Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the 2008/09 Environmental service capital programme. It also sets out proposed amendments to the 2009/10 programme that have occurred since the programme was set, in February 2009.

1.2. This paper seeks to provide the end of year financial position for each programme area. A final capital programme summary is attached as Appendix 1.

1.3. Outturn costs of completed schemes, including details on significant over and under spending (£25,000 and +/-10%) is included in section 4 and Appendix 2. Overall, the outturn position is £343,000 less than the latest approvals for those schemes.

1.4. This paper also identifies proposed amendments to the Integrated transport programme. Appendix 3 shows the latest 2008/09 programme, which is still subject to change as some schemes are still under construction. Overall, the programme has decreased in value, by £0.3 million, owing to savings and slipped schemes. Appendix 4 shows the latest 2009/10 programme, which includes eight proposed new schemes set out in section 9. Similarly this programme is subject to change as the schemes progress during the year.

2. Contextual information

2.1. This report covers capital spending on Integrated Transport Schemes, Highways Structural Maintenance, Bridges, Quality of Place and Waste Management programmes.

3. Finance

3.1. The final starts and spending limit for the 2008/09 capital programme, which takes into account the net value of variations to the programme approved during the course of the year, was £58.5 million. Schemes to the value of £55.8 million were actually committed during the year and carry forward on schemes to the value of £2.37 million will be reported to Cabinet in June (£2.3 million Maintenance/ Bridges programme and £0.07 million Integrated Transport). The residual balance of £0.3 million has been earmarked to support funding of the 2009/10 programme.

2008/09 Approved Starts	Committed Schemes in 2008/09	Carry Forward schemes	Balance to support 2009/10
£58.5m	£55.8m	£2.37m	£0.33m

3.2. Total capital payments during 2008/09 amounted to £64.2 million which was within the approved spending limit. Expenditure of £5.3 million was funded by developers and other external contributions, together with £7.4 million funded from various Government grants, the most significant being £4.4 million received for the integrated transport programme through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) settlement.

3.3. Payments on those schemes funded from local resources totalled £35.9 million. The balance of the expenditure, £15.7 million, is being funded from credit approvals provided by the Government, representing spending of £4.0 million on integrated transport projects and £11.7 million on bridges.

3.4. The final account shows a satisfactory position. A financial monitoring summary is provided in Appendix 1.

4. Integrated Transport Programme

4.1. Current approvals, excluding the A3 Bus Priority scheme, totalled £47.0 million (comprising £18.5 million LTP, £27.3 million External Funding (EF) and £1.2 million local resources), of which £5.9 million LTP, £5.2 million EF and £1.1 million local resources relate to the 2008/09 starts programme and the rest is related to earlier years.

4.2. 2008/09 expenditure across this programme amounted to £17.384 million against a projected outturn in March of £17.902 million.

4.3. Because of the nature of this programme, uncertainty pertaining to ground conditions for example, schemes rarely outturn exactly on budget. The Capital Programme has reduced considerably in size and value over the past year, and any overrun has a significant impact. Overall, however, there has been a net reduction in approvals on completed schemes this year. While there are always site issues, there is a concern that the implications of changes may not get translated into cost changes for programme management sufficiently quickly. A review is underway, the results of which will highlight any mitigating action required.

2008/09 Transport Schemes

4.4. Target spends at the start of the year were £9.77 million LTP and £7.0 million EF (EF target subsequently revised to £6.0 million in January and £5.2 million in March). Final spend against these targets was £9.632 million LTP, and £5.9 million EF. For the purpose of this report £0.6 million of New Growth Point Fund Grant received via Transport for South Hampshire has been treated as external funding.

4.5. It was possible to allocate additional EF to some projects. This enabled LTP funding to be used for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and A3 schemes, and allowed £0.148 million of LTP resources to be carried forward in support of the 2009/10 programme.

4.6. During the year various programme changes were made, reflecting the latest estimates and delivery schedules but also to reallocated funds in support of the A3 major scheme. In total, 11 schemes (from a high of 32 in June 2008) were rescheduled at various times during the year; 8 of which were EF. There were four `slipped' schemes (moved after January) and these were reported in March.

4.7. Most notable changes to approvals during the year were for Safer Routes to School (+£0.165 million new EF towards sub-programme), Minor Works and Traffic Management (+£0.551 million new EF towards sub-programme) and Flexford Bridge, Knightwood (+£0.313 million cost increase, of which £0.2 million was new LTP allocation added in January). Savings were also identified in Totton and Andover.

2007/08 Witherbed Lane Link/Segensworth Roundabout

4.8. Reported in March, final estimates for this 2007/08 scheme were between £0.2 million and £0.4 million above the £3.140 million budget. The final account has now been settled at £0.2 million over budget. LTP funding, to cover this shortfall, has been released by introducing new EF to LTP funded projects, mostly within the sub-programmes.

Major Schemes

Bus Rapid Transit

4.9. Funding for the first phase of the BRT in Gosport was announced in April 2009. Confirmation of this £20 million bid to Government means that work can continue, at a pace, to meet the challenging delivery timescales. This scheme is one of the department's top priorities and there will be a report to Cabinet in July, following receipt of tenders.

4.10. Expenditure on this scheme totalled £1.965 million in 2008/09, funded by £0.500 million New Growth Point (via Transport for South Hampshire - TfSH), £0.767 million revenue (via TfSH), £0.543 million EF and a new LTP allocation of £0.155 million.

4.11. The project is at the design phase, though some clearance and essential ecological work has been undertaken. The scheme is expected to start on site in the summer and complete by March 2011.

A3 Bus Priority

4.12. The A3 major scheme, which has been under construction for six years, was completed and officially opened to the public in November 2008. Expenditure in 2008/09 totalled £1.825 million, funded by £778,000 Government Grant, £0.612 million local resources, £0.152 million EF and an additional £0.282 million LTP (previously reported as `resources to be identified').

4.13. Previous reports have focused on the additional cost requirements and the department's request to Government for funding to bridge the £1.7 million gap. In January 2009 the Department for Transport advised that the request had been turned down, owing to the size of the authority.

4.14. As a result, funding has had to be diverted from across the capital programme and the approval has been increased from £31.5 million to £33.2 million. At present, the full estimate for the scheme can now be accommodated, however "Part 1" claims may affect the final outturn for up to seven years.

Outturn cost of capital schemes

4.15. In accordance with the County Council's financial procedures, the outturn cost of schemes completed between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 are listed in Appendix 2. `Completed' in this context means when the final payment has been made. Some of these schemes may have been in operation prior to April 2008 but the final payment was only made in 2008/09.

4.16. The overall outturn position is £343,000 (2.3 %) less than the latest approvals for those schemes. This variation in expenditure has already been taken into account in assessing resources available to support other schemes in the capital programme.

4.17. The significant variations (greater than £25,000 and +/-10%) are explained below.

Significant variations on completed schemes

4.18. Factory Road, Eastleigh. Final cost £375,000 (+£87,000 +23%)

Following completion of works, the contractor submitted a claim of £126,123, 30% over the contract sum. This figure was subsequently negotiated down. The extra works included surfacing and regulating materials, excavation in hard material, extra signs and electrical services. The matter took 18 months to resolve and the County Council's liability was finally settled at £72,316.

4.19. Holt Lane Cycleway, Hook. Final cost £222,000 (+£42,000 +19%)

Increased costs relate to the provision of additional street lighting columns and associated electricity connections along the cycle route and connecting road. This enabled a consistent standard of lighting to be provided along the entire length of the new cycle route.

4.20. Brighton Hill Pedestrian Accessibility, Basingstoke. Final cost £400,000
(-£77,000 -19%)

Original consultation with landowner's representative relating to proposed dropped kerbs and the moving of parking for disabled access had been undertaken and proposals agreed. Unfortunately this consultee left the landowner's employ and the landowner did not agree with proposals. By that time the contract had been let and it was not considered appropriate to re-design. Subsequently, Basingstoke and Deane has undertaken minor amendments to parking with the landowner's consent.

4.21. Intelligence Transport Systems Programme - 2005/06. Final cost 200,000
(-£34,000 -17%)

Proposed Real Time Information integration with Portsmouth City Council was halted when the City's supplier went into liquidation.

4.22. Ampress to Lymington Town Centre. Final cost £220,000 (-£66,000 -30%)

The starts value was approved at £220,000, as this was the total EF available and was specific to the objectives of this scheme. The contributions were held by New Forest District Council, and only passed to the County Council after design/works were completed and payment due. It was expected that the full allocation would be transferred, but as the design progressed it became apparent that certain elements would not be possible within the overall budget, and hence were withdrawn. The balance of the contributions is still held by New Forest and the District Council is hoping to develop a controlled crossing on the Lymington route at some future date.

5. Highways Maintenance Programme

5.1. Expenditure within this programme amounted to £21.468 million (excluding Bridges and Quality of Place - maintenance) against a projected outturn in March of £23.157 million.

5.2. A carry forward of £2.0 million is to be reported to Cabinet in June; this is required to fund the ongoing schemes into next year.

5.3. The majority of the programme was completed despite the extended period of cold weather and the inevitable delays that caused. As expected, the diversion of resources onto essential winter maintenance duties during that time did result in additional slippage within the special maintenance programme.

5.4. The overall delivery and performance this year is considered satisfactory, given the scale of the changes inevitable with the introduction of a new Term Contractor.

6. Bridges Programme

6.1. Expenditure within this programme amounted to £3.606 million against a projected outturn in March of £3.9 million. A carry forward of £0.3 million will be reported to Cabinet in June .

6.2. It is not possible to carry forward the whole of the underspend (£0.5 million, based on approvals of £4.1 million) as part of the 2008/09 allocation relates to the A33 Long Bridge grant which was not fully spent. A bid for £0.250 million was accepted in 2008/09, however the latest scheme estimate is only £54,000. It has not been possible to carry out the work until early in 2009/10, hence only the design and preparation costs have been claimed. Since the grant was specifically for 2008/09 spend, it will not be possible to claim for the balance. Provision will be made within the 2009/10 capital programme allocation to complete the funding of the scheme.

6.3. Delivery of this programme during 2008/09 was hampered by the weather conditions during the last few months, but also the diverting of technical staff onto higher priority projects during the year has affected the workflow. Additional staff have now been appointed to fill that gap and it is expected the 2009/10 programme will be delivered in full.

7. Quality of Place Programme

7.1. Expenditure within this programme amounted to £1.511 million (£1.206 million Environmental Improvements and £0.305 million Quality of Place - maintenance) against a projected outturn in March of £3.04 million.

7.2. Approvals this year totalled £8.4 million, with £5 million unused and available at the start of the financial year. Planned spend in 2008/09 at the start of the year was £3.4 million, revised to £3.04 million in March.

7.3. Work continues in 2009/10 on the remainder of the 2008/09 programme using existing approvals.

8. Waste Management Programme

8.1. Expenditure within this programme amounted to £20.271 million (of which £19.33 million were pass-through costs) against a projected outturn in March of £20.511 million.

8.2. Architectural enhancement pass-through costs at the Chineham, Marchwood and Portsmouth Energy Recovery Facilities were added to the Waste capital programme for 2008/09 by the Cabinet at £19.33 million on 6 February 2009; financed by £3.257 million from the revenue budget for the waste management contract and £16.073 million of prudential borrowing to be repaid from that revenue budget.

8.3. Approvals this year totalled £4.4 million for household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and closed landfill site management. Of this, £3.7 million remained unspent and was available at the start of the year. Planned spend in 2008/09 at the start of the year was £1.6 million, revised to £1.181 million in March (excludes pass-through costs).

8.4. Good progress has been made throughout the year. Andover HWRC was delivered in December 2008 ahead of schedule and within budget, and preparations for schemes at Casbrook and Gosport HWRCs got underway for delivery during 2009/10.

9. Proposed Amendments to the 2009/10 Programme

9.1. Since setting the programme in February, it is proposed that the following eight schemes be entered into the 2009/10 integrated transport programme. A revised programme is attached as Appendix 4.

A343 Portway - Andover Pedestrian and Cycle Accessibility £38,500 (EF)

9.2. This scheme will improve facilities on, and adjacent to, the A343 Churchill Way West, and will add to the Andover cycle network in the town. This scheme includes a number of cycle and footway improvements that are not necessarily contiguous. A feasibility study to examine the opportunities for improving the pedestrian and cycle infrastructure highlighted various missing links and new provision. This scheme represents those that have been assessed as best value for money, in terms of impact, affordability and adherence to the terms of the contributions. Further stages to this project are expected next year.

9.3. The business case was assessed and recommended for inclusion in the programme in March 2009. The initial delivery programme indicates that work may start early autumn.

9.4. The local Member, Councillor Mrs West, supports this scheme.

Denmead to Waterlooville Cycle Route £130,000 (EF)

9.5. This scheme aims to establish a shared footway/cycleway link between Denmead and Waterlooville along the B2150 between Forest Road roundabout, Denmead and the western end of Southdown View. It is expected, in the future, that developers' building within the Waterlooville MDA will link to this new provision, making it an important part of the infrastructure. The existing footway along B2150 is already well used as an alternative to on-road cycling. The carriageway is not cycle-friendly with high traffic volumes and speeds. There is also a high proportion of Heavy Goods Vehicles using the route. There have been two fatal accidents within the extent of this scheme, one involving an on-road cyclist. In response, a safety scheme to narrow the running lane was installed in 2008 (casualty reduction programme) and this cycle scheme aims to provide a safer environment for cyclists.

9.6. The business case was assessed and recommended for inclusion in February.

9.7. The local Members Councillor Allgood - Winchester Southern parishes, Councillor Beagley - Waterloo and North Stakes and Councillor West - Cowplain and Hart Plain, support the scheme.

Chilbolton Avenue, Near Links Road, Winchester - Puffin Crossing £79,500 (EF)

9.8. Rapid and intense development on Chilbolton Avenue is increasing both traffic and pedestrian usage. Public perception and expectations in the area is that safer crossing points are now required to reduce the severance effect of this wide-load route. An earlier study investigated providing pedestrian refuges at Sarum Road, Links Road and a point midway between, but implementation was not recommended because of the risk that they would have to be removed occasionally to facilitate the movement of abnormal loads. A similar Puffin was installed adjacent to Sarum Road in 2006 and has proven to be very well used.

9.9. The business case was assessed and recommended for inclusion in the programme in January 2009. A project appraisal is awaiting approval pending inclusion and the scheme is likely to start early July.

9.10. The proposal for a second Puffin crossing has strong local support from residents, the local Member, Councillor Mrs Dickens, and Mark Oaten MP.

A326 Safety Scheme £450,000 (Local Resources) and £79,000 (EF)

9.11. At the County Council meeting in February 2009 an additional sum of £0.450 million for A326 Safety Improvements, including street lighting and traffic signals, was agreed. An EF allocation is also available to part fund the signalised crossing proposals at Twiggs Lane.

9.12. These works are planned to take place ahead of the scheduled major maintenance scheme. It is therefore recommended that the scheme be included in the programme.

A30 Huish Lane Junction Improvement, Basingstoke, £100,000 (EF)

9.13. This scheme proposes amendments to the existing signalised junction arrangements in order to include pedestrian movements. It is expected the improvement will address concerns over pedestrian safety at this junction, though there are few accidents; local perception is that the existing crossing is not pedestrian friendly.

9.14. The business case was assessed and recommended for inclusion in the programme in January 2009.

9.15. The local Member, Councillor Mrs Still, supports the proposals.

Pullens Lane to Town Centre, Petersfield - additional cycle improvements £59,000 (EF)

9.16. This project proposes an upgrade of the substandard sections of the existing cycle route that exist between Pullens Lane and the town centre in Petersfield. There is a balance of funding available from the developer contribution that has been received to provide cycleway improvements in this area of Petersfield. The existing older section of cycleway that has been in place since 2004 compares poorly with the new upgraded standard of cycleway that was provided in 2007.

Satchell Lane Refuge/Footway/Cycleway, Hamble, £70,000 (£31,000 contribution from Eastleigh Borough Council, £39,000 EF)

9.17. This scheme will provide a pedestrian refuge island at the junction with Hamble Lane, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to cross the junction in two stages. It will also provide a short footway extension to a new Doctors' surgery nearby.

9.18. The business case was assessed and recommended for inclusion in the programme in January.

9.19. Elected Members of the Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice and Hound Local Area Committee have agreed the implementation of the refuge and footway extension in Satchell Lane. The local Member, Councillor House, has been consulted and raised no objections.

Romsey Railway Station Accessibility Improvements £270,000 (£110,000 EF, £135,000 Grant, £25,000 Test Valley Borough Council contribution)

9.20. This scheme proposes a number of access improvements to the station, which is old and does not meet with modern requirements for access. A successful bid to DfT's `Access for All' grants means that the department is able to add developer funding from the locality and develop a comprehensive improvement.

9.21. Issues surrounding southern access to the station have been the subject of a number of studies. In 1998 the Romsey Movement and Access Study highlighted the problems; in 2006 the updated study also recommended improvements. Additionally the `Look at Romsey, Healthcheck' Group (originally formed by the South East England Development Agency Market Towns initiative) picked up on a number of other problems, including parking and the general poor state of the building.

9.22. At the Test Valley Hampshire Action Team meeting in April 2009 Members welcomed news of the grant and confirmed their support of the proposals.

10. Future direction

10.1. The capital programme will continue to be monitored regularly throughout the year and recommendations brought forward to manage expenditure.

11. Recommendations

11.1. That amendments to the 2009/10 integrated transport programme, since setting in February, be approved.

11.2. That the proposed funding package to cover an estimated £211,000 overspend on the 2007/08 scheme, Witherbed Lane Link Road/ Segensworth Roundabout, be approved.

11.3. That the 2008/09 financial outturn be noted.

11.4. That the outturn costs of completed schemes in 2008/09, detailed in Appendix 2, be noted, as required by the County Council's financial procedures.

2035Rpt/774/HA

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

Other Significant Links

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

1.1. 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.

1.2. Furthermore, all named schemes within the Integrated Transport Programme are subject to an independent peer review as part of the department's Gateway Process. 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:

2.1. 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:

a) How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

b) How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

The Environment Department will be developing a methodology for measuring the impact of the capital programme on our carbon footprint during 2009.

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