Agenda and minutes

Venue: David Hicks 1 - Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1BN. View directions

Contact: Callum Wernham  Democratic & Electoral Services Specialist

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chairman

To elect a Chairman for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Guy Grandison be elected Chairman of the Community and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2018/19 municipal year.

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Mike Haines be appointed Vice Chairman of the Community and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2018/19 municipal year.

3.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

4.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2018.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 March 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

5.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

6.

Public Question Time

To answer any public questions.

 

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

 

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

 

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

7.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions.

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

8.

Highways and Transportation Contracts Renewal Update pdf icon PDF 123 KB

To consider a progress report on the process for letting major contracts relating to highways and transportation services.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 11-38, which provided an update on the progress on the process of letting major contracts relating to highways and transportation services. 

 

The report gave details of the reprovision of the term Highways and Transportation Contracts including background, stakeholder and market engagement, scope of tendered services, partnering governance and contract form, performance management and timetable and contract award.

 

The report confirmed that 24 companies had registered interest in the upcoming contracts and that this showed that the Council was seen as an attractive client. The feedback received from stakeholders had favoured offering one professional services contract and one works contact. It was noted that a draft agreement had been made by the Berkshire Authorities whereby they could use Wokingham’s highways management services for a charge. It was added that Wokingham’s needs would always come before that of the Berkshire Authorities.

 

The report commented that the contracts would be for a seven year duration (from April 2019) with an option to extend the contract for a further three years. It was noted that the contracts would be financially incentivised on a curve when the contractor achieved 75% of their targets up to 100%. The new contracts would be managed using the performance framework attached to the report.

 

The report noted that costs of current contracts would be compared to the new tenders with the aim of delivering value for money to the Borough and its residents.   

 

Rachel Burgess asked for clarification on the financial incentivisation of the contracts and the potential to penalise the operators in they were not hitting their targets. Alex Deans, Highways and Transportation Services – Reprocurement Lead, clarified that companies could be penalised for not performing via not receiving the financial gains which were triggered by achieving 75% and 100% of their performance targets. Alex added that this method would both penalise failing companies and encourage those who wanted to deliver the best possible service in order to maximise the financial returns.  

 

CliveJones queried the criteria and administrative process for filling in potholes and the resurfacing of roads. Alex Deans confirmed that the criteria and process would form a part of the new highways contracts. 

 

Clive Jones also asked whether the Highways Team were on target to complete the contract process and whether there would be any savings when compared to the current contracts. In response, Alex Deans confirmed that Officers were still on course to meet their timetable (with regards to completing and implementing the new contracts) and in some areas there would be savings whereas in others the Council would see far better performance than was previously achieved. 

 

RESOLVED: That: 

 

1)    Alex Deans be thanked for attending the meeting;

 

2)    a progress report on the Highways and Transportation contracts renewal be brought to the September 2018 meeting of the Committee;

 

3)    Members’ of the Committee be provided with ongoing updates regarding the Highways and Transportation contracts renewal process.

 

9.

Work Programme 2018-19 pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To consider the Committee’s work programme for 2018-19 and to prioritsie items for future meetings.

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 39-44, which gave details of its proposed work programme for 2018/19. The Chairman asked Members’ to notify him of potential additional items for inclusion in the work programme.

 

Members’ discussed that they would like an additional meeting to be held in October 2018, in order to cover additional items in more depth. Members added that they would like to meet with the Fire Service Commander and the Police Area Commander at the October meeting.

 

Rachel Burgess felt that the town centre regeneration project was such a key issue that should be included on Agenda. Rachel Burgess felt that it would be too late to review the topic in November as the Market Place was scheduled to be completed by that time. Members stated that they would like regular email updates on the town centre regeneration ahead of the item due to come to the November meeting. If the updates highlighted any urgent issues, the Committee may decide to bring the item forward from November.  

 

RESOLVED That: 

 

1)    the work programme for 2018/19, as amended, be noted;

 

2)    Members’ notify the Chairman of any further potential Scrutiny items for inclusion in the work programme;

 

3)    an additional meeting of the Committee be organised for October;

 

4)    the Fire Service Commander and the Police Area Commander be invited to the October 2018 meeting of the Committee;

 

5)    Members receive an update briefing on Wokingham Town Centre Regeneration; to include accessibility issues;

 

6)    Members notify Democratic Services of any other issues to be included in the Town Centre briefing.

 

10.

Scrutiny Request - Finchampstead Parish Council pdf icon PDF 59 KB

To consider a Scrutiny request relating to the condition of footways, kerbsides and road signs.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, set out in Agenda pages 45 to 50, which provided an overview of the issues Finchampstead Parish Council was facing relating to the conditions of their footways, kerbsides and roadways.

 

The report gave details of some of the key areas in the Finchampstead Parish where conditions of the roadways and road furniture had been damaged or degraded over time. Other areas of concern included leaf litter and debris on kerbsides, blocked gullies which could cause flooding and damaged or dirty road signs which were not fit for purpose. Members stated that this issue was not specific to Finchampstead, and that many of their wards had similar issues.

 

Members discussed the process of residents reporting these issues to the Council. Peter Baveystock, Service Manager - Cleaner & Greener Services, stated that it was preferable for residents to ring up and report any issues that they had with footways, kerbsides, roadways or street furniture. He added that cases could be followed through with Finchampstead Parish Council to create an action plan which could be evaluated to see if it could be deployed Borough wide.

 

Guy Grandison felt that this issue tied in to the roadside contract and suggested bringing this matter to the upcoming Borough Parish Liaison Forum.

 

Peter Baveystock stated that in instances where issues had been reported but not rectified, the Locality Team, Cleaner & Greener Team and the Highways Team would look in to why it had taken so long for the issue to be resolved.

 

Members raised a number of queries regarding how Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) incorporated technology to help focus resources. Alex Deans, Highways and Transportation Services – Reprocurement Lead, stated that WBC were incorporating smarter technology to help with highway issues. One example of this was a new IT system which would allow residents to see where the ‘gully cleaner’ was and what it had cleaned.

 

In response to a Member query regarding preventative measures, Alex Deans stated that WBC did not currently have a preventative regime. He added that the current system required a Highways Inspector to spot an issue or for a resident to bring it to the Council’s attention so it could be resolved.

 

There were a number of Member queries regarding costs associated with cleaning highways. Peter Baveystock stated that cleaning a section of the Reading Road had recently cost approximately £8,500. Peter added that where it was necessary to make sure that when these jobs were undertaken that they were carried out thoroughly.

 

Steve Bromley and Rowland Cundy, Finchampstead Parish Council, asked the Committee to consider who would be liable were an accident to happen due to a neglected road sign or roadway. They added that Finchampstead Parish Council were willing to buy in to a better system to make Wokingham’s roads safer and cleaner, once an agreed standard was established.

 

A number of Members’ expressed their thanks to Peter Baveystock and his team (the Cleaner and Greener Team) for all of their hard work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.