Satisfaction on the up on Warwickshire’s roads and pavements
Recent surveys have shown that road and pavement conditions in Warwickshire are improving and that public satisfaction with all aspects of road maintenance is rising.
Peter Samwell the Warwickshire County Council Project Manager for highway maintenance said he is delighted to see the new contract beginning to show dividends, and public satisfaction levels on the up.
He said: “It looks as though the new form of highway maintenance contract we have with Carillion is beginning to show dividends. The contract began in May 2004 and the teething problems, which often occur in major new contracts, now appear to be behind us.
“I am not saying that the highway conditions in Warwickshire are perfect but road and pavement conditions have improved recently. I also think that the condition of the network will continue to improve if the present level of funding is maintained.”
Councillor Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Environmental Services, said: “I’m very pleased with these public satisfaction results. I see from the results that satisfaction has risen across all the maintenance activities. I believe this is down to the new highway maintenance contract as well as the extra funding that we have made available for maintenance in recent years.”
In November 2005 the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee held a special meeting, which looked in detail at the operation of the seven year highway maintenance contract with Carillion.
The conclusions of this meeting were reported to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17th January 2006.
Cllr Heatley said: “Councillors recently spent a morning looking in detail at the way the highway maintenance contract was running. They concluded that considerable progress has been made in addressing the issues and that the majority of the problems are reducing.
“Consultants have been telling us that there are major cost savings possible with this type of contract and we must ensure the savings are delivered throughout the full 7 years of the contract.”
A further report on progress on the contract will be made to Members later in 2006.
David Tong, Carillion Area Manager, said “We are committed to providing a first class, cost effective service for the people of Warwickshire. All service level agreements are already being met and we are constantly reviewing our operations to ensure we are delivering best practice”.
Information contained within a 2005 internal council audit report relating to the letting of the contract has recently been released. The information highlighted possible lessons to be learnt from letting major contracts.
Warwickshire have monitored public satisfaction with highway maintenance since 1999. The results are generally reported to Members in July in the annual Highway Maintenance Plan. The latest survey was carried out late in 2005 and the results show a rise in satisfaction across all aspects of maintenance.
Road and pavement (footway) condition surveys are undertaken annually. The results are generally reported to Members in July in the annual Highway Maintenance Plan. Although the 2005/06 results are not yet known the latest results that can be compared are
Town Centre Pavements (Footways)
Best Value Performance Indicator 187 (town centre footways with defects) 2002/03 = 81.9%, 2003/04 = 76.0%, 2004/05 = 34.8%. Low figures are best. Reducing results are a result of higher levels of repairs.
Rural and Urban Unclassified Roads
Best Value performance Indicator 197b (unclassified roads with defects)
2002/03 = 17.1%. 2003/04 = 18.5%, 2004/05 = 14.9%. Low figures are best. 2003/04 results rose mainly due to a dry autumn cracking rural roads. Increasing levels of surfacing have reduced the roads with outstanding defects.
The present 7 year Highway maintenance contract was begun by the contractor Carillion in May 2004. The ‘partnering’ contract requires Warwickshire and Carillion to work together to find better way to deliver the highway maintenance work. Any savings identified are shared between Warwickshire and Carillion.
There was concern in 2004 at the start of the contract that some parts of the service were not initially up to standard (speed of repair of street lights and delays in replacing white lines following surfacing work). There was also concern that savings were not as expected.
By 2005 all contract standards were being met. Constant action is being taken to reduce costs particularly by improving maintenance processes. A ‘Lean Construction’ approach is being taken where all operations are reviewed to identify any form of waste. This work will continue throughout the contract and regular reports will be made to Councillors on the improvements made.
Information contained within a 2005 internal council audit report relating to the letting of the contract has recently been released and is available if required.