Agenda item

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 this area in year two of the Contract. The Assistant Director, Operations added that Councillors can track cases by using the case number if they are not getting a response on an issue. Also, the three Customer Service Managers should be keeping Councillors informed of the progression outstanding issues.

Potholes that do not meet the repair criteria

16.6     The Committee asked what happens when a reported pothole does not yet meet the intervention standard for a repair to be carried out. The Committee also observed that they, and their Highway Stewards, sometimes find that there is a delay before a repair is carried out.

16.7     The Assistant Director, Operations explained that the Council’s intervention policies follow national guidance. If a defect does trigger a repair, there are three timescales for repair depending on the severity of the defect. This may account for the gap between the defect being reported and repaired. The timescales for repairs are:

• Category 1 make safe or repair within 2 hours (a follow up, permanent repair may be carried out within 28 days);
• Category 2 repair within 5 days;
• Category 3 repair with 28 days.

16.8     The Contracts Manager outlined that if a defect is not at the intervention level, a report is passed onto the Asset Management team and the Highway Steward will monitor it through subsequent routine inspections. All roads are inspected on a monthly, three monthly, six monthly or annual inspection regime. The Highway Steward will use their judgement to flag up repairs that may need to be carried out before the next inspection. When Stewards make recommendations for work, the Asset Management team will try and include them in a planned maintenance programme which may take longer than 28 days to carry out.

Highways enforcement

16.9     The Committee commented that sometimes there appears to be a problem when a Highway Steward has raised an enforcement issue, but follow up action is delayed or reliant on others to bring about a resolution to the issue. One of the Committee Members cited a particular example where drainage water was being discharged from a property on to the footway.

16.10   The Contracts Manager clarified that responsibility for following up enforcement requests remains with the Communities, Economy and Transport (CET) department, and he will follow up the particular example given. It was acknowledged that properties not maintaining their own drainage systems are an increasing issue, with more properties discharging water onto the pavement and the highway.

16.11   The Contracts Manager outlined that the Contractor has increased the staff resources available for enforcement. When dealing with enforcement, the process used is to try and contact the person responsible (often the land owner) to resolve the issue and then visit if there is no response. It can be difficult at times to identify the land owner, but action will always be taken to rectify a problem where there is a safety issue. The department keeps a record of all breaches where enforcement action may be necessary. In 85% of cases the person responsible responds and the issue is resolved. Formal legal action is used as a last resort where necessary.

16.12   The Committee commented that it may wish to look at highways enforcement in more detail at some point in time in the future.

Winter maintenance

16.13   The Committee asked if there were any costs savings arising out of the mild winter. The Assistant Director Operations clarified that there were no savings as the Contractor still has to have all the winter equipment and supplies ready, and did grit roads on 40 occasions when there was a risk of icy conditions. The Contractor also bears the cost if there is a severe winter, so the contract pricing arrangements for winter maintenance average out over the term of the contract. 

Highway drainage

16.14   The Committee noted that the Contractor was up to date with gulley maintenance and asked what difference the extra capital funding was having. The Contract Manager outlined that work has started to investigate flooding hot spots, survey the drainage network and digitise existing records. The Contractor has started to fix drainage problems, including where blocked drains have been identified by routine gulley maintenance. The Contractor is also able to capture information on various aspects of the drainage network whilst carrying out this work.

Focus for Year 2 of the Contract

16.15   The Contracts Manager outlined the areas of focus for improvement during the second year of the Contract. These were customer service, operational delivery (including highways defect rectification works, minor works and capital schemes) and seeking accreditation for the Quality Management System. The Committee confirmed that they are happy with year two objectives for improvement as set out in the report.

Summary Comments

16.16   The Committee commented that the overall contract performance is good in the first year of operation. The Committee requested that details of the number of complements as well as complaints are included in future reports, and noted it would be helpful to have information on the previous number of third party claims for comparison. The Contract Performance and Compliance Manager will provide this information after the meeting.

16.17   The Committee RESOLVED to note performance of first year of the Highways Infrastructure Services Contract.