Councillors and committees

Issue - meetings

RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME

Meeting: 09/09/2015 - Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board (Item 16)

16 RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 56 KB

The Board is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme.

 

The Board will also receive a verbal update on the work of the winter performance task group, customer service excellence member reference group and highways for the future member reference group from their respective Chairmen.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

            Key Points Raised During the Discussion:

           

1.    The Board noted the Actions and Recommendations Tracker and agreed its provisional Forward Work Programme.  An informal forward work planning session was scheduled to be held on conclusion of the formal Board meeting.

2.    The Chairman reported that at the initial meeting of the Performance & Finance Sub-Group there had been a discussion about ways of working and an outline work programme had been agreed.  There had been an issue about the timeliness of information submitted to the Sub-Group for the meeting, and it had been agreed that meetings would in future be adjourned if papers weren’t received at least two days in advance.  The Chairman would provide an oral update on the work of the Sub-Group at each Board meeting.

3.    The Chairman updated the Board on progress with the Superfast Broadband project, and it was noted that the target of 95% of properties in the programme area having superfast broadband by the end of the year was set to be exceeded.  A copy of the performance and finance sub group update report would be circulated to the board.

4.    The Board received updates from the Chairmen of its Member Reference Groups as follows:

Customer Service Excellence
The Members had visited the Council’s Call Centre and had asked that resources for this service be protected because it provided a key first point of contact which was vital to the reputation of the Council.  The Member Reference Group was reviewing highways contractors’ response systems and had also commissioned studies into specific highways projects such as Project Horizon.  A visit to the Kier control centre had also been held.

A key on-going issue for the Member Reference Group was in relation to communications about highways work, including signage and letters to affected individuals and businesses.  Members were encouraged to let the Group know about any examples of failings in the process.  The issue of inadequate weights being used to secure temporary road signs was raised, and this was noted by the Cabinet Member.  The importance of Members receiving a short bulletin about road works in their division was also highlighted, as good information significantly reduced the number of enquiries and help to set expectations.

10.40 Peter Hickman arrived at the meeting


Highways for the Future
Recent work of the Group had focussed on development of the five-year Highway Business Plan, which aimed to ensure alignment between the Services’ goals and the Council’s Corporate Priorities.  The Group had also reviewed the Asset Management Consultation toolkit, which was used to inform future spending decisions.

A visit to Northamptonshire had been held to see how Kier operated their highways contract there.  This had highlighted initiatives which could be introduced in Surrey, particularly in relation to the social value agenda such as providing employment opportunities for disabled people.

The Group was currently reviewing its findings, and recommendations would be presented to the Board at its meeting on November 2015.

Actions:

 

The Board to receive oral updates from its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16