Issue - meetings

Report ES19081

Members received an update on the performance of JB Riney for major and minor highway works (from 1^st July 2018) and highway engineering consultancy services within the major works contract (since April 2019). The Committee previously considered the company’s performance for L B Bromley on 9^th April 2019 and Report ES19081 outlined subsequent progress.

Although the Council’s previous contractor, FM Conway, had completed most schemes under the £11.8m capital investment for planned highway maintenance (approved 12th December 2016), JB Riney continued to make good progress on the improvement projects with carriageway works due to complete in November 2019 and most footway schemes to complete by Spring 2020. JB Riney had also completed a number of traffic schemes as part of the annual LIP programme.

On reactive highway maintenance tasks (minor highway works) and in-hours/out of hours emergency repairs, jobs have a completion time based on the nature of a defect and risk of causing an accident, usually two hours for an emergency, ten working days for urgent repairs and 35 days for non-urgent works. With a KPI in the Performance Management Framework (PMF) requiring 90% of all maintenance tasks to be completed within the specified timescales, amalgamated performance data against the required job durations was outlined in Report ES19081.

On street light maintenance, the PMF includes completion times for all routine maintenance tasks, with KPIs requiring 95% of tasks to complete within four working days, and 100% within eight working days. Performance against the required job durations were also outlined graphically in Report ES19081.

For the winter service, JB Riney undertakes precautionary gritting and snow clearance works on the carriageway network and footway clearance outside a number of schools in a snow emergency. Although the Council currently owns the gritter fleet, JB Riney is responsible for maintaining all vehicles and to provide drivers when weather forecasts predict freezing or below freezing temperatures. All precautionary gritting is required to be completed with 2.5 hours under the PMF which was achieved in all cases last winter.

JB Riney also undertake engineering consultancy services through their supply chain of specialist consultants and the arrangement has worked well for managing highway structures, various traffic surveys, and a number of traffic schemes commissioned on a ‘design and build’ basis.

Cyclical and ad-hoc highway drainage cleaning tasks have also been completed since the start of the contract. Although completion dates were initially delayed as a back-log of jobs from the previous contract was dealt with, performance is now in line with the PMF. 

On management, the L B Bromley client team continues to have necessary resources to manage the contract successfully, including services subject to Contract Change Control Notices. Although JB Riney experienced a high turnover of key management, administrative and operational personnel during the first year of the contract, the current establishment is considered suitable for delivering all services covered by the contract.

Although performance on street lighting maintenance and reactive highway maintenance was below  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32