This report shares the findings of a review of the performance of the council’s major contract, the Public Realms Contract, and recommends improvements for approval by Cabinet.

The cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets introduced the item. A typographical correction to the report was noted in that the current public realm contract ended in November 2024, not 2020 as stated. The cabinet member highlighted that:

•       it was good practice to review contracts, particularly when they were as large as the public realm contract;

•       the reduction in the number of staff in technical services had eroded the council’s ability to rely on its own technical advice and to have constructive tension in the contract;

•       taking on board the recommendations from the audit report the council would be able to achieve value for money;

•       the council could always look to improve the performance of such contracts.

The chief finance officer explained that:

•       a number of external partners had contributed to the review, the report presented to cabinet consolidated the feedback received;

•       the advice was that the contract was a good one overall, with some fine-tuning required to improve performance as an ongoing process;

•       an action plan was being drawn up to ensure that the points raised were addressed.

In discussion of the report cabinet members noted that:

•       the council had received assurance that the contract was a good contract of its sort with the flexibility and scope necessary to deliver a good service and long-term relationship with the contractor;

•       the council needed to be a good customer and the report highlighted how the council could improve in that regard;

•       concerns had been raised by parish councils and members of the public regarding a lack of testing of value for money through regular external tendering and the report stated that works under £250k had automatically passed to Balfour Beatty in the past;

•       there was a balance to be struck between economies of scale and value for money but it was felt that there should be more opportunities for local businesses to benefit from council contracts under the work to take forward progressive procurement and achieve social value;

•       there was disappointment that it had taken so long to have a good review;

•       the action plan would be shared with cabinet members and it would be sensible to review progress against that at an appropriate time;

•       the proposed changes arising from the review were intended to be cost neutral as investments in staffing should deliver better value for money in the longer term;

•       there were already some vacancies in the team and part of the response to the review would be ensuring that those recruited to these roles had the right skills and experience.

Group leaders and representatives were invited to give the views and queries of their respective groups. The review was generally welcomed and key points were noted as:

•       SMART objectives should be used in the action plan;

•       The contract needed to be monitored to ensure that value for money was obtained;

•       Council staff should be located in council buildings to create to ensure appropriate separation from employees of the contractor;

•       There could be greater focus on the environmental impact as contractor emissions were a major part of the council’s carbon footprint and future works needed to consider resilience to increasing climate variability;

•       The contract was often raised at parish council meetings as a point of concern;

•       The smaller contracts needed to demonstrate value for money and not slip through.

The cabinet member health and wellbeing proposed that parish councils be included within the reference to improved communications.

The cabinet member infrastructure and transport proposed that a progress review be brought back to cabinet after six months.

Both additional recommendations were seconded by the cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets.

It was agreed that:

(a)          The suggested improvements are implemented in a timely manner to improve the performance of the major contracts for Public Realm services and Property and Facilities Management services, specifically:-

a.            Build technical knowledge within the Council

b.            Improve internal and external (parish council) communication and education

c.            Increase the involvement of the procurement team

d.            Set up a contract management framework

e.            Consider an appropriate Contract Management System (CMS); and

(b)          Cabinet undertake a progress review in six months’ time.