Agenda and minutes

12.1     The Committee RESOLVED to agree as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on the 14 June 2017.

13.1     Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Simon Elford, and Councillor Rupert Simmons.

Disclosures by all members present of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the member regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

14.1     None noted.

Notification of items which the Chair considers to be urgent and proposes to take at the appropriate part of the agenda. Any members who wish to raise urgent items are asked, wherever possible, to notify the Chair before the start of the meeting. In so doing, they must state the special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being considered urgent.

15.1     There were none.

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

16.1     The Lead Member for Transport and Environment gave an overview of the first years performance of the Highways Contract. The asset management approach has improved the condition of roads and there have been improvements in safety and response times through the use of new technology. The savings target of £1.4m has been achieved, and it is estimated that the value of contracts awarded to local companies, thereby supporting the local economy, has been around £17million. Local engagement has been improved through roadshows, tours, and strengthening local relationships (SLR) meetings. The Customer Centre has been restructured and call answering times are above national performance standards. The achievements under the Contract during the first year of operation are highlighted in Appendix 2 of the report. The focus of the next year will be improving customer service, operational delivery and achieving accreditation for the quality management system.

16.2     The Contracts Manager and the Contract Performance and Compliance Manager highlighted further areas of contract performance during the first year of operation. The overall performance achieved and individual targets at end of first year are shown in Appendix 1 of the report. These cover a wide range of service outcomes in line with recommendations of the Highways Reference Group. When looking at the key service outcomes:

• Improving asset condition - the target of reducing the percentage of unclassified roads requiring maintenance to 19% was achieved, whilst the condition of the and non-principle roads has also been maintained at the previous levels of 5% and 6%respectively;
• Ensuring a safe road network - the level of third party claims has been reduced;
• Value for money - service efficiencies have increased the number of minor works schemes it has been possible to carry out;
• Supporting the local economy - around 43% of the contract value went into local economy; and
• Customer service – the number of complaints has reduced by 82% and the number of complements has increased by 63%.

16.3     The Committee discussed various aspects of the performance of the Highways Contract and the key points are summarised below.

Incident and fault report updates

16.4     The Committee noted that although customer service and engagement with residents is working well, there appears to be gap between when an incident is reported and when updates are given on the proposed course of action or resolution. It is important that Councillors are kept informed of when a fault has been fixed, or the reasons why something has not been repaired. Some Committee members have also experienced difficulties when they have requested residents are copied into emails that give an update to an outstanding issue.

16.5     The Contract Performance and Compliance Manager outlined that all customers get an update response with 10 working days, and there should not be a problem in copying customers into emails to Councillors. The team are currently undertaking work to check, and if necessary, improve the quality of the information in the responses given. The Contracts Manager explained that the team are looking to improve  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

17.1     The Contracts Manager introduced the report, which provides an opportunity for the Committee to comment on proposals for savings in the grass cutting budget. At present, the budget funds two cuts per year in rural areas and six cuts per year urban areas, plus some other reactive work (e.g. the management of wildflower areas). There is no statutory requirement to carry out highways grass cutting or verge maintenance. The Customer Centre receives 2,000 enquiries per year regarding highways grass cuttings, and it is one of the top ten issues that are reported. The department is discussing possible changes to the grass cutting service with Parish, District and Borough Councils. It is planned to present a report to Cabinet in December to outline the proposals to achieve the savings, and to seek approval to start a public consultation on the proposals.

17.2     The Contracts Manager outlined that if the Council does decide to reduce grass cutting it is likely to lead to an increase in the number of complaints and customer dissatisfaction. In addition, there may be an increase in costs if the grass cutting service becomes a more reactive service (e.g. in dealing with higher volume of complaints). A reduction in grass cutting may also have an impact on drainage and access in some rural areas. East Sussex County Council (ESCC) does have a statutory duty to have safe and useable Highway network. Consequently, grass cutting for safety reasons around visibility splays will need to continue.

17.3     The Committee observed that in the previous report in 2014 (appendix 2) it was recommended not to make savings in this service area. Given that background, the Committee asked what had changed and whether other service areas should be considered for savings.

17.4     The Lead Member for Transport and Environment explained that this was one of several areas of search that the Cabinet had proposed. He acknowledged that this is a more complicated matter than at first thought. Consequently there is a need to consider the implications carefully and to involve other authorities in this work. The Director of CET added that at beginning of savings process there had been a wider area of search. Now there are fewer opportunities for savings in what is a difficult financial environment, with further savings of £36m required across the Council in 2019/20 to 2020/21.

17.5     The Committee asked a number of questions about breakdown of expenditure in Appendix 1. Officers clarified that:

• Appendix1, table 1.1 the £91,532 contribution to Eastbourne Borough Council for urban grass cutting pays for six cuts and Eastbourne Borough Council fund additional cuts so the highways grass is cut fourteen times a year.

• Appendix 1, table 1.2 the contributions to Eastbourne and Hastings Borough Councils for weed control and tree maintenance differ because there are more Highway trees in Eastbourne, and Eastbourne covers a larger area. This budget includes spraying weeds on the pavement and at the edge of the carriageway, but does not include Dutch Elm disease works which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

Report by the Chief Executive.

18.1     The Director of CET introduced report, which is the beginning of the Scrutiny Committee’s involvement in the of RPPR process for 2018/19. Scrutiny has an important role in shaping the budget savings proposals and examining their impact. The Director of CET highlighted that finding further savings is becoming increasingly difficult.

18.2     The Committee discussed the items in the savings plan for 2018/19 and noted that the Committee had established a Review Board to examine the savings proposals for the Waste Contract, and had agreed to consider the proposals for savings to grass cutting via a Task and Finish Scrutiny Board. The Committee is aware of the savings proposals for Libraries and noted their contribution to the overall departmental savings plan.

18.3     The Committee considered the services within the departmental revenue budget to see whether there were opportunities for savings in addition to those planned for waste and grass cutting.

Archives & Records

18.4     The budget under this heading pays for the ESCC contribution to the running costs of The Keep and the modern records storage facility at Ropemaker Park. The remainder of the running costs of The Keep are paid for by contributions from Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) and the University of Sussex.

18.5     The Committee asked if the modern records storage facility could be offered to other Councils and organisations. The Assistant Director, Communities explained that this service has implemented a new system to improve document storage and retrieval. It is looking to offer this service to other organisations, but cannot guarantee any additional income at this stage.

Registration Service

18.6     The Registration Service is a net contributor to the departmental budget, but there are constraints on what the income generated can be spent on. It is anticipated that the opening of the newly refurbished Southover Grange will increase income, but this is variable depending on the number of wedding and other services. The Registration Service is currently working with Adult Social Care to refurbish Hookstead in Crowborough to provide improved facilities in this part of the county.

Road Safety

18.7     The Committee asked if expenditure on road safety could be reduced. The Director of CET responded that he did not believe this team could be reduced further. It currently deals with over 5,000 items of correspondence each year. The Committee is aware of the project work that is underway to examine better ways of reducing road accidents. The Committee commented that there was a perception that road accidents were due to road conditions, when most are caused by driver behaviour. The Director of CET suggested that the time to tackle this perception is when project has been completed.

Trading Standards

18.8     The Assistant Director Communities outlined that the department has reduced this service as far as possible and would not want to reduce it further. There may be small opportunities for additional income generation, but this service has already undertaken structural reviews and reduced staff.

Travellers Sites and Emergency Planning

18.9     The Director of CET explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.1     The Committee considered the future work programme. The Committee agreed to amend the work programme as follows:

• Grass cutting savings - to form a Task and Finish Scrutiny Board to look at this matter in more detail (minute 17.8 above).
• RPPR – to form an RPPR Board comprised of the whole Committee to consider the budget setting process for 2018/19 and make comments to Cabinet on the budget (minute 18.23 above).
• Receive a report on the Traveller and Emergency Planning teams at the Scrutiny Committee meeting to be held on the 22 November 2017 (minutes 18.23 above).

The Forward Plan for the period to 31 December 2017. The Committee is asked to make comments or request further information.

20.1     The Committee reviewed the Council’s Forward Plan and noted the following reports that are due for consideration:

• 16 October 2017, Lead Member for Transport and Environment - Highway Policy Review.
• 29 November 2017, Lead Member for Communities - Road Safety policies update.

21.1     There were none.