Meeting documents

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 be effective at highlighting where performance is starting to drift and to look into why certain depots are experiencing problems and not others.

Mr Dando explained that driving quality performance rated issues is a key element of monitoring KPIs at a local level.  The difficulty is giving the level of granularity that allows the focus to be on local needs because there are slightly different dynamics in how issues are dealt with in urban areas as opposed to rural areas. Local KPIs need to reflect the specific local needs and quality and to be as responsive as possible to the community they serve.

The ETL Select Committee reviewed the KPIs about a year ago and made them fit for purpose to reflect area based working. There is no evidence base such as an audit process to show that this is working. Reassurance is needed that KPIs are linked into any contract extension. The Cabinet Member said that KPIs will be linked 100% directly into any contract. There will be an acknowledgement of local and contractual KPIs in contracts.

The KPIs were modified to make them more understandable for local areas. How do the KPIs/performance in the last two-three months compare to KPIs a year ago? The Cabinet Member explained that the local KPIs have been re-tweaked. Information about local KPIs and the detail behind each KPI is to be circulated to Committee Members.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

In terms of culture change, the ETL Select Committee hasn’t received the update it thought it would. The Cabinet Member explained that Bart Smith from the consultancy, Gate One was appointed to carry out a discovery phase of the review into the TfB contract. The decision has recently been made to contract Mr. Smith for a further 41 days of work to deliver a report on the programme and culture change.

There is concern about the customer journey and the waiting time for responses to issues.  An example is a resident in Amersham waited 41 working days for a response from TfB (not the 28 day response time).  Is this a one off incident or is there an issue to be addressed around customer complaints? Ms Harding explained that there is awareness that the customer journey is not working as well as it should do.  Work needs to take place in the following three areas; culture, processes associated with the different communication streams, and systems.  There are two prongs of work taking place around systems; the change associated with the digital platform for BCC which includes the appointment of a new provider; a new direction of the CRM system associated with TfB which was agreed at a recent meeting of the Strategic Board. This should enable an improved customer journey, better site of the metrics and management information associated with the data. Early work includes the use of easy quick fixes such as the spreadsheets to ensure that any communication received is addressed. Extra resources are being put in place from mid-January.  The aim is to introduce the new system in June in parallel with the new corporate system.

The Cabinet Member said she has received a good response to an email asking local members if they would be interested in becoming part of a Board to look at the customer journey.

It is good to hear that Gate One have been contracted to carry out further work on the TfB review.  What was their initial impression of the arrangements in place? The Cabinet Member said that the initial impression was that neither Ringway Jacobs nor Bucks County Council were in a very good place. Gate One is an independent consultant who is able to give an impartial view on the contract arrangements.

Recommendation 2

The draft 4 year plan has not been shared with the Environment Select Committee. The budget aspect of the plan was reviewed during the recent budget scrutiny meetings. Will the outcome be shared with members of the Select Committee? The draft 4 year plan is to be circulated to Committee members.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

There has been the realisation that some of the KPIs were wrongly put together.  Has any refund been received from Ringway Jacobs? There have been discussions between BCC and Ringway Jacobs about monies owing to both parties.  Unfortunately is it not possible to share this information at the moment as it is commercially sensitive. A summary of the officer decision on contract variations is to be circulated to Committee members.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

Recommendation 4

A summary of the officer decision on contract variations is to be circulated to Committee Members.

Action: Cabinet Member for Transportation

Recommendation 5

The Department of Transport guidance on asset management has been shared with members of the ETL Select Committee, but information has not been received on how monies are divided between asset management and member led. The Cabinet Member said that in terms of the pot of money for Capital Maintenance work, Bucks County Council is very much member led.  It is absolutely fundamental that Ringway Jacobs goes to each local member to ask for their choice of road to be repaired. Following the receipt of the additional funding of £10million, an email was sent to local members asking for their choice of road to be repaired. The steer this year is towards unclassified and C roads as the advice received from experts is many are badly in need of repair.

Members have received a lot of information as part of the selection process.  For completeness of the review and the Select Committee, it would be useful to receive a written response clarifying how the County Council has moved to a more sustainable asset approach.

Action: Mike Freestone

Recommendation 7

The progress update outlines quite a change in the client team. The Cabinet Member said there was recognition of that service area needed to be strengthened and the comments made by the Select Committee during the review were taken on board. Appointments have since been made to the posts of Director of Transport, Contract Compliance Officer, Client Contract Manager and Head of Highways. These posts are on an interim basis of 12 months with the view to make the posts permanent. The new structure will take time to embed.

The expectation is of the provision of a seamless service from any contractor. Ringway Jacobs has been a contractor for BCC for many years now. Can assurance be given that these problems will not re-occur in the future and there will be a regular service which Ringway Jacobs as a contractor are capable of providing? The Cabinet Member said she is aware that this portfolio is commercial and a private company is being dealt with. Ringway Jacobs is a commercial private company which is there to make money. However she is also aware it is difficult for Ringway Jacobs to make as much money with BCC as BCC is a public company and there are restrictions around funding. The review process has been incredibly difficult. What can be guaranteed is by the time the process has been completed, each depot will have a policy and processes in place and members will be able to go to each depot and ask about funding, costs, value for money and benchmarking etc.

Recommendation 8

This recommendation was not agreed by Cabinet. There is a response for the Committee to consider.

During the review by the ETL Committee, concerns were raised about contract variations and contract extensions. Are you able to share any of the amendments made to the contract to give a better understanding of any subtle changes to the contract and therefore the delivery? The Cabinet Member said that Ringway Jacobs has welcomed changes to certain elements of the contract.  The County Council is legally tied in terms of what changes can be made without having to go out to re-tender. There will be further, subtle changes to the contract over the next few months after which the contract can be shared with members of the ETL Committee. It is about having an understanding of the contract.  It is a joint, open, honest and transparent way of working, but also holding each other to account in terms of delivery, value for money and client satisfaction.

The Select Committee needs to be assured that contract extensions are awarded on the sounds basis of KPIs and contract performance. Mr Freestone explained that the current contract included automatic extension if certain criteria were met but this has been removed. There is still the potential for the contract to be extended but this is based on set criteria.

Recommendation 9/10

The Select Committee recently received some documents about benchmarking. A working group is to be set up to discuss the progress made, benchmarking, how savings are going to be delivered and the external value for money review.

Action: Policy Officer/Committee Members

Recommendation 11

To what extent are external opportunities for savings being addressed, is the obligation for a year on year 3% efficiency saving still in the contract, is this saving being delivered, what do the savings look like and does this still drive the right behaviour? The Cabinet Member explained that she has been asked to make savings of £177,000 this financial year.  The possibility of incorporating maintenance works on gulleys etc. in conjunction road closures put in place by a contractor is being looked into.

Mr Dando said that the delivery of 3% efficiency savings year on year is a challenge bearing in mind it is now year 5 of the contract. Significant savings have been delivered at the start of the contract and have been taken forward through the period of the contract. Efficient ways of working are constantly being sought such as works being combined where possible as well as innovation. The DFT funding is driving the agenda from a Government perspective in terms of the provision of evidence of efficiencies being made.  This requires looking beyond the conventional.  Discussions with members in relation to the latest innovations on the market are welcomed. The natural cycle is to drive inefficiently out of the system then to find efficiency in the system, to drive out waste and move into innovation.

The Budget Scrutiny touched upon efficiencies but it was not clear about 2015/2016 proposed efficiencies. Information about proposed efficiencies for 2015/16 is to be shared with the Committee.

Action: Mr Dando

When an external call is received, is there a policy within the service area for the call to go to answerphone and for the recipient to listen to the message, pick up the issue and to call the person back. Most people would rather speak to an officer straightaway rather than leave a message.  Should frontline staff be reminded that the phone is there as a communication not a hindrance? The Cabinet Member said that communication is fundamental. The Customer Journey Review and the Strategic Board will address this issue.