Agenda item

This report provides an interim update on the Council’s new term contract for highway maintenance and includes an update on the Parish Stewards scheme.

Councillor Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, Streetscene, and Flooding, alongside Samantha Howell, Director of Highways and Transport, Dave Thomas, Head of Highways Assets & Commissioning, Chris Clark, Head of Local Highways, and Adrian Hampton, Head of Highway Operations, updated the Committee on the Highways Term Maintenance Contract.

It was noted that the report included an update on the Parish Stewards Scheme which commenced on 1 April 2023 with the new contractor, Milestone. Members were informed that the Milestone contract was for a period of 5 years, with an opportunity to extend for a further 5 years subject to the key performance indicators (KPIs) as detailed in the report. National and industry wide challenges were highlighted including limited resources, recruitment difficulties, the cost-of-living crisis, and harsh weather climates deteriorating road conditions at a faster pace than anticipated. Officers were commended for their agility in responding to those challenges alongside the commencement of the new contract with Milestone.

During the discussion, points included:

·       Progress on the development of a cloud-based system for Parish Stewards and Parish Council’s to record and manage workloads as part of monitoring and improving Parish Steward operations. It was noted that Somerset Council had implemented the system in collaboration with Milestone and although Wiltshire weren’t as far along into process, officers were welcoming Milestone’s experience in the area and Members were reassured that there was a clear intention to work with Milestone to achieve this.

·       Members were informed that officers could pull Parish Steward information off their internal systems to monitor the services being recorded and provided.

·       Members cited inconsistencies in the Parish Steward services across the County and officers acknowledged that although the Parish Stewards could be considered ambassadors of Wiltshire Council and held in high regard within their local communities, both officers and Milestone were, at times, slow to respond during the mobilisation period which caused some discontinuity of services. Despite this, officers reassured Members that service consistency and ensuring that interventions were targeted in the right way were a focus. Furthermore, officers were working closely with Milestone on improving communications regarding the Forward Work Program.

·       Officers highlighted the rigorous contract management program in place and noted that regular dialogue was had with Parish Councils to gain feedback.

·       Officers noted that Wiltshire Council was an evidence led authority and therefore it was essential that data was retrieved, analysed, and understood to help inform decisions and action plans.

·       The national shortages in materials were highlighted and it was noted that it was a reflection of the market and officers appreciated that there would be some delays to planned works being completed. However, officers noted that contractors were working hard to resolve those issues.

·       Officers explained that given the scale of the network in Wiltshire, certain programs, or specialist activities such as carriageway resurfacing or landscaping, would be conducted by a number of sub-contractors and delivery partners alongside Milestone across the Highways Service.

·       Gully clearing and emptying was raised, and Members praised the use of the Karbontech system to update the positions of gullies and record cleanings but highlighted that there were still a number of gullies yet to be cleared and given the proximity to the wet season, Members were concerned as to the surface water flooding implications. Officers acknowledged that a lot of the historic information on the system was not geographically correct and therefore, the Karbontech system would help to rectify these errors. Furthermore, coming into the wet season would mean that officers would be more reactive to any issues, and it was confirmed that the Council were seeking to recruit further gully clearing officers to provide a better service and meet emptying requirements as part of their in-house program.

·       Officers noted that as part of their Winter Resilience Program, they were planning for both a wetter and colder winter and therefore, they were focussing on agile resource deployment to undertake preventative work as much as reactive in order to protect and maintain road conditions.

·       The inclusion of more sustainable measures into contracts was raised and officers confirmed that the Council’s carbon reduction objectives were built into all contracts across the directorate. During the tender submission, contractors were required to demonstrate how these objectives would be addressed which would then form part of their subsequent KPIs.

·       Officers noted that it was not feasible to be entirely reliant on electric vehicles (EVs) at present, and therefore more sustainable alternative fuels were being considered to help meet the Council’s objectives. As such, officers highlighted that Milestone had implemented the change from diesel to Hydronated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel for their plant and vehicles. It was then explained that if Wiltshire Council was to make the same change, it would incur an approximate 20% increase in costs and would also require changes to the fleet vehicles themselves by enlarging the tank sections to allow for the use of HVO fuel.

·       Officers reaffirmed that the full reasons for the move from Ringway to Milestone was detailed in a report submitted to Cabinet in October 2022, however officers gave some examples, namely, value for money, service provision, outcomes, and additional requirements such as climate change objectives and social value. It was further confirmed that the procurement process was in line with all requirements.

·       Officers confirmed that they were happy to provide further details as to the specific KPIs that formed part of the contract with Milestone, including those around carbon reduction.

·       Officers confirmed that the Parish Stewards had been redeployed earlier in 2023 to support pothole repairs.

·       Finally, officers thanked Members for feedback and requested that Councillors highlighted any specific local issues to officers who could then address them on a case-by-case basis.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was:

Resolved:

a)    The Committee noted the contents of the report and the progress being made to establish the new working arrangements with the Milestone Term Maintenance Contract.

b)    The Committee requested a report on the completion of the first year of the Milestone contract to include key performance indicators including carbon reduction, savings, and outcomes targets.

c)    The Committee requested an update on the progress with gully clearing in the new year.