Agenda Item No. 4 – Appendix B
Update on the West Sussex County Council Street Lighting PFI Contract
1.
Purpose of Update
1.1
Due to performance concerns noted in recent Total Performance Monitors
regarding the street lighting contract, Members of the Policy and Resources
Select Committee have questioned the financial and contract management
arrangements regarding this contract. The purpose of this update note is to
clarify the current position on those issues, and reassure members of the
actions being taken.
1.2
The focus of this paper relates to the contract monitoring and financial
management processes that are in place for this contract (in line with the
remit of PRSC responsibilities). It does not however directly address
operational performance because:
a) operational performance remains a direct responsibility of the Strategic
Environmental Services Select Committee (SESSC) where appropriate
monitoring is taking place on an ongoing basis, and
b) there is a generally improving picture with regards to performance – and,
in particular, current performance relating to Lights in Light is the best to
date during the life of the contract, currently reporting at 98.8% against a
99% target.
2.
Background
2.1
On 19 August 2009 West Sussex County Council announced that it had
selected Tay Valley Lighting as its preferred bidder for the Street lighting PFI
contract.
2.2
This 25 year, contract covers the investment, maintenance and operation of
street lighting, illuminated signs and bollards. Over the first 5 years (the
investment period) it is envisaged that 80% of the 67,500 streetlights will be
replaced. This is known as the Capital Investment Programme
2.3
The Capital Investment Programme and the on-going operation and
maintenance are delivered by SSE Contracting (SSEC) who also have
responsibility for all public consultation, customer communications and
complaint handling.
2.4
This contract has an estimated value of £339m over its lifetime and will be
funded by a combination of PFI credits (a grant from DfT) and WSCC
budgets.
3.
Current Position
3.1
The current position with the Street Lighting PFI is that after two years in
operation there have been many improvements that have been made when
compared against the previous Contract. Notwithstanding there are some
targets that have yet to be met mainly around the delivery of the capital
investment programme.
3.2
There are many more lights operating correctly across the county than at any
time in the past, the lights currently in light is measured at 98.8% against a
target of 99%. The previous contract required a target of 98% and the
Agenda Item No. 4 – Appendix B
average performance achieved for that contract was 97.5%.
3.3
The previous contract required that lights would be repaired within 5 working
days, however, the average time to repair never dropped below 7.5 days.
The PFI service provider is required to attend any fault within 3 working days
and is currently achieving 94% repaired within time.
3.4
The Service provider receives some 50 – 70 emergency calls each month and
is required to attend any emergency within 2 hours of it being reported. To
date every emergency has been attended within the two hours and many are
attended with an hour.
3.5
The largest shortfall against the provision of the contract is noted within the
column replacement programme where the shortfall currently stands at some
4500 installed columns. The service provider has installed in excess of 5000
new columns in the past two years which more than doubles any
streetlighting replacement programme on record.
3.6
It should also be noted that the cost to West Sussex of these works in
measureable terms is less than the previous contracts and can be ably
demonstrated that a much improved service is being delivered now at less
cost than in any time in the past.
3.7
As a result of the sound WSCC contract monitoring processes that are in
place for this contract, effective negotiations have been taking place with
SSEC to agree plans to address difficulties that have been encountered with
the contract. This led to SSEC issuing a Recovery Plan document in January
2012 outlining actions to be taken. The key deliverables from this Plan
include
a) Actions to support recovery on the capital investment programme - eg:
- recruitment by SSEC of additional team management and administration
staff, and appropriate redeployment of existing staff to provide further
stability and control over the recovery programme,
- recruitment of additional lighting operatives to support a shift away from
significant reliance on subcontracted labour,
- provision of an additional jointing gang (via UK Power Networks),
- employment of additional lighting design staff with a view to bringing the
design function in-house to ultimately improve the quality of design in
meeting standards required, and reducing the potential for customer
complaints, and
b) Actions to address failings by SSEC with their consultation and customer care
process - eg:
- Appointment of a WSCC liaison officer with political management experience
to improve communication and engagement with the public, and enhance
partnership working with key stakeholders (this WSCC appointment has now
been made - to start April 2012),
- Earlier involvement of planners, conservationists and environmental
assessors in the design stage,
- Appointment of additional staff in the SSEC Customer Care Team.
3.8
Members can therefore be assured that progress on the Recovery Plan is now
being monitored through robust WSCC street lighting contract monitoring
processes, and there is strong ongoing commitment from both parties in this
contract to work effectively in partnership to continue to deliver an enhanced
street lighting system for the residents of West Sussex.