Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from David Carroll and Tim Butcher.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Of the meeting held on 18 November 2014, to be confirmed as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on the Tuesday 18 November 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Page 6 - Ringway Jacobs

The outstanding actions will be discussed under Item 6 of the agenda.

Chairman’s Report

The Chief Executive was invited to attend the meeting today.  The Chief Executive will be sent an invitation to attend a future meeting to discuss TfB outcomes.

Page 13 – S106 Inquiry Status update

An update will be given under Chairman’s update.

Page 18 – External Funding Opportunities

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources will provide a formal written response to the letter of recommendation sent from the ETL Committee.

Action: Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources

This is an opportunity for members of the public to put a question or raise an issue of concern, related to Environment, Transport and Locality Services.   Where possible, the relevant organisation to which the question/issue is directed will be present to give a verbal response.  The member of public will be invited to speak for up to four minutes on their issue.  A maximum of 30 minutes is set aside for the Public Questions slot in total (including responses and any Committee discussion). This may be extended with the Chairman’s discretion. 

For full guidance on Public Questions, including how to register a request to speak during this slot, please follow this link:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/get-involved/

There were no public questions.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

The Chairman reported the following.

During January myself and several other members of the ETL were co-opted onto the Budget Scrutiny Committee which included looking at the various budgets that relate to the work of the Select Committee. The minutes are published on the BCC website.

Members of the ETL Select Committee undertook a workshop to discuss the visions and aspirations of the library service for the 21st century in more detail.  It was a very useful workshop but there is more work to be done.

A response to some of the outstanding actions relating to the scrutiny of the Transport for Bucks contract in 2011 was issued yesterday. This should resolve some of the legacy issues.

I have received an invitation to take part in a session at the Councillors Association Conference Friday to discuss the benefits of scrutiny.

For members to receive and examine the 12 month update from the Cabinet Member and Lead Officers on the progress towards the Committee’s recommendations as agreed by Cabinet in January 2014.

Ruth Vigor-Hedderly, Cabinet Member for Transportation

Mike Freestone, Director of Transport, BCC

Demos Kettenis, Ringway Jacobs

Ruth Vigor-Hedderly, Cabinet Member for Transportation, Gill Harding, Director of Strategic Business Planning, Mike Freestone, Director of Transport, Simon Dando, Contract Director, Ringway Jacobs and Demos Kettenis, Head of Highways, Ringway Jacobs, were welcomed to the meeting.

The Chairman explained that this is the 12 month review since Cabinet agreed the majority of the recommendations made by the ETL Select Committee in 2013/14, following scrutiny of the contract and workings of TfB and Buckinghamshire County Council.

The Cabinet Member for Transportation began by explaining that understanding the nature of the contract arrangements between BCC and Ringway Jacobs has not been an easy task. The recommendations made before to the 1st April, prior to when she came into post, have been noted. Both parties have recognised there have been significant failures over this particular period of time where BCC as a client have not been strong and Ringway Jacobs has recognised the need for improvement in many areas of delivery to BCC as the client. The review has been incredibly robust. Ringway Jacobs is now working very well with Bucks County Council but there is still a long way to go.

The recommendations agreed by the ETL Committee in December 2013 were discussed, during which the following comments were made and questions asked.

Recommendation 1

The Cabinet Member advised that local KPIs in the depots have been introduced, which were not part of the recommendations made. The reason for this is when an issue arises, it can red flagged immediately for action to be taken so it doesn’t affect the main contractual KPI. This is a reactive way of working.

When is the reorganisation of the service area likely to be completed? There is concern that some as the LAT positions in the Wycombe depot are not filled which leaves a slight deficiency in some areas. The Cabinet Member for Transportation explained that there are also vacancies in other service areas. The Transformation Programme process needs to be followed. The vacancies are now being advertised externally. Any interested candidates should contact Mr Dando.

There is concern that some of the work carried out in the some local divisions has been done so at very low quality. Is it possible to give examples of local KPIs? Mr Freestone explained that in terms of the structure of local KPIs, they are largely based on contractual KPIs which have recently been agreed and reset based on the work undertaken by the ETL committee and suggestions from the workshops that took place about a year ago. It is about looking at standard performance issues, the local focus and about getting an earlier insight on how performance is being delivered in the three different depots Ringway Jacobs work from.  This, in turn, helps to give the Area Manager early insight into performance. All of the tasks required to deliver the overall contract are discussed at monthly outcome meetings which includes looking at areas such as routine maintenance and schemes of delivery etc. The meetings will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

For members to make an assessment of progress against recommendations based on the update and questioning of the Cabinet Member and to highlight the completion status of each of the recommendations.

Members of the Committee are asked to agree which symbol in the RAG status, they feel should be allocated to each recommendation as follows;

Recommendation 1 - green star

The recommendation is on track to be resolved. An update is to be given at the June meeting of the Committee.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

Recommendation 2 - green star

Recommendation 3 - green star to be given upon receipt of the evidence about the KPIs.

Recommendation 4 - green star

Recommendation 5 - green tick

The recommendation has been implemented to the satisfaction of the committee

Recommendation 6 - green tick

Recommendation 7 - green tick

An update on the performance with the extra resources is to be given at the June meeting of the Committee.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

Recommendation 8 - green star

Recommendation 9 - green star

A Working Group will be convened to look at benchmarking, how savings are going to be delivered and the external value for money review.

Action: Policy Officer/Committee Members

Recommendations 10/11 - orange circle

The Committee have concerns the recommendations may not be fully delivered to its satisfaction

Recommendation 12 - green tick

The progress chart is to be updated to reflect the RAG rating agreed by Committee Members.

Action: Policy Officer

The updated chart is to be circulated to Committee Members.

Action: Policy Officer

Committee Members are to be advised of the date of the Cabinet meeting at which the Progress Chart will be presented (as part of the annual review of all Select Committees).

Action: Policy Officer

For Members to receive an introduction from the Managing Director and Directors of the new Transport, Economy and Environment Business Unit and to provide an overview of the new Business Unit’s structure, plan and key priorities for the 2015/16.

Neil Gibson, Strategic Director, Communities and Built Environment

Ian Boll, Director of Regeneration and Infrastructure, Policy

Stephen Walford, Director of Growth and Strategy, PAC service

Mike Freestone, Director of Transport, BCC

Gill Harding, Director of Strategic Business Plan

Neil Gibson, Strategic Director, Communities and Built Environment, Ian Boll, Director of Regeneration and Infrastructure, Stephen Walford, Director of Growth and Strategy, and Gill Harding, Director of Strategic Business Planning, were welcomed to the meeting.

Mr Gibson explained that Transport, Economy and Environment (TEE) is one of the three forward, outward facing Business Units for service delivery in ‘Future Shape’ the new business model for the County Council. The other two Business Units are Adults, Health and Communities and Children’s Social Care and Learning.

The formal ‘go live’ date for Future Shape is the 1 April 2015.  In reality, the TEE Business Unit is fairly well advanced and is ready for the go live now. It is not possible to go live until the 1 April as constitutional changes such as the introduction of Managing Directors and financial rules and regulations will enact from this date.

The Leadership team is comprised of five Directors for the following portfolios; Environment Services, Growth & Strategy, Regeneration & Infrastructure, Strategic Business Planning & Commercial Development and Transport Services. Work is still taking place on the metrics for the Business Unit. The spend for next year is in excess of £100m. TEE is a large business which is a combination of revenue and capital. The impact on Buckinghamshire is far in excess of this amount. For example, there is £1m spend on East West Rail next year but this is a £150m project managed on behalf of Network Rail. There is very little in the Capital Programme for next year around major road growth for Aylesbury but tens of millions of investment will be facilitated via the Business Unit. Current work also includes project management of the Energy from Waste contract which has a value in the region of £50m. The impact goes a long way beyond the cash spend on an annual basis. As the Business Unit evolves and progresses, further metrics will be put in place to explain the impact the Business Unit has through web based systems and financial processes etc.

The TEE Business Unit will interact and work in the main, with four of the eight Cabinet Members; the Leader, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, the Cabinet Member for Transportation and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment. As work progresses to include Client Transport, input will also be sought from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Members as appropriate.

Ms. Harding explained that the Transition Plan has been in place for a while although there is now more work and people involved.  A robust governance structure and process is in place. The decision has been made that the Programme Board will continue during the transition period and onwards after the 1 April 2015. Business Managers have now been recruited. They are the next level of accountability below the Leadership Team and are involved in commissioning and work-streams. Other key areas to highlight are;

·         The Transitions Programme is taking place in parallel with the other Business Units.

·         Interaction from other key stakeholders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Members will discuss the Committee Work Programme and forthcoming Committee items.

Members of the Committee NOTED the work programme.

A staged approach has been suggested for the Country Parks item. An update will be given at the April meeting, following which Members can decide if there is the need to set up a Working Group to look into this item further.

The topic of Legal Highs has been proposed as a future item for the Work Programme.  This would fall under the Crime and Disorder remit of the Environment Select Committee.

The Public Transport Inquiry-progress update is to be moved to the 19 May meeting.

Action: Policy Officer

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 17 March 2015 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members at 9.30am.

Meeting dates for 2015

14 April          8 September

19 May           6 October

23 June         17 November

21 July          

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 17 March 2015 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury. There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members are 9.30am.

Meeting dates for 2015

14 April          8 September

19 May           6 October

23 June         17 November

21 July