Contact: Colin Taylor, tel 023 9284 1775

1. Summary

1.1 The purpose of this report is to inform the Panel of recent progress on the continued development of the project now that the procurement process timetable is commencing.

2. Appointment of Joint Promoters

2.1 Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council have now signed a contractual agreement with Partnerships UK (PUK) which makes all three parties co-promoters of the South Hampshire Rapid Transit 1 (SHRT1) project. The agreement ensures PUK's involvement until the project reaches financial close.

2.2 The SHRT1 Procurement Board has been operating from July 2001. The Board, comprising senior staff of the two authorities and PUK, meets on a regular basis every fortnight to steer the project forward.

3. Project Team

Appointment of Project Director

3.1 The interviews for the post of Project Director were held on 6 September 2001. An offer was made to Stephen Nicholson who has significant PFI experience with the Highways Agency. It is confirmed that Stephen will take up his position with the project on 5 November 2001.

Technical Team

3.2 The appointment of the technical team has now been completed. This comprises two Technical Managers and a Land Use and Environmental Manager. The appointments to these positions were completed in September 2001 and the individuals involved are Peter Barty, Mike Gannon and Les Herbert respectively.

3.3 These posts will be supported by a project assistant and an administrative assistant. Trevor Wallis and Colin Taylor will continue in their respective roles as acting Project Director and acting Project Manager until Stephen Nicholson takes up his appointment as Project Director.

Legal Team

3.4 An advertisement has been placed for a legal post to be located within the SHRT1 project team offices and an appointment is expected in due course.

Land and Estates Team

3.5 Interviews for Land and Estates staff have been held and three offers of employment have been made. It is anticipated that one to two members of staff will be located within the SHRT1 project team offices and the remaining resources centrally located at Winchester. In the short term 1½ full time employees from existing staff will support the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) team until these appointments are finalised.

Public Relations Team

3.6 The appointment of a Press and Public Relations Officer to support the SHRT1 team and to implement the Public Relations (PR) strategy is being moved forward and it is anticipated that this post will be filled in the near future.

4. SHRT1 Project Office

4.1 On 22 October 2001 the new procurement phase of the SHRT1 project was marked by the relocation of the project office from Ashburton Court West at Winchester to the Mountbatten Gallery in Guildhall Square at Portsmouth. The office is part of Portsmouth City Council offices and is in an ideal location, as it is close to the alignment of the proposed SHRT1 scheme and in a convenient position for the public to visit. The Portsmouth office will provide an office for the Project Director and will also have a meeting room, a data storage room, a reception area and office space for up to 12 staff.

5. Appointment of Advisers

5.1 Progress has been made with the appointment of advisers for the project. The three main advisers, Financial, Legal and Technical, have now been appointed. They are:

Financial - Ernst and Young

Legal - Dibb, Lupton and Allsop

Technical - Parsons Brinckerhoff.

5.2 Other professionals still in the process of being appointed are:

(i) insurance advisers, expected to be selected in the early part of November 2001; and

(ii) transport economists, expected to join the project in early December 2001.

6. Land and Property

6.1 Negotiations are well underway with a number of important landowners, such as the Crown Estate. Discussions are continuing with other people affected and a standard letter to engage and inform all landowners of the programme and process will be issued shortly.

7. Tunnel

7.1 The Ministry of Defence has advised that an extra 2.5 metres draught is now required for future new aircraft carriers. This issue is being progressed and whilst technically feasible there are several solutions being explored to determine the most acceptable.

8. Publicity

8.1 A publicity strategy is being developed by the Corporate Communications team which will be led by the Press and PR postholder to the SHRT team. It is anticipated that a Newsletter promoting the scheme will be issued to coincide with this Panel meeting.

9. Leeds Supertram Collaboration

9.1 A collaboration meeting between SHRT and Leeds Supertram was held on 1 October 2001. The benefits gained through this collaboration include:

(i) coordination of the procurement timetable;

(ii) Quality Panel;

(iii) output specification and approach to Office of Government Commerce (OGC) sign off;

(iv) more efficient procurement for both projects;

(v) common approach to common issues/problem solving; and

(vi) better use of legal advice.

9.2 These collaborative meetings are still in their early stages and the full range of benefits to both Leeds and SHRT will evolve as the project develops through the procurement stage.

10. `Kick Off' Event

10.1 A `Kick Off' event was held on 24 September 2001 to launch the Procurement phase of the Project. This involved the Technical, Legal and Financial Advisers, Portsmouth City Council, PUK and the County Council. The event brought together the many issues that were expected to arise as work begins in earnest on getting LRT up and running by late 2006/early 2007. One important output from the `Kick Off' event has been the Risk Workshops which have taken place. These workshops addressed issues of risk allocation between the promoters and the bidders.

11. Programme

11.1 The key dates to keep the momentum and impetus of the project on course for completion by 2006/07, are detailed below.

12. Promoters' Agreement

12.1 The signing of the promoters' agreement between the County Council and Portsmouth City Council remains an outstanding issue. Further work is necessary, which involves revising the estimate of land costs, prior to finalising the agreement. This work needs to be completed quickly so that the apportionment of scheme costs can be agreed between the two Councils.

Recommendation

That this report be noted and that actions taken by officers to progress South Hampshire Rapid Transit 1 be endorsed.

6719/CT