Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from:

Cllr Winston Duguid – substitute Cllr Matt McCabe

Cllr Andy Furse

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

There were no items from the public or councillors.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2021 were confirmed and signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

As the previous meeting was only held a week ago there was no further update from the Cabinet Member.

This report provides an update on the Preparing for the Future Programme.

The Panel considered a report which gave an update on the Preparing for the Future programme.  Amanda George, Director of Business Change and Customer Services, gave a presentation regarding the programme.  The presentation covered the following issues:

·  Preparing for the future programme overview

·  Keynsham Civic Centre redesign

·  Communication and engagement

·  Risk assessments and meeting spaces

·  Technology update

·  Key messages

It will be important to embrace the digital way of working which will provide increased flexibility for staff.  The Keynsham Civic Centre is currently in the design phase.  There will be an increase in the amount of team space including informal meeting areas.  In some areas pods will be installed to provide quiet working spaces.  Up to 650 staff at any one time will be able to work in the Civic Centre.  Around 50 hot desking spaces will also be provided in the Guildhall.

Some staff are currently able to come into the offices to work following a risk assessment by managers.

The first phase of laptops has been delivered to staff and hybrid meetings are currently being trialled which will allow some staff to join meetings remotely.

A copy of the presentation slides is attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

(Officer responses shown in italics)

Cllr McCabe asked about the number of additional journeys that would be made from Bath to get to Keynsham and measures being taken to encourage people out of their cars.  He felt that there should be signage at the railway station to guide people to the Guildhall.  He asked about the use of Citrix to access Zoom.  He queried whether a modular approach to office redesign would be taken in case any changes needed to be made in the future.

The officer explained that there will be a modular approach to the office redesign and that use of the offices will be monitored (e.g. number of desk bookings).  If certain spaces are not being used, then changes will be made.

There will be less travel by staff because they will not be going into the office 5 days a week.  There will also be hot desks available in the Guildhall for people who live in Bath and do not wish to, or need to, travel to Keynsham.  The suggestion regarding signposting will be taken on board.

When staff have Council laptops, they will not have to use Citrix to access Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Cllr Hodge asked some questions about homeworking, risk assessments and whether there will really be a choice for staff.  She felt that figures are needed in advance of planning the design of the Civic Centre (such as the percentage of the overall role that is desk based and how much is collaborative).  She asked about feedback from employees regarding the new arrangements, for example from young staff who may live in shared accommodation.  She asked for more details regarding the equality assessments and the use of hotdesks by external  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

This report gives the Panel an update on this issue.

The Panel considered a report regarding the costs of delivering highway safety infrastructure.  Gary Peacock, Deputy Group Manager, gave a presentation which covered the following issues:

·  Details of the traffic and highways service

·  Service dimensions

·  The process followed once a highway safety issues is identified

·  The transport improvement programme project delivery process

·  Project delivery safety schemes

·  Example of a scheme that has been implemented, including costings

A copy of the presentation slides is attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes.

Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

(Officer responses shown in italics)

Cllr Warrington asked how the staff costs were calculated for each project. The officer explained that the cost of a scheme incorporates staffing costs based on hourly rates and that any work on a capital project is charged to that specific project.  There is also an uplift charge to include overheads such as management and office costs.

Cllr Hughes asked questions regarding the typical percentage of staffing costs, condition of pavements and the rights of utility companies to dig up roads and footways and their requirement to reinstate.   The officer confirmed that staffing costs on a scheme such as the Radstock scheme used as an example was likely to be about 16-17%.  This percentage would be reduced for larger capital schemes where staffing costs could reduce to around 8%.  Footways are the responsibility of the Highways Team, however, as safety critical schemes are given priority footways have not always received the attention they deserve.  Utilities Companies have the right to install apparatus and dig up roads and footways as necessary.  The Council can then ask them to reinstate the road/pavement to the national standard but cannot ask them to resurface the whole footway.

Cllr MacFie asked about the competitive bid process.  The officer explained that the competitive part of the bid is at the time of tender when tenders are compared commercially against each other.

Cllr Macfie also asked about contract lengths and about the metrics used when looking at contracts.  The officer explained that both the Volker and Dinneq contacts are for 5 years with an opportunity to extend.  The contract process operates on a regional basis throughout the West of England and this gives the ability to check rates against other authorities.

Cllr Hodge asked what percentage is charged on the staffing cost uplift and the process for making decisions on whether to install a zebra crossing or signal controlled crossing.  The officer stated that the uplift is 30+%.  This includes all overhead costs.  He stated that officers could look at the cost of providing pedestrian crossings in other local authority areas.  Several different metrics are used when making decisions on schemes including the police accident statistics and location (e.g. whether there is a school nearby), traffic speed and number of vehicles.  Decisions are based on safety and need rather than wholly on cost.  There is also a revenue cost implication when new pedestrian crossings are installed due to maintenance.  Signal controlled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

This item will have a presentation at the meeting.

It was noted that this item has been deferred until the next meeting due to officer sickness.  The Panel sent their best wishes to the officer concerned.

This item presents the latest workplan for the Panel.  It will be circulated to Members following it being updated at their meeting on 28^th June.

Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

The Panel workplan will be considered at the next meeting.