Agenda item

Report by the Assistant Chief Executive.

Forward Plan

31.1     The Committee asked for further information on the Lead Member for Resources item on the Forward Plan for the meeting to be held on 31 March 2022 for the Uckfield and Heathfield Leisure Centres. The Chief Operating Officer outlined that the leases for the joint use agreements with Wealden District Council (WDC) are due to expire in July and the reports are an opportunity to consider the future use of these buildings. It was clarified that the WDC decision not to renew the leases was received in August 2020, and ESCC has been market testing alternative proposals for the buildings during the intervening period. The report on the Forward Plan is a culmination of this process.

Work Programme items

31.2     The Committee discussed various suggestions for additions to the work programme. The actions agreed are summarised below.

31.3     It was agreed that the Committee should invite representatives from Southern Water, the Environment Agency and OFWAT (the Water Services Regulation Authority) to a future meeting to discuss what actions Southern Water are taking to reduce the amount of untreated sewage discharged into water courses and the sea following a number of recent incidents. It was suggested that the approach could be similar to the recent meeting held between Wealden District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee and Southern Water on the same topic.

31.4     The Committee discussed requesting an update on the project to replace ‘stick on’ kerbs on concrete roads, which would include the scope of the project and the funding available. The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport indicated that the department would be happy to provide the Committee with an update on the project to replace ‘stick on’ kerbs.

31.5     The Committee agreed that it would be a good idea to have an update on the work of the various reference groups and working groups that the Committee has established under the work programme item. This could be through the Chairs of the reference groups.

Highway Maintenance Contract

31.6     The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport provided an update on the Highways Contract – the department is in the middle of the procurement stage of the re-procurement of the contract. Tenders have been received back from the market and evaluation of the tenders has commenced. The outcomes of the tender evaluation process will be shared with the highways reference group at the earliest opportunity.

31.7     The Committee discussed the performance of the current highways contract and the current measures of carriageway condition and the associated intervention policies. Generally, there are concerns from residents about the quality of remedial work to fill in potholes and the re-occurrence of potholes in the same location. There are also concerns about the quality of reinstatement work carried out by utility companies and whether ESCC is relying too heavily on communities to report defects. Some Committee members expressed the desire to be able to scrutinise the current intervention criteria and specification, especially in relation to potholes.

31.8     The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport responded that how repairs are undertaken and when to intervene is a matter of policy which is set by the Council. If intervention criteria are changed this may increase the costs associated with repair work and would have to be considered as part of the RPPR process.

31.9     There are challenges around patching and resurfacing work and the department is currently spending an additional £3.1m on highways. The Director did not agree that the quality of repairs is poor. The quality of work is monitored under the contract and if works are not up to standard the contractor will be required to re-do them at no additional cost. The quality of all larger resurfacing schemes is inspected by the client team.

31.10   Utility company reinstatement works are inspected on a sampling basis by taking cores from reinstatement work. However, utility companies are allowed to make temporary repairs and have 6 months to make a permanent repair. It is also sometimes necessary to make temporary pothole repairs in order to make a defect safe until a more permanent repair can be made, and there are other circumstances where a temporary repair may be used. The Council’s performance in terms of carriageway condition compares favourably to other similar local authorities, with 4% of A and B roads requiring repair and 14% of unclassified roads requiring repair.

31.11   The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport outlined that there is also a greater emphasis on quality in the new contract with measures to incentivise a ‘right first time’ approach. The department would welcome scrutiny’s input on monitoring performance and plans to manage defects going forward. The Director suggested that a useful first step might be to review the previous work scrutiny has undertaken in this area on road repairs and highway drainage to help establish the scope of any future work.

Climate change

31.12   Some Committee members raised whether the exploration of local energy generation projects for the benefit of the community could be included in the work programme and the possibility of looking at the waste disposal contract for income generation opportunities and embedding circular economy principles. It was also suggested that a piece of work could be added on the project evaluation of the warm home checks and retrofitting of energy efficiency measures work carried out by ESCC in conjunction with the District and Borough Councils.

31.13   The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport commented that energy generation projects are topical at the moment with the Government considering the removal of the moratorium for onshore wind farms. However, the Council may not have the expertise to develop such projects. The waste disposal contract already has good income generation from materials recycling and revenue share agreements from electricity generation. There is a strong working relationship with Veolia who are looking at the new technologies available. It might be helpful for scrutiny to undertake some site visits to the energy recovery facility at Newhaven, the composting facility at Whitesmith, a Household Waste Recycling Site and a waste transfer station. It would be possible to add a report on the warm homes work the work programme if the Committee wishes.

Broadband poverty

31.14   It was clarified that providing support for residents who cannot afford broadband services is outside the remit of the department. However, it may be possible to provide information on how the internet providers are approaching this issue.

31.15   The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) amend the work programme in line with paragraphs 31.3 and 31.5 above, and

2) explore the feasibility of carrying of further scrutiny work on Highways maintenance policies and issues as discussed in paragraphs 31.7 to 31.11.