The County Council's Vision Statement - A Vision for Hampshire: A Hampshire Greenprint (January 2001) (Part 3 Annex) opens with an over-arching vision of the County as: "A prosperous and attractive county where social and economic needs are met in the most sustainable way and improve the quality of life and sense of community of present and future generations; and A County Council which provides community leadership and the delivery of the highest quality services for all citizens through best practices including partnership with others and leading by example."
These over-arching views are endorsed in the Vision principles which include a commitment to stewardship of the environment through · enhancement of the sense of place which characterises the county · an environment in cities and towns which encourages people to live there because of the attractions of urban living · design of new development achieving a distinctiveness based on the character of the landscape, buildings and facilities appropriate for that part of Hampshire · the development, design and adaptation of the built estate to provide for the highest quality teaching and care environment in County Council buildings · partners and contractors having the same commitment to quality and best practice
These themes and principles are underscored in both the Council's Corporate Strategy (September 2002 ) - (Part 3 Annex) and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) - Self Assessment. Development of the Rethinking Construction framework is a priority area within the Corporate Strategy and CPA which emphasises "innovative partnering arrangements for service delivery and supports a mixed economy in order to maintain service standards while ensuring vibrant private and voluntary sector provision." The need for change was identified through the Vision and the Corporate Strategy, emphasised in the Latham and Egan Reports, the Best Value objectives and experience of implementing major contracts and the difficulties of operating a lowest price tendering policy. The principal objectives of the County Council's procurement strategy for construction works can be summarised as follows: · establishing a list of competent contractors who will respect the County Council's objectives, allocate appropriate resources to Health and Safety and work with the County Council and its Agents to add value to projects · providing a more effective arrangement to undertake construction projects to recognise the nature and timing of the work, and by harnessing the contractor's expertise at an earlier stage · identifying opportunities for contractors to add value and develop more strategic relationships with them for longer-term benefits to all · avoiding the adversarial attitude resulting from lowest price tendering and a contractual framework which encourages claims. Directing the resources of the employer, and the contractor to more productive and beneficial use, and seeking continuous improvement and client satisfaction · recognising whole life costs and that the lowest tender is not often the best value proposal, and that certain risks naturally inherent in construction projects are best managed jointly with the industry · embracing the County Council's sustainability strategy by taking better care of the environment and reducing waste from the industry · creating a more constructive approach with the industry and improving the working environment of people. This approach is underlined in the County Council's CPA self assessment.
An incremental approach was considered both sensible and realistically achievable over a minimum three-year period. As a consequence, a strategy has been developed to respond to the following challenges: · to create guiding principles, not prescription · risk management not risk avoidance · defining and delivering quality · defining the elements of successful partnering, for clients and contractors · educating and training people · measuring Best Value and continuous improvement.
The above is supported by the following key reports to the Elected Members: 1. Report to Land Sub Committee dated 13 May 1999 entitled "The Appointment of Building Contractors";
2. Report to P&R 9 April 2001 entitled "Capital Programme - Implementation of Capital Building Programme";
3. Report to Executive Member, Environment (confidential) dated 15 January 2002 entitled "County Roads Term Maintenance Contract 2002 to 2007";
4. Report to Executive Member P&R 11 April 2002 entitled "Procurement Initiatives";
5. Report to Executive Member P&R 16 October 2002 entitled "Rethinking Construction and Supply Chain Management (Annex 1).
Our procurement initiatives have been developed over the past few years to reflect both the corporate strategy and a genuine approach to Best Value principles through either preferred suppliers or partners. The application of Rethinking Construction principles underpinned the Pathfinder Review of the Highways Maintenance Service in 1999 and will form the core element of the Property Services Best Value review due next year. The following examples demonstrate the County Council's commitment to Rethinking Construction focused through its Movement for Innovation (M4i) Demonstration Projects. Highway Maintenance and Construction Contract Since 1996 Hampshire has delivered a large proportion of its Highway Maintenance service through a series of term maintenance contracts. From May 2002 a County wide contract was let to achieve economies of scale and better value for money. The latest contract is for a minimum of five years and is extendable subject to performance targets being met. It is valued at £200m over a possible eight year duration. From 1996 the basis of tender assessment has progressed incrementally from lowest price to a 60% price, 40% quality basis. The 40 percent quality assessment within the tender examined in more detail the specific qualitative benefits for the County Council that could be offered by each contractor. Tenders were evaluated against predetermined quality criteria as set out in the Report (confidential) to Executive Member, Environment (Annex 1). Raynesway Construction Southern Limited was the successful contractor and is jointly promoting the demonstration project with the County Council. The M4i case study for the project is attached together with the Project Award Certificate (Annexes 2 & 3). John Hanson Secondary School The project created a two-stage procurement arrangement to bring on board a contractor at an early point to work with the design team through a second stage of detailing the design, selecting and appointing key sub-contractors and procuring all of the work. HBG Construction was initially appointed on the basis of a tender proposal for fixed costs and overheads and a structured interview. (Annex 4) New Engineering Term Contracts The creation of four new engineering term contracts for mechanical, electrical and catering services was approved by the M4i in 2001. The new format was chosen following formal consultations with schools and selected contractors, along with the views from staff. The contracts provide a partnering arrangement with four contractors on an open book basis to jointly plan and manage the engineering maintenance programmes of work for five years. Key Performance Indicators have been created as a useful tool for both the County Council's contract managers and the contractors' teams to develop the service in the direction the County and its customers have shown are a priority. The six KPIs are reported in the monthly reports and discussed at the monthly meetings (Annex 5). Highway Works Best Value Benchmarking Club During 1998/99 the authorities of Hampshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire applied to the M4i to become "Demonstration Projects" for their individual Term Maintenance Contract arrangements. Following the award of demonstration project status each authority attempted to apply the Construction Industry Key Performance Indicators to their individual contract arrangements, but found that several of the indicators were not applicable to smaller term maintenance activities where many thousands of orders can be issued per year. A Peer Group of five counties was subsequently formed from Hampshire, Dorset, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to compile a set of KPI's specifically for term maintenance works. During the development of the indicators, representatives from M4i and the DTI were present to ensure that the indicators were comparable with other sectors of the construction industry. The County Council was instrumental in developing these performance indicators and influencing their inclusion in the national Code of Practice, 'Delivering Best Value in Highway Maintenance', published in 2001. The KPIs are modelled on the National Construction Industry/M4i KPIs. The group, which became the Highway Works Best Value Benchmarking Club launched the new KPI's in November 2001. Currently the County Council chairs the national steering committee with RCS acting as vice chair. This is a very high profile role which serves to promote as well as share the successes of Hampshire in the national arena. Data is exchanged via the Internet, giving members the ability to benchmark their own performance against the club average, and to identify areas for service improvement. The County Council is also a member of the Highway Design Benchmarking Club which comprises both Local Authorities and Private Sector Consultants who exchange data to compare performance, establish best practice and achieve continuous improvement. Its principles are the same as the Highway Works Club and both benchmarking clubs regularly share information. Key information relating to the benchmarking clubs is included as Annex 6. South East Counties Service Improvement Group (SECSIG) The Group was formed in 1999 to compare Best Value performance indicator (BVPI) results and to process benchmark policies and procedures. There is a steering group and eight theme groups, including those for Highway Maintenance and Network Management, both of which the County Council chairs. The SECSIG Partnership Guide is included as Annex 7. | 
THE BEACON COUNCIL SCHEME 2002