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SAC Report No. 2

Roads Maintenance (April 2003)

Summary

The purpose of this report is to set out the process, conclusions and recommendations of the second investigation by the Scrutiny and Audit Committee, "Roads Maintenance". The report has the unanimous agreement of the Scrutiny and Audit Committee.

The report has been prepared after two formal Committee meetings and three informal sessions where members of the Committee heard evidence from 10 witnesses. A series of focus groups were also held to find out about residents' perceptions of roads maintenance. The investigation's final conclusions and recommendations were drawn up by Committee members at a workshop on 14 March 2003.

The report sets out the background to the investigation and how the Committee conducted the investigation. It outlines the context of the investigation by providing information on the main facts and figures relating to the Roads Maintenance service. The key issues and evidence are organised round four main topics – roads condition and investment, management organisation and procedures, service delivery and user information and access. Each topic also has a conclusions section recording the Committee's recommendations about how to improve roads maintenance service capacity and customer satisfaction.

The Committee selected roads maintenance as a suitable subject for investigation in response to the results of the 2002 Aberdeenshire Council Residents' Survey which reported a high level of dissatisfaction with roads maintenance. The purpose of the investigation was to:

  1. Examine how the profile of the roads maintenance budget and treatment cycles have changed both internally and nationally over the past 5 years in relation to need;
  2. Examine the perceived deterioration in roads maintenance highlighted by the residents' survey; and
  3. Identify any ways of improving performance and customer satisfaction.

Aberdeenshire Council's road network comprises some 5,314 kilometres of carriageway, approximately 10% of Scotland's roads. It is a major asset which has an estimated value of £2.7 billion and has a major impact on all residents and visitors to the area.

It is clear from the evidence presented to the Committee that the environment in which the roads network exists has undergone significant change over the past 50 years. Weather events, increases in weight and volume of traffic, different types of land use adjacent to roads and changes in vehicles have all impacted on the road network. There are many pressures on the roads network which need to be addressed both nationally and locally.

There is anecdotal evidence and a perception of deterioration of the roads network but there are no hard data to measure the changes in the state of the roads in Aberdeenshire in recent years. However, it is the widely held view of both professional staff and the public that there has been ongoing significant deterioration in the condition of the road network for some time and this is expected to be confirmed by the objective survey work currently being carried out at a national level.

The Committee accepts that there is a record of under investment in the roads network both nationally and locally. The NRCS will establish a baseline for the current condition of the network and this will help to make a case for additional funding to halt the decline. Investment will be required from both the Scottish Executive and Local Authorities. The Committee believes that the Scottish Executive should make appropriate funding available to councils specifically for roads maintenance. The extra funding should not be ring fenced, with councils spending the money as directed by the Scottish Executive. Instead the problem should be tackled on a partnership basis with local authorities committing themselves to meet outcome targets agreed between them and the Scottish Executive.

With the prospect of a national programme of investment, the Committee recommends that the Council plan ahead by gearing up its delivery systems for roads maintenance. The Committee is convinced that investment in an asset management or management control system is essential. Evidence was provided of the unsatisfactory nature of the current work programme management IT systems which are split between the former contractor system SAVE and various client systems across the frontline services including Transportation and Infrastructure. Reduced IT investment has been a consequence of budget constraints, but investment in a new integrated management control system is essential to deliver efficiencies and improvements in performance. If there is an increase in work due to increased levels of national funding for roads maintenance a new system will be crucial to ensure effective service delivery. The scope of the new Roads Maintenance Management System proposed by the service seems appropriate. The Committee strongly believes that the development and presentation of a case, including a robust business plan, for the RMMS should be viewed as a spend to save priority and be progressed by senior management as soon as possible.

With regard to performance management, the Committee anticipates that there will be significant improvements as the restructured service beds down, while an integrated RMMS would provide a more robust and effective management and monitoring framework.

On a more general note, the Committee recommends that in any future restructuring of services, an assessment is made of the infrastructure required to support the new operations at an early stage and that there is a clear plan for putting the infrastructure in place in a timely manner

The Committee was greatly impressed by the obvious commitment of staff in the roads maintenance service notwithstanding the period of under investment and the reorganisation brought about by external factors. It welcomes senior management's commitment to reviewing the make up of the work force, particularly in view of increased workload pressures and expected workforce retirement rate over the next three years. The Committee agrees that the workforce should be held at a level appropriate for providing winter maintenance but notes that the introduction of the European Working Time Directive may require an increase in the staff complement by up to 10%. The Council should take maximum advantage of this rise by using the additional resources as an opportunity to increase the service's capacity to deliver and to address the problems of succession management and knowledge transfer.

Representatives of the external contractor interviewed by Committee members declared that there were opportunities for the Council to adopt a more flexible approach which would result in cost savings for both the Council and the contractor. The Committee, therefore, urges the service to re-commence a regular dialogue with contractors and to explore the potential for greater efficiencies and cost savings through greater co-operation, use of new products, avoiding duplication of effort, and sharing knowledge of future plans.

In 2001 the T&I Service conducted a Best Value Review into General and Structural Maintenance which included a review of service delivery options. The review concluded that the status quo was the best option, but also recommended that as a future development there should be a further review of service delivery options. On a number of occasions during the evidence gathering sessions there were exchanges about the potential benefits of partnering arrangements with contractors, which have been adopted elsewhere in the UK with some success.

The Committee therefore strongly supports the proposal for a further review of service delivery options, including a detailed examination of the advantages and disadvantages of partnering, together with an investigation of various partnership models. The options need to be considered through the medium of a robust evaluation exercise, including independent output. If this evaluation supports the view that partnering is an appropriate service delivery method, then it should be adopted.

The results of the focus groups indicate that the Residents' Survey results in 2000 and 2002 reflect the feelings of the respondents relating to their whole experience of using the road and therefore are not a robust indicator of roads maintenance performance.

Amongst the public there appear to be considerable misconceptions about the Council's responsibilities for roads maintenance. However it is also clear that many people believe that the roads network is overstretched and more investment is required to bring it up to an acceptable standard.

Whilst accepting the Council's funding constraints, the Committee recommends that the Council adopts the following measures to improve public satisfaction with roads maintenance in Aberdeenshire:

  • Campaigns for more funding
  • Spends more on roads maintenance
  • Better informs the public about the Council's responsibilities
  • Ensures that questionnaires have better, unambiguous questions which allow for trends to be measured
  • Takes steps to further publicise what the Council is already doing
  • Be more proactive in interacting with road users to make them aware of their responsibilities for preventing damage to the network

The report does not contain detailed financial costings for the Committee's proposals because they require further consideration and elaboration by Council, officers and relevant committees. Instead it draws attention to those recommendations with significant financial implications ie:

  • The introduction of a Roads Maintenance Management System
  • The possibility of an increase in the workforce in order to comply with the European Working Time Directive
  • The review of service delivery options, including partnering arrangements with external contractors.

Full Report