Invitees:

Cllr C Reeves – Cabinet Member Communities

Mark Shephard – Corporate Director Communities

Zak Shell – Head of Neighbourhood Services

The Corporate Director Communities presented a report advising Members of the impact of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy on Highway Services. Between 2011/12 and 2015/16 there had been ongoing savings to meet reductions in public funding resulting in a reduction in the Highways and Transportation services budget of £2.5 million. This had resulted in a reduction in staff and service levels at varying degrees in different sections.

Members requested that the budget reduction in the Highways and Transportation for 2011/12 to 2015/16, (£2.5m) as detailed in the report be presented to Members as a percentage so they were able to better understand the scale of the reductions so far.  

The report also listed proposals that would have to be considered if there were further reductions to Highway Services budgets. Various solutions were being considered to mitigate the impact, including regional collaborations eg City Deal and Regional Transport Authority.

The Committee asked how the authority mitigated against the inability of the service to deal with service requests, FOI requests and correspondence. The Corporate Director Communities explained, for example, that two staff dealt with highway comments on planning applications. If one staff member was off the burden fell on the other officer or work was escalated upwards. This meant there was less capacity for more strategic managerial work which meant external agencies such as Capita were used more than envisaged. The Group Manager – Highway Services added that any absence quickly impacted on the remaining staff requiring a new person to make a decision, not always  with the necessary background knowledge or experience and recruitment was also a massive issue in some areas, for example in Engineering. The ability to respond to enquiries was stretched and backlogs had increased. Members remained concerned at the reduction in staffing levels and stated that they were concerned that they were at a worryingly low  level whereby the service would soon be unable to respond to statutory service requests. The Cabinet Member-Communities explained that she had been making this point vociferously and that this area dealt with 80% of member referrals and had disproportionately high  percentage budget cuts compared to ant other ‘ front facing ‘ service in the Council..

Members asked if the impact on residents was taken into account when considering the removal of a bus service. They were advised that a matrix originally devised by Rhonda Cynon Taff was used which looked at issues such as isolation and proximity of other services or alternatives before removing a service. BCBC had removed some services; other authorities had removed 100% of subsidies because this was a non- statutory area.  Officers advised that previously engagement held with the bus operators, when services had been cut,  had resulted in them agreeing to run 7 of the 12 services that had been cut,  commercially, and that work was still being undertaken on the remaining 5. The commercial sector had tried to pick up the services where the cost per passenger was relatively low.

Members asked if there were any plans to reduce the hours when street lights were in use and when the introduction of LED units would be extended to cover the whole of the County. The Group Manager – Highway Services explained that street lighting was not a statutory service and there was no further programme of change planned to replace the remaining 12,000 units as the original funding had come from Welsh Government Local Government Borrowing Initiative [ LGBI ]   . The position with street lighting would form part of the budget consultation but further cuts were likely to be proposed.       

The Committee asked for more information regarding school crossing patrol provision and noted that discussions had taken place with some Town and Community Councils but not with the individual schools and asked why this was and if discussions were planned. The Group Manager – Highway Services explained that they were in the process of engagement with some Town and Community Councils but not at this stage with individual schools. If and when a particular school crossing was at risk the relevant Town and Community Council could liaise with the relevant school as necessary.   Members suggested that some Town and Community Councils could be in a position to fund certain services and encouraged further engagement with them so funding opportunities were not missed. 

The Cabinet Member-Communities gave the example of Sarn Cemetery where the Community Council paid a contractor to cut the grass on a number of occasions and this made a huge difference. Members recommended that BCBC approach Town and Community Councils for discussions as to what support and contribution they were able to offer towards Community Services that were at risk due to budget pressures. 

Members recommended that Town and Community Councils were provided with a “menu” of services to include financial information on the costs for Community Services at risk such as hazarding gangs, grass cutting, school crossing patrols, weed spraying, street lighting and winter maintenance.

The Corporate Director Communities explained that care should be taken with TUPE and the possible implications and also the importance of adequate insurance was in place. He also explained that it was not always simple to continue to provide the service even if a town and community council made a financial contribution if as part of making a cut the Council had already made its staff redundant or if economies of scale did not allow the council to do this cost effectively if only a few town and community councils wanted to pay for a particular service. 

The Committee asked if the cost of hiring in specialised plant/vehicles or contract staff to deal with severe weather had been calculated and compared to the saving from losing one unit. The Group Manager – Highway Services explained that this would only be required as an emergency response and therefore would fall outside the normal budget.

The Committee asked if it was necessary for 2 officers to deal with Highways planning applications. The Corporate Director Communities explained that the workloads were split so both were required to work on the applications and attend the meetings of the Development Control Committee.  He added that the section had  just about managed to get the planning applications back to the Committee for recent meetings within the deadline due to a few large planning applications being received but there was a lack of resilience and this could lead to the failure to meet deadlines and complaints in the future

Members asked for the latest position regarding parking. The Corporate Director Communities explained that there were a number of issues relating to decisions made previously which meant that current budgets and income projections were not achievable. A fundamental review of car park charges was required for both elected Members, staff and the public. This also linked to increased residents only parking in the Bridgend area. Members supported the proposal of a full review of Parking and suggested this item be placed on the Committee Forward Work Programme for 2017

The Committee raised the issue of weed control and the number of complaints received and that this could be a false economy along with not investing in highways maintenance.  Members raised the importance of liaising with the Town and Community Councils again. Members recommended a review of the proposal to reduce weed spraying to annually as the savings linked to the proposal did not justify the long term risk. Members also raised the issue of missing road signs and suggested that the Town and Community Councils might be in a position to help with this. The Group Manager – Highway Services explained that there was a budget for this and any problems should be referred via the member referral system.

The Corporate Director Communities explained that BCBC had been in an agreement and Joint Venture [ JV ] with Capita Symonds since 2008 , together with RCT and Merthyr CBC, there was break clause in October 2018, but one year’s notice was required to be given. A decision had to be taken whether to continue with the current arrangement for the remaining 5 years of the agreement or alternatively to consider bringing the relevant services back in house, establishing a regional collaboration or setting up a new procurement for a private sector partner.  There was merit in reviewing the position and establishing the best way forward for Bridgend.   

The Committee thanked the officers for the update.

Conclusions

Members remained concerned at the reduction in staffing levels and stated that they were at a worryingly low level in some areas whereby potentially the service would soon be unable to respond to statutory service requests.

Members supported the proposal of a full review of Parking and suggested this item be placed on the Committee Forward Work Programme for 2017

Recommendations

Members recommended that BCBC approach Town and Community Councils for discussions as to what support and contribution they are able to offer towards Community Services that were at risk due to budget pressures. 

Members recommended that Town and Community Councils are provided with a “menu” of services to include, where possible,  financial information on the costs for Community Services at risk such as hazarding gangs, grass cutting, school crossing patrols, weed spraying, street lighting and winter maintenance.

Members recommended that communication between the Local Authority and Town and Community Councils should include the Clerk so that matters can be taken before full Town Council as necessary.  Similarly requests to Bridgend County Borough Council from Town and Community Councils should ordinarily come through the clerk.

Members recommended a review of the proposal to reduce weed spraying to annually as the savings linked to the proposal did not justify the long term risk.  

Further Information

Members requested that the budget reduction in the Highways and Transportation for 2011/12 to 2015/16, (£2.5m) as detailed in the report to be presented to Members as a percentage so they were able to better understand the scale of the reductions so far.