Agenda item

Highways Scrutiny Ad-hoc Scrutiny Committee - Final Report

This report presents the final reports for parts A and B of the Highways Ad-hoc Scrutiny Review and asks the Executive to approve the recommendations previously agreed by Scrutiny Management Committee.

Decision:

RESOLVED:(i) That it be agreed to deal with the scrutiny recommendations as follows:

Scrutiny Committee recommendation	Executive decision
Part A of the Review
i. That the efficiencies and other benefits gained through the PFI approach, as highlighted within the Expression of Interest (EoI) should be weighed against any budgetary inflexibility in future years, when deciding whether or not to proceed with the PFI process.	Noted
ii. That in the event that the PFI outcome is unsuccessful, the key issues identified should be taken into consideration when deciding upon an alternative approach.	Agreed
iii. That in the event that the Council’s EoI is successful, the decision to proceed to the next stage of the PFI process, i.e. submitting an Outline Business Case (OBC), be weighed against the resulting greater annual budget commitment required from the Council if the highways repair and maintenance works are to be carried out.	Noted
iv. That it should be noted that as there are too many unknown quantities at this stage in the process, the total expenditure over the lifespan of the PFI cannot be properly identified.	Noted
v. That in the event that the EoI is successful, careful consideration should be given when deciding whether to proceed to each of the following stages of the process, thereby ensuring a full understanding of the cost implications.	Noted
Part B of the Review
i. That there has been an impact on the repayments to the Venture Fund caused by the delays in implementing the actions agreed as part of the Best Value Review	Noted
ii. The delays in implementing the actions agreed as part of the Best Value Review were necessary	Agreed
iii. The total savings made in Highways Maintenance since the Best Value Review are significantly higher than those identified therefore there has been no financial loss to the council caused by the delays in the procurement process	Agreed

REASON: To enable the Executive to introduce appropriate changes to working practices and/or Council policy and procedures.

Minutes:

Members considered a report which presented the final report of the Highways Scrutiny Ad-hoc Committee in relation to Parts A and B of their Scrutiny Review and sought approval for the Committee’s recommendations, which had previously been agreed by the Scrutiny Management Committee.

Councillor Richard Moore, the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee attended the meeting to present the report and answer Members’ questions.

The report presented the following options to Members for consideration:

(i) To approve the recommendations in full or in part;

(ii) To reject the recommendations and outline alternative proposals, where applicable.

Paragraphs 6 & 7 of the report detailed the recommendations relating to Parts A & B of the review respectively.

Members noted that the final report had already been overtaken by events as the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Highways Maintenance bid had been unsuccessful and therefore a number of the recommendations were no longer relevant. Members of the Scrutiny Committee and officers were thanked for their work on the topic.

Members highlighted that total investment in highway maintenance in 2008/09 was £9,201.0k, compared to £7,007.9k in 2003/04.

Having noted the advice of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED:(i) That it be agreed to deal with the scrutiny recommendations as follows:

Scrutiny Committee recommendation	Executive decision
Part A of the Review
i. That the efficiencies and other benefits gained through the PFI approach, as highlighted within the Expression of Interest (EoI) should be weighed against any budgetary inflexibility in future years, when deciding whether or not to proceed with the PFI process.	Noted
ii. That in the event that the PFI outcome is unsuccessful, the key issues identified should be taken into consideration when deciding upon an alternative approach.	Agreed
iii. That in the event that the Council’s EoI is successful, the decision to proceed to the next stage of the PFI process, i.e. submitting an Outline Business Case (OBC), be weighed against the resulting greater annual budget commitment required from the Council if the highways repair and maintenance works are to be carried out.	Noted
iv. That it should be noted that as there are too many unknown quantities at this stage in the process, the total expenditure over the lifespan of the PFI cannot be properly identified.	Noted
v. That in the event that the EoI is successful, careful consideration should be given when deciding whether to proceed to each of the following stages of the process, thereby ensuring a full understanding of the cost implications.	Noted
Part B of the Review
i. That there has been an impact on the repayments to the Venture Fund caused by the delays in implementing the actions agreed as part of the Best Value Review	Noted
ii. The delays in implementing the actions agreed as part of the Best Value Review were necessary	Agreed
iii. The total savings made in Highways Maintenance since the Best Value Review are significantly higher than those identified therefore there has been no financial loss to the council caused by the delays in the procurement process	Agreed

REASON: To enable the Executive to introduce appropriate changes to working practices and/or Council policy and procedures.

Supporting documents: