Agenda and minutes

To note any changes in membership of the Panel made in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.3.

The Panel noted that in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rules 4.3 and 4.4, Councillor Parnell replaced Councillor Willacy and Councillor Thomas replaced Councillor Damani, for the purposes of this meeting.

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Inquiry Meeting held on 3^rd June 2010 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

RESOLVEDthat the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd June 2010 be

approved and signed as a correct record. (Copy of the minutes circulated

with the agenda and appended to the signed minutes).

Report of the Head of Policy and Improvement, detailing information for the second meeting of the Inquiry on Highways’ approach to asset management, attached.

The Panel considered the report of the Head of Policy and Improvement detailing information on the communication tool and community aspects of the highways approach to asset management as well as examining performance and providing information on the new Highways partnership.  (Copy of the report circulated with the agenda and appended to the signed minutes).

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport was present at the meeting and with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting, providing Panel Members with background information and an overview on the highways approach to asset management.  The Panel heard that :-

• there had been chronic under-investment in Southampton’s road network over the past last ten years;
• in 2005 Southampton lost a bid for PFI credits due to them being greatly over-subscribed and the promised further round of bids did not materialise;
• Southampton had been one of the first authorities to have a Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) and it was extremely important that the correct weightings were applied to the specific areas which were engineering-led;
• Tribal Consulting was then commissioned to produce a report to investigate the future of the highway service and had produced a wide range of options which suggested that the best way forward would be to have a business contract with a public private partner  and on 5^th July 2010, a report was approved at Cabinet, awarding a business contract to the Balfour Beatty Group to deliver the Council’s highways services;
• as there was a great deal of in-house local expertise  the Council’s highway staff would be TUPE’ed across to Balfour Beatty;
• although there was a tight contract with Balfour Beatty in order to sustain upward funding, there was sufficient flexibility within it which would allow the Council to contract an external provider for any major special projects outside of the contract; there were also penalty clauses within the contract;
• Balfour Beatty is a world-class infrastructure services business and were  confident of achieving all their service level agreements with the Council.

COUNCILLOR BALL IN THE CHAIR

The Transformation and Performance Manager and Public Realm Manager provided the Panel with information on the Communication Toolkit used and the community perspective of the service provision.

The Panel noted that :-

• there had been improvements on the highways web pages which had been simplified and made fit for purpose with  roadworks, utility repair work and traffic congestion highlighted and made as public as possible;
• the highways department had been participating in a MORI survey, Keep the City Moving’ annually and in the last year was the only local authority that had improved in all areas;  this had resulted in the Council being invited  to talk at the National Conference;
• funding has been increased by £3-6m over the last few years
• the highways had a very able Communications Officer who handled complaints and was a good ambassador for the Council;
• as a result of the recession people’s behaviour had changed and this had resulted in more people cycling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.