Contact: Alan Giles, ext 7712 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report was originally intended just to be an update on the Highways Term Maintenance Contract (TMC). However, it was felt that in order to present this information to Members in context, it would be preferable for the report to cover a slightly wider range of maintenance activities and performance indicators.

1.2 The performance of the highways maintenance contractor is only one of the factors involved in delivery of a good quality and continuously improving highway service. The performance of the Department's highway staff in working with contractors, the results of the national highway condition Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) and public perception of performance all need to be considered to give the full picture.

1.3 This report therefore covers the following items:

(i) results of a recent public survey on highway issues;

(ii) highway condition BVPIs;

(iii) performance relating to the Highways TMC;

(iv) performance relating to the Street Lighting Contract; and

(v) performance of Highway Management teams in delivering the service.

2. Corporate Strategy

2.1 This report supports Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Improving services) by informing Members of the processes used to monitor customer views and client and contractor performance and the continuous improvements that are being achieved for highway related services.

3. The Perception - Public Survey Information

3.1 A survey of public opinion of the highways in Hampshire was commissioned in autumn 2003. The work was carried out by Lynne Miller Associates, a Hampshire based company. The questions followed those of the MORI public survey which was carried out in autumn 1999. Results were presented to Members in April 2004 and are summarised in Appendix 1.

3.2 One of the great difficulties in this kind of public survey is reconciling public opinion with the actual reality. Does a decrease in the public's level of satisfaction with the condition of highways in Hampshire reflect an actual decrease in highway condition or an increase in public expectation? How much of that public perception is due to what they see for themselves and how much due to their reaction to positive or negative media coverage?

3.3 As might be expected, there is no easy answer to the above questions. The decrease in satisfaction levels in Hampshire are not as great as other similar authorities (which are all following a downward national trend). The changes to highway condition resulting from increased funding will not be instantaneously recognisable by the public. It has to be accepted that there will always be a time lag between reality and perception, perhaps the greatest value of public surveys in the short term is to ascertain public views on various highway activities that can be re-prioritised as appropriate. Further workshops with members of the public are being planned to give a better understanding of their concerns.

4. Highway Condition Surveys (Best Value Performance Indicator Results and Public Service Agreement Results)

4.1 The highway related BVPI results are shown in Appendix 2. The surveys show an apparent improvement in the condition of `A', `B' and `C' class roads with a deterioration in unclassified roads and main footways.

4.2 It is important for Members to understand that these results are not nearly as precise or as useful as might be expected. Although public surveys might come under the heading of `Perception', BVPIs do not yet come under the heading of `Reality'. Highway BVPIs are only a few years old and there have already been several changes to both the ways of carrying out the surveys and the method of calculating the results from the survey data. Things have still not settled down and further changes are proposed.

4.3 For the first time this year the BVPI results have been split down district by district, particularly to be able to compare results with the public survey information.

4.4 It is felt that the Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for highway condition improvement has now been met (almost one year early). The deterioration in condition of unclassified roads (as measured by BVPI results) having been slightly more than offset by the improvement in condition in the `B' and `C' class roads. However these results are still subject to verification by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

5. Contractor's Performance

Highways Term Maintenance Contract

5.1 A detailed report on the Highways TMC was presented to this Committee on 21 July 2003. A comprehensive set of performance indicators has been developed in conjunction with the contractor, Raynesway Construction Southern Limited (RCS). A number of key performance indicators have been used to determine whether to award an additional year to the contract, and those targets for the additional year have now been met. Details of the TMC key performance indicators are shown in Appendix 3.

5.2 In general, the contractor has performed well and is committed to seeking continuous improvement. However, there have been concerns about issues such as weed killing and occasional other incidents of poor workmanship or scheme over-runs. Nevertheless, when considering the contract as a whole (which has risen in value from just over £20 million in the first year to about £30 million in the second year), the problem areas have been far outweighed by the good steady performance in day-to-day maintenance works (26,000 orders in 2003/04, including dealing with emergencies and routine winter maintenance), the majority of which are taken for granted and go unnoticed.

Street Lighting Maintenance Contract 2002-2007

5.3 The street lighting maintenance contractor, Southern Electric Contracting (SEC) has taken time to get into the general management of the contract. Contract performance targets have been built into the contract and SEC now has acceptable levels in three of the five areas being monitored. Offices will continue to work with SEC contract managers this year to get the improved service originally promised in the contracts whilst at the same time maximising the potential for waste recycling and ensuring works are completed on time.

5.4 A new computer system is expected to be delivered in the autumn and with this will come a street lighting GIS layer as well as, a little later, the use of computers directly by the field operatives from vehicle cabs. This should improve the turnaround time on lights out and direct staff to emergencies at a faster rate.

Street Lighting Stock Condition

5.5 The current £1.3 million column replacement programme is insufficient to meet the needs of the service. A Private Finance Initiative has been considered as an option to provide the necessary funding, but at the present time officers have not been able to put together a convincing financial argument. Current street lighting column replacement budgets would need to be increased to an estimated £5 million per year for the next ten years to arrest the rate of column deterioration. In the main the visual structural inspections are keeping the incidents of column collapse at bay but more funding is required to replace the 42% of the County Council's lighting stock which is over 30 years old. The current risk assessment of column collapse is in the `high' category and will remain there for some time even if additional funding was provided for this service.

6. Local Monitoring of Maintenance Issues

6.1 Through the Public Enquiry Manager (PEM) electronic defect recording system it has been possible to:

(i) achieve a better management of incoming calls and correspondence from customers;

(ii) monitor the workload of individual staff; and

(iii) assess the levels of the various issues raised by the customers.

The information arising from this data will be used to help target maintenance priorities and funding allocations.

7. The Successes

7.1 Since the changes resulting from the Blueprint Agency Review, including the implementation of the highways Term Maintenance Contract, there have been a considerable number of tangible improvements to the delivery of the highway maintenance service across a wide range of headings.

7.2 Improved customer care and communications:

(i) clarity of delivery through the local Hampshire Highway teams;

(ii) one stop shop approach for Highway Services;

(iii) wide use of PEM;

(iv) updated Hampshire Highways website with fact sheets and web form for reporting defects;

(v) single contact telephone number for Highways Maintenance;

(vi) single contact telephone number for Street Lighting; and

(vii) good performance in delivering e-government BVPI 157 in most areas.

7.3 Improved relationships and partnership working with other authorities:

(i) the location of Highway Teams in district offices has improved relationship with district officers and Members;

(ii) the Highway and Transport Advisory Panels (HTAPs) have improved district and county Member involvement;

(iii) Parish Partnerships covering Traffic Management and Street Lighting;

(iv) improving parish liaison relating to highway maintenance issues; and

(v) considerable success with parish flood liaison activities.

7.4 Partnership with contractors and suppliers:

(i) continuing partnership working with Highway Maintenance contractor to improve efficiencies and standards;

(ii) setting up Key Performance Indicators to help monitoring and guide continuous improvement;

(iii) awarding an extra year to Raynesway for the Term Main Contract;

(iv) investment by the term maintenance contractor (recycling equipment);

(v) partnership working with street lighting contractor; and

(vi) partnership working with Exor Corporation, the highways IT software supplier.

7.5 Innovation in maintenance works:

(i) use of sustainable techniques in maintenance works including increased use of recycling repairs;

(ii) contribute to the County Council's Waste PSA target;

(iii) recycle street lighting materials (85%);

(iv) reduce light pollution due to new style lanterns; and

(v) use of low emission vehicles (20% of street lighting contractors fleet) and Highways Unit vehicles.

7.6 Improving the condition of the highway network:

(i) improving condition of classified roads;

(ii) achieving Highways PSA target for halting overall deterioration of the unclassified highway network one year early;

(iii) successful funding bid to for clay shrinkage;

(iv) funding of an extra £3.5 million for priority repairs;

(v) achieving 99.5% of lights on at any time;

(vi) replacing 2,000 obsolete lighting columns;

(vii) carrying out street lighting repairs within 3/5 days (90+%); and

(viii) completing more street lighting repairs `right first time'.

7.7 Managing the highways workload:

(i) effective Claims management;

(ii) improving Statutory Undertaker (Public Utility) performance (see Appendix 5);

(iii) effective winter maintenance response;

(iv) effective response to highway (and domestic) flooding situations;

(v) Hampshire Highways is one of the leading sections in the Authority with regard to innovations in Customer Relationship Management, virtual call centres, scanning of documents and moves towards a `Paperless' office; and

(vi) managing a 50% increase in turnover of highway maintenance works with same resources.

8. The Problems

8.1 There are still areas where the position is not so good and further improvement is needed.

8.2 Public Perception:

(i) lack of understanding of Hampshire County Council's role in highway maintenance;

(ii) reduced satisfaction with the condition of the highway; and

(iii) significant differences in satisfaction levels between residents of different districts.

8.3 Highway Condition:

(i) apparent deterioration in the condition of unclassified roads;

(ii) apparent deterioration in the condition of main footways.

8.4 Contractor's Performance:

(i) customer dissatisfaction with the weedkilling performance; and

(ii) occasional issues relating to works over-runs and quality of workmanship.

8.5 Street Lighting Condition:

(i) There is a need to address the replacement of Hampshire's ageing street lighting stock.

(ii) Further improvement of the performance of the street lighting contractor is still required.

8.6 Resource Levels:

Ongoing problems with recruitment of suitably qualified highway staff.

9. Driving Continuous Improvement

9.1 There are a number of ongoing activities to help overcome the problem areas mentioned above.

9.2 Public Perception:

(i) Development of a communications strategy for Highways Management. This is to help promote a more proactive approach to publicity and a more positive image of the highway maintenance service. It will also help overcome some of the problems of customer understanding of the County Council's services.

(ii) Further surveys to better understand why the public think the way they do and what exactly are their maintenance priorities.

(iii) A specialist review to look at how customer contact is dealt with has also recently been commissioned.

9.3 Highway Condition:

The BVPIs relating to highway condition cannot yet be regarded as robust, reliable data. However they give a reasonable, if not totally accurate, representation of highway condition. It is clear that even if deterioration has halted, the maintenance backlog remains considerable. Use of BVPI results has for the first time enabled a much more realistic total of highway maintenance highway maintenance backlog costs to be calculated, which is several hundred million pounds in Hampshire alone.

(i) The increased level of highway maintenance funding will need to be maintained for several years in order to have any impact on the maintenance backlog.

(ii) Work is underway to prepare for an Asset Management approach to managing the highway network which is estimated at £3.2 billion in Hampshire (see Appendix 6).

9.4 Contractor's Performance:

Continuous improvement is one of the major factors in the Highways Term Maintenance Contract.

(i) The Key Performance Indicators will be reviewed this year to check their appropriateness and the target levels will be raised to promote greater efficiencies and improve the quality of work.

(ii) Particular issues, such as weed killing, time over-runs and poor quality workmanship, will be addressed jointly by the client and contractor's staff in order to deal with the underlying reasons for the problems.

(iii) Last year's excellent work to improve sustainable construction methods, particularly with regard to the recycling of highway materials, will be continued.

(iv) Development of the partnership with Raynesway Construction Southern Limited is ongoing, to improve efficiencies by joint working and elimination of duplication.

(v) The longer term development of a client/contractor partnership, which may lead to a virtual joint company, is being investigated.

9.5 Highways Management Performance

The additional funding for highways maintenance both from the Local Transport Plan and Hampshire County Council local funding are highly welcomed. However, in order to properly manage the increased works arising from the funding, the staffing resource issues need to be resolved and this will be investigated further.

10. Conclusions

10.1 There has been a steady increase in the number of Performance Indicators available to measure the effectiveness of the highway maintenance service. These range from the `soft' indicators of public opinion to the `hard' factual indicators of contractors and public utilities performance. BVPI results are still in their early days for highway maintenance and until they have settled down Members should be wary of regarding them as `hard' indicators.

10.2 It is generally felt that following the Blueprint Agency review there has been a steady improvement in delivery of the highway maintenance service and in the performance of the Term Maintenance contractor. Continuing efficiency savings, joint working and use of innovative sustainable construction techniques will continue to help improve the service.

10.3 The deterioration in the condition of the highway network overall has probably been halted but there are still concerns about unclassified roads, particularly in rural areas, and footways. Although the efficiency savings and construction techniques mentioned above will help, the main factor in improving the highway network continues to be funding. In order to start to see improvements in highway condition, the present funding levels will still need to be increased and continued at that increased level for many years.

10.4 There is still steady deterioration in the replacement of obsolete street lighting columns, and funding needs to be increased if column collapse is to be avoided in the future.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

8810/AG

APPENDIX 3

List of Key Performance Indicators used for assessment of additional one year extension to the Hampshire County Council Highway Term Maintenance Contract

APPENDIX 5