Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area

1.1. This report covers the management of the Environment services capital budget for 2008/09.

2) Issues Covered in Report

2.1. This report presents details of the fourth quarter capital budget monitoring position for the 2008/09 financial year, in order to provide reassurance that programmes are being delivered within current approvals, in accordance with financial regulations.

2.2. The report also sets out a proposed funding package for the A3 Bus Priority major scheme, following the Department for Transport's decision not to support the bid for further funding.

2.3. The report proposes a number of schemes for inclusion in the 2009/10 capital programme since they will not start in 2008/09.

2.4. The report also presents the expected end of year outturn for each budget heading, and identifies where schemes and approvals need to be carried forward into 2009/10. The end of year delivery position and final outturn details will be brought to the Executive Member in April 2009.

3) Recommendations

It is recommended that:

3.1. Actions being taken to manage expenditure be approved.

3.2. The proposed funding package for the A3 Bus Priority major scheme additional costs be approved.

3.3. The Beeches Hill, Hawley Pedestrian Access, Viables Subway Improvements and Purbrook Way Toucan schemes be transferred from the current programme to 2009/10 and budgets be increased in line with current estimates, as set out in section 4.5 of the report.

MAIN REPORT

1) Contextual Information

1.1. The report covers monitoring of the Integrated Transport, Maintenance, Bridges, Waste and Quality of Place programmes, and sets out the expected end of year outturn for each budget heading.

1.2. Expenditure quoted in this report is up to end of January 2009.

2) Key Issues

2.1. In summary, the capital programme expenditure is slightly lower than estimated this stage in the year and outturn levels are now expected to be slightly below previous estimates.

2.2. Delivery of the maintenance programme has slowed down owing to the exceptional weather conditions during January and February. The Term Highways Contractor, Amey, has had to divert resources to winter maintenance activities over a six week period, and this has resulted in some slippage of the programme. While some of this will be recovered, it is possible that £1.5 million will not be spent until early in the financial year.

2.3. The Department for Transport announced that it will not fund the additional costs related to the A3 Bus Priority major scheme. The contingency funding, approved in May 2008, is therefore unable to be released. Section 3.1 of this report sets out the proposed funding package in more detail.

2.4. The Environment Department has four capital programme streams covering transport, highway maintenance, waste and environmental improvements. Total current approvals (for live schemes) stands at £115.3 million, of which £57.7 million was unused at the start of the financial year. The projected outturn in 2008/09 is now forecast at £49.2 million, which is £1.5 million less than the £50.7 million originally planned. Overall, only the transport programme is reporting an overspend, which relates to the A3. The total spend currently stands at £25.4 million, which is just over 51% of the forecast outturn.

3) A3 Bus Priority Major Scheme

3.1. This project has been under construction for six years on a rolling programme of sections. The final section was completed in October, and the whole route was officially opened in November. The total budget in 2003 was £31.5 million, of which £25.1 million was major scheme funding.

3.2. In March 2008 revised outturn estimates indicated the total scheme cost would be £33.5 million (6.3% increase). A bid for £1.17 million was submitted to the DfT in May 2008. The DfT responded on 28 January 2009 to advise that this bid had been unsuccessful, due to the size of the Authority

3.3. In May 2008, the Executive Member for Environment agreed a £1 million contingency measure against the potential shortfall. Commitments against the following areas were held back pending the DfT's decision:

(i) Environmental Improvements 2007/08 (ROUA programme) £0.36 million;

(ii) Waste Management (HWRC programme) £0.3 million; and

(iii) Maintenance (Quality of Place programme) £0.38 million.

3.4. The May 2008 report also identified other areas where opportunities to reduce the shortfall figure were being investigated. Contractor claims are still being negotiated, and the final account is not yet available. However, it is estimated that the funding shortfall will be between £1.4 million and £1.7 million.

3.5. A recommended funding package is set out below:

(i) agreed contingency plan 2008/09 £1 million;

(ii) Quality of Place (maintenance) 2009/10 £0.2 million;

(iii) Quality Bus Partnership 2009/10 LTP £0.2 million;

(iv) resources to be identified, if required £0.3 million.

4) Integrated Transport Programme

4.1. The Integrated Transport Programme is mostly funded through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) settlement in the form of supported borrowing and grants. In addition, there is substantial external funding (EF) through developer contributions.

4.2. The current approvals total £73.6 million, but excluding the A3 and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) schemes they are £47.8 million (comprising £18.7 million LTP, £27.9 million externally funded (EF) and £1.2 million Local Resources), of this £6.1 million LTP and £4.6 million EF is related to the 2008/09 current starts programme.

4.3. The target spend this year is £9.771 million LTP and £7 million EF and comprises expenditure from ongoing schemes, the current starts programme and development costs for future programmed schemes. Total spend against these targets stands at £11.2 million, of which £6.3 million relates to LTP, £3.3 million to EF and £1.6 million to the A3.

4.4. The 2008/09 forecast outturn for LTP remains on target, while the EF forecasts have continued to fall, and now stand at £5.2 million. The main reason for this is that much of the undelivered programme is EF and as scheme delivery dates are pushed back, owing to weather issues and other programming adjustments during the final quarter, the proportion of construction and design costs are deferred.

4.5. Adjustments to the programme continue throughout the year as the schemes are developed. The following are proposed to be transferred to 2009/10 as they will not now start within the current financial year.

(i) Beeches Hill Traffic Calming, Bishops Waltham £33,187 LTP (10.6% increase from £30,000)

This scheme has been the subject of an on-site trial for some time. One significant objection has been raised, calling into question the safety of the proposed scheme for wheelchair users. Owing to these ongoing issues the project has slipped considerably and it is now not going to start (making permanent the trial) within the current financial year.

(ii) Hawley Pedestrian Access Improvements, Hart £123,000 (64% increase from £75,000) EF

The design phase was extended to include supplementary investigation and consultation on a 30 miles per hour village review of Hawley Road, investigation and subsequent inclusion of drainage repair within the limits of the scheme, and protracted legal consultations in relation to accommodation works on private land. A detailed design is now complete and a Quantity Surveyor estimate indicates that the total scheme cost will be £123,000. The original estimate is based on a feasibility design, which did not include the above additional items. The revised value is generally consistent with other crossings of this type and there is adequate funding from developer contributions to cover costs.

(iii) Viables Subway Improvements, Basingstoke £200,000 EF

A project appraisal for this scheme was approved in February and it is proposed to slip the scheme to the 2009/10 programme in line with the delivery dates approved in that report. Work is planned to start in May 2009.

(iv) Purbrook Way Toucan, Havant £150,000 EF (34% increase from £112,000 EF)

The main causes of this delay relate to confirmation of service diversions and identification of some street lighting amendments. The detailed design is nearing completion, although a Quantity Surveyor Estimate has not yet been obtained. The revised estimate is still subject to change, although it remains generally in line with other Toucan crossings where service diversions are required. Adequate funding from developer contributions has been identified to cover costs; one of which is specific to the provision of a pedestrian crossing facility in this area.

4.6. There are also three minor amendments to the remaining programme. Appendix 1 sets out the latest programme.

4.7. There are also two financial issues relating to the 2007/08 programme that affect spending and resources in the current year:

(i) Witherbed Lane Link Road and Segensworth Roundabout. £3.140 million.

A six week extension to the contract has recently been granted. Completion of the scheme is now expected to be late March. Indications are that final outturn costs could be between £0.2 million and £0.4 million higher than previously reported. A report will be brought forward in April with confirmation of the shortfall and a proposed funding solution.

(ii) Broadmarsh Cycles, Havant. £245,300 (actual cost £296,000 (20.6% increase)

Significant amendments to the scheme occurred on site, after the contract was let. The main increase (£32,000) relates to the addition of street lighting columns, ducts and electricity supply. Other increases relate to earthwork costs and completion of Safety Audit actions. The final payments have now been made and the additional costs are proposed to be funded from revenue underspend on street lighting.

5) Maintenance Programme

5.1. Highways and Maintenance current approvals are £24 million and remain unchanged since January.

5.2. As reported previously, delivery of the programme has been slower than in previous years; in part owing to the change in contractor but more specifically because of the extended periods of bad weather. January and early February saw this trend continue and all available operatives have been diverted to weather emergency activities. Although not all programmes will be delivered by the end of the year, every effort is being made to catch up. It is possible that £1.3 million will not be spent until early in the financial year.

6) Bridges Programme

6.1. The bridge strengthening and maintenance current approvals total £4.1 million and spend to date has reached £2.78 million. Much of the programme is well underway, although £0.2 million will need to be carried forward in respect of contracts let but not expected to spend until quarter one of 2009/10.

7) Waste Programme

7.1. The Waste Management current approvals total £4.4 million for household waste recycling centres (HWRC) and closed landfill site management. Of this, £3.7 million remained unspent and available at the start of the financial year. Planned spend for 2008/09 was £1.6 million, with actual spend now at £0.9 million against a revised forecast of £1.2 million.

7.2. The construction of the new Andover HWRC was opened to the public in December 2008, ahead of schedule. Spend to date totals £0.9 million against a £1 million forecast, all of which is on target to be spent by the year end.

7.3. Schemes are being prepared to redevelop the Casbrook and Gosport HWRCs to address operational health and safety and traffic management issues at these sites. These schemes have been developed during 2008/09 however the capital element is unlikely to be spent until 2010/11 once the schemes are given approval.

7.4. This programme is contributing £0.3 million to the A3 contingency fund.

8) Quality of Place Programme

8.1. The Quality of Place Programme comprises the Environmental Improvements Programme and Quality of Place (highways maintenance). These two areas of the capital programme have been amalgamated, for reporting purposes, in order to link the similar types of work.

8.2. Current approvals total £8.4 million with £5 million unused and available at the start of the financial year. Planned spend in 2008/09 was £3.4 million, and £0.65 million has now been spent against a revised forecast of £3.04 million.

8.3. This programme is contributing £700,000 to the A3 contingency fund.

8.4. Hythe Promenade Environmental Improvement - £789,500 (of which £480,000 has been funded through the capital programme). This scheme was jointly funded with New Forest District Council and completed in 2008. The District Council has been negotiating a large contractor claim for some time and it has now been concluded that 50%, £67,500, should be paid by the County Council.

8.5. All existing capital programme approvals for this scheme have been spent in full, and owing to significant pressure within the Quality of Place Programme, additional developer contributions have been identified to bridge the funding gap.

9) Conclusions

9.1. The DfT has decided not to fund increased costs on the A3 Bus Priority major scheme. As a result, up to £1.7 million has to be reallocated from other areas within the capital programme

9.2. Four schemes within the Integrated Transport Programme are proposed to be transferred to 2009/10 with increased approvals of £0.08 million. Latest outturn estimates on two completed schemes from the 2007/08 programme have highlighted a shortfall of between £0.2 and £0.4 million. A funding package will be brought forward for consideration in June.

9.3. Delivery of the special maintenance programme continued to be hampered by the severe weather conditions in January and February.

9.4. The next 2008/09 monitoring report will be presented in June 2009 and will report on the final outturn position. The first quarter report for 2009/10 will also be presented and will focus on changes since the programme was agreed in February.

10) Recommendations

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

1) Equalities Impact Assessment:

a) The proposals in this report are derived from the departmental service plans and LTP objectives, and are in accordance with the budget strategy and the County Council's financial management policy. An impact assessment of the departmental service plans and the financial management policy has been carried out and the proposals in this report are not considered to be discriminatory.

b) Furthermore, all named schemes within the Integrated Transport programme are subject to an independent peer review process as part of the department's Gateway system of project control. This review requires evidence that customers and equalities have been considered and are being considered at all stages of the scheme's development.

2) Impact on Crime and Disorder:

a) This is a monitoring report and has no direct impact on crime and disorder, however some of the schemes within the capital programme may contribute to a reduction in the fear of crime that may have been identified by local communities during consultation or development stages.

3) Climate Change:

The department will be developing a methodology for measuring the impact of the capital programme on its carbon footprint during 2009.

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