Agenda item

(1)       The Committee considered a report on the Highways Services including the restructuring programme; relocation of staff, the two new depots, the use of new IT and the new staffing structure.

(2)       Mr Harrison-Mee advised that the full structural implementation would be completed in January 2008, although the new depots would not be ready and staff would need to be in temporary accommodation until the new buildings were completed.

(3)       The Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments.  They were as follows:-

·                    The proposed new structure could create silos of expertise.  How will they work across the services?  Mr Harrison-Mee advised that each of the functions was represented on the Alliance Board.  Area issues go to the Area Liaison Office – they in turn go to the Area Manager

·                    It was felt that the KHS ICT had not been adequate in the past – quality was vital

·                    Members felt that there had been morale problems over the last two years which would continue until the restructuring was over

·                    Members advised that Officers felt there was uncertainty about management “Who was responsible”?

·                    There had been problems with response times to Councillors and the public calls regarding faults.  There needed to be a system of clear response and priorities

·                    Training programmes were required ie., engineers need good communication skills, etc

·                    Monitoring was required – when a task had not been carried out who had the responsibility to do it?  Tasks need to be prioritised.

·                    Road safety was raised as a concern.

·                    The positions; Head of Local Operation and Head of Performance and Communications were key roles.

·                    Members did not want to see officers losing the use of their local knowledge as a result of the restructuring.

·                    Members were pleased to see a closer working relationship with the Borough Councils through secondments.

·                    Members looked forward to there being more emphasis on Development and Planning with District Councils

·                    Democratic Input – need to raise the Joint Transportation Board status.

·                    Frustration was voiced on streetlights that had not worked for years although they had been reported.   Mr Harrison Mee asked the Member to forward the details to allow him to look into this.

·                    Members foresaw gaps in communication to the public in the areas that did not have a Parish Council or a Town Council – Need to look at rural and coastal areas too

(3)       Mr Harrison-Mee responded to the comments advising that the Kent Highways Services (KHS) had over-promised in the past and this would be addressed.  He agreed that the Joint Transportation Boards were needed as a forum to consider and agree the funding, schemes and the prioritising of local schemes.

(4)       Mr Harrison-Mee advised that a key element of ICT kit, the GPS Location System was to be purchased.  This was an electronic notebook with maps and using a pointer the operator could electronically pinpoint the site and allocate a reference number.  There would also be a new monitoring system; this would allow the reference numbers to be available on the website.  He aimed to reverse the 60% of the Ringway gangs spending their time driving and 40% carrying out the work.

(5)       Regarding street lights, he advised that the response time was now 10 days for replacements or repairs.  He proposed that in the summer months work would be carried out to do replacements and in the winter months, repairs.

(6)       On the issue of the morale and the training of staff, Mr Harrison-Mee advised that KHS had the highest age range of all the directorates most staff were over 50 years old.  There was to be a graduate/apprenticeship scheme.

(7)       The new organised structure was to hold people accountable.  The response times would be improved in a way to maximise staff time.

(8)       Mr Harrison-Mee concluded that the service also needed to be able to say no in a reasonable way, being honest about the time something was going to take to do.

(9)       Members of the Committee agreed to pass on any further comments/views on the report outside the meeting.

(10)     RESOLVED that the views of the Committee Members and the report be noted.