Meeting documents

This item is for Members to receive an update on the new client staffing structures following a recent recruitment drive and on the progress of customer focus improvements, which the Select Committee learned about at their meeting in February 2015.

Contributors:

Mr Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation

Mr Mike Freestone, Director of Transport, TEE

Mr Demos Kettenis, Head of Highways, TEE

Mr Simon Dando, TfB Contract Director

The Chairman welcomed Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mr Mike Freestone, Director of Transport, TEE, Mr Demos Kettenis, Head of Highways, TEE and Mr Simon Dando, TfB Contract Director to the meeting.  The Cabinet Member and the TfB team had been invited to provide a further update on three key areas – Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Staffing and Customer Journey - following the February Select Committee meeting.

Mr Freestone explained that a new framework of more focussed KPIs had been developed and adopted as part of wider revisions to the TfB contract.  There was no longer an automatic extension to the TfB contract and fee levels had been reduced to BCC’s advantage.  The KPI framework had been divided into Contract PIs, where fees would be reduced if minimum targets were not delivered and Alliance PIs which related to other areas. 

Mr Simon Dando, TfB Contract Director, reported that the new KPIs were already being monitored and would be reviewed at the end of the year to ensure they remained fit for purpose. 

A Member asked a question around highways schemes funded by the Local Area Forums (LAFs).  These were often significantly delayed and TfB charged both a management fee and often a contingency fee and it was felt that prices quoted were already inflated by up to 50%.  Sometimes LAFs were asked to contribute further monies to ensure schemes could go ahead.  Mike Freestone acknowledged that there had been issues with LAF schemes because the process was unclear and there had not been enough staff available on the client side to monitor the progress of schemes effectively.  Communities were not obliged to use TfB for their schemes but it should be to their advantage and colleagues within TfB were working on improving the processes. Simon Dando advised that there should be an improvement in the quality of reports and the accuracy and detail of quotes.  Target costs should be open to scrutiny.  It was agreed that Simon Dando would investigate claims that contingency fees were being charged with little or no explanation and he would report back to the Committee.

Action: Simon Dando

A member complained that despite the work that had been done on KPIs he still found that the service from TfB was not up to standard – he had issues with grasscutting, poor quality of pothole repairs and redundant streetlight stumps not being removed in his area.  Simon Dando apologised for this but reassured members that a number of programmes had been introduced in the past two months to raise standards. 

A member commended the introduction of the new Confirm system – he had been on the working group and felt it would be an asset to TfB.  He felt that Members would benefit from seeing the system in action and was confident that Confirm would lead to improvements in customer service. Mike Freestone welcomed this endorsement and explained that Confirm was a more robust system than Symology which was used currently.

A member asked for assurances that TfB staff would work closely with the Highways Development Management team to assist them in making improvements to their service.  Simon Dando advised that this would happen and more formalised arrangements could be introduced to ensure that adequate levels of service were delivered.  Members also noted that a training review had been carried out for all TfB blue and white collar workers – this had considered a broader skill set including customer focus and public engagement.

It was agreed that the Committee would continue to assist in monitoring TfB’s performance and it was suggested that a further update should be scheduled for approximately six months’ time.

Action: Committee Adviser