To report the Executive’s responses to the committee recommendations in relation to recommendations arising from the report on Lease Restructuring with Hereford United (1939) Ltd and in relation to the task and finish group report on Balfour Beatty Living Places - Public Realm Services.

The Chairman advised that the executive responses appended to the report had been circulated to committee members in March 2015 and the purpose of this report was to enable the committee to receive the responses formally.

Review of Lease Restructuring with Hereford United (1939) Ltd

The Cabinet Member, Contracts and Assets reported that seven of the nine recommendations made by the committee had been accepted; with one partially accepted and another to be subject to a further report to Cabinet and the committee in Autumn 2015.  It was noted that the new lease, with Hereford Football Club, was for five seasons and that dialogue would continue with the club about their tenure of the ground.

In response to a question from a committee member, it was reported that consideration would be given to scrutiny activity in respect of football provision later in the year.

Balfour Beatty Living Places – Public Realm Services (BBLP)

The Cabinet Member, Roads and Transport reported that all thirteen of the recommendations arising from the scrutiny task and finish group had been accepted.  The Cabinet Member commented: on the success of the locality steward approach; that average call responses had reduced to five seconds; that a locality manager had been appointed recently; and that Herefordshire Council had been commended at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation Awards 2015 in the Highway Asset Management category.

The Assistant Director, Place Based Commissioning welcomed the task and finish group’s report and, whilst acknowledging that there was more work to do, considered it pleasing that the progress to date had been recognised.  It was reported that at least 106 town and parish councils were interested in the lengthsman scheme, with many intending to put their own funds into the work.

In response to a comment from the Chairman about the potential to tackle multiple potholes in a single resurfacing effort, the Cabinet Member explained the separate responses required for the different categories of road defects.

In response to questions, the Assistant Director advised that the council and BBLP took their responsibilities very seriously in terms of care for employees and there were regular discussions with locality stewards about their workloads which would be kept under review.

A committee member commented on the following: recommendation 3 (decommissioning and commissioning of contracts), it was noted that there had been some issues on the ground in the early stages and it was hoped that there had been some learning from those experiences; recommendation 4 (keep citizens informed of contract changes), there had been some changes to the grass cutting schedule that had not been notified to local ward members and appropriate communication with all stakeholders was essential to ensure that expectations were managed; and emerging best practice about the customisation of contracts and management of the workloads of lengthsmen should be identified and shared with parish and town councils.  The Assistant Director said that he would have a more detailed conversation with the member about these observations.

A committee member commented on issues with Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO), particularly in relation to the availability of funding to progress the implementation of TROs that had been delayed.  The Assistant Director said that an overview of TRO processes could be provided as part of an imminent member seminar and he would respond to the committee member directly about a specific ward issue.

A committee member drew attention to the suggestion in recommendation 8 that ‘…the work of locality stewards should be monitored closely for signs of slippage in programmes…’ but noted that the executive response did not identify the mechanism to manage this.  It was commented that blockages to progressing some works were not always communicated widely, resulting in locality stewards having to respond to related queries.  The Assistant Director said that the locality manager would provide additional support to the locality stewards and the issues raised would be discussed at a forthcoming meeting.

A number of members commented on the value of the locality stewards and about specific positive responses by BBLP to issues in their areas.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director said that a written response would be circulated to members to outline BBLP response times to queries submitted through the website.

In response to a question, the Cabinet Member said that the council tried to work with utility companies wherever possible to minimise disruption to road users and to update as much infrastructure as possible during major schemes.  The Assistant Director added that, where necessary, the authority challenged the quality of reinstatements following emergency works, with a view to achieving satisfactory outcomes rather than pursuing financial penalties.

Responding to a query from a committee member, the Chairman suggested that members should raise questions about specific roads with the Cabinet Member and relevant officers.

RESOLVED:  That

(a)     the Executive’s responses be noted; and

(b)     a briefing note on progress with the responses to the task and finish group report on Balfour Beatty Living Places - Public Realm Services be provided within six months.