are approved by the Asset Team who  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23