Agenda item

RINEY: CONTRACT PERFORMANCE REPORT

Minutes:

 

ES20247

 

The LBB Assistant Director for Highways attended with Mark Boyle (Commercial Director) and Luke McFarlane (Contract Director) from Riney to update the Committee.

 

The Chairman asked Riney how they perceived their performance. Riney responded that conditions had been very difficult for the organisation due to  a combination of adverse weather conditions and ‘hyper-inflation’. These were issues that had affected performance.

 

The Chairman highlighted section 3.10 of the report that showed a marked dip in performance during the summer of 2022 and he asked for an explanation of this. Riney explained that this was caused by a backlog of work caused by extreme weather conditions. A Member asked if year on year comparisons were available to see if this was a recurrent problem and to see if trends could be identified. Riney responded, saying that they did attempt to identify trends and plan ahead.

 

The Chairman referenced section 3.25 of the report which referenced a high turnover of key personnel, including temporary management roles. This turnover of staff was also mentioned in the report as a contributory factor  adversely affecting performance. Riney stated that work had been undertaken to improve recruitment and retention and that all relevant staff were in position to provide stability for the Bromley contract. 

 

A Member commented that very often the matter of pot-holes would be raised on FMS. The pot-holes would be logged as having been fixed, but in a few days they would ‘pop back out’ again. She commented that these were a serious danger to cyclists. She asked if Riney could use different materials so that these repairs would be more effective. The representative from Riney responded and said that they were not able to carry out permanent repairs in adverse weather conditions where there was for example standing water. In these cases they would have to use temporary materials and undertake permanent repairs later. Extremes of weather, whether this was too hot, too cold, or too wet could all affect repairs.

 

A discussion took place regarding the amount of financial penalties Riney had incurred because of late service delivery. A Member suggested that warning signs be displayed near potholes that had not yet been repaired. A discussion took place regarding the various response times that Riney were required to work to.

 

A Member enquired has to how often Riney went out to look at potholes. The Assistant Director of Highways responded and said that there was a fixed inspection regime and so the Council relied heavily on reports coming in via Fix My Street. The representatives from Riney said that they were now in the process of using new temporary materials which they hoped would be more effective. They acknowledged that the repeated repair of potholes on a temporary basis was not only bad for the Council and the public, but it was bad for them as it was costly to the organisation. The representatives from Riney said that they were trying as best they could to deliver to the KPIs as required by the contract.

 

Members were briefed on some of the innovative products that Riney were working on and these included warm tarmac and single layer asphalt. Warm tarmac was now being used across all of London and reduced carbon emissions. Single layer asphalt was stronger. A Member asked about materials that were difficult to source and it was reported that there was a significant problem in obtaining steel and steel columns. Riney had been waiting for 12 months for steel columns to be delivered and this impacted up on the replacement of rusty lampposts.

 

A Member was keen to receive more data with respect to the two hour responses and requested that the KPI data for February be disseminated as soon as possible. A Member raised the matter of issues being closed on Fix My Street when the  problem had not been resolved. The Director of Environment and Public Protection said that he attended a regular meeting on a Monday to discuss issues pertaining to Fix My Street and he requested that any issues going forward be sent to him directly for his attention.

 

Councillor Turrell said that he was looking at ways in which FMS could be improved and that he would be happy to meet up outside the meeting with Councillor Ireland to discuss this. Councillor Alisa Igoe said that she would be interested in attending any meetings that took place to discuss the improvement of FMS.

 

A Member suggested that if there were issues on FMS that had not been resolved, an explanatory message could be displayed like ‘being worked on.’

At this point the Portfolio Holder for Transport, Highways and Road Safety requested that the updates from the Portfolio Holders be published going forward along with the minutes.

 

A discussion took place with respect to flooding and a Member encouraged people to use water butts; he said that the Council were offering subsidised water butts for sale on the Council website.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Transport, Highways and Road Safety reminded everybody that the London Borough Bromley was a large borough with a significant road network and that winter was not a suitable time to carry out repairs. March and April were approaching with better weather conditions and this would be a more appropriate time to make more permanent repairs to the road network.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Boyle and Mr McFarlane for attending the meeting. He said that he hoped to see an improvement in performance over the next 12 months.

 

RESOLVED that the Committee note the report and the work that was ongoing to ensure compliance with the contract.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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