Option 30 Report

Appendix E: Research on Alternative Delivery Models in the UK and Abroad

Research was carried out on alternative delivery models across the UK, Europe and Australia in order to assess current practices elsewhere and their possible relevance to this study. A summary of which is provided below:

North Lanarkshire Council (NLC)/Amey Public Services Limited Liability Partnership - Amey Public Services is the name given to the Limited Liability Partnership. The partnership is owned approximately 33% by North Lanarkshire Council and 67% by Amey. Contracts are set for duration of 10.5 years with continual year on year efficiency savings built into the model that both parties work jointly to achieve. Amey is in charge of all maintenance of the road network and provides this service 24 hours a day 365 days a year. This is possible through emergency response teams.
Northern Ireland Roads Service - Roads Service is a business unit within the Department for Regional Development and they operate within the context of the Departments overall strategic objectives. The headquarters are based in Belfast supported by 4 divisional offices in Belfast, Coleraine, Craigavon and Omagh. Each division is divided into a number of sections that correspond to district council areas. About 90% of routine maintenance is carried out by in-house direct service organisations. Motorways and Trunk Roads maintenance is contracted out.
Transport for London (TfL) & London Boroughs - TfL works with 33 surrounding Boroughs to try and improve transport across London. TfL and London Boroughs are currently looking towards a London Highways Alliance Contract to have a more efficient structure for road maintenance. Reasons for joining into a London Highway Alliance Contract are that the London Boroughs and TfL have a strong history of working together. Furthermore the economic downturn has caused budgets for road maintenance to be cut and working with other Local Authorities can allow the Boroughs to find efficiencies and best working practices. TfL and London Boroughs would be split into 4 areas North West Alliance area, North East Alliance area, South Alliance area and Central Alliance area.
Hounslow Private Finance Initiative (PFI) - To solve the problem of a huge backlog of maintenance work, the route of a PFI has been chosen. This is a financial arrangement that provides up front money for improvements needed now, where the payments can be spread over a longer time. Hounslow also secured a government grant of approximately £350m to spend over 25 years for much needed investment work and ongoing maintenance to the roads and pavements. Now the procurement process is well underway and the preferred bidder will finance the investment to tackle the backlog of repairs and improvement works.
Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) - This is a sector led transformation programme across England designed to maximise returns from highways investment and deliver efficient and effective services. The local highway maintenance sector comprises 153 local highway authorities, the contractors that carry out maintenance work, representative organisation and professional bodies. Those involved in highways maintenance delivery, will have adopted an ambitious and long term approach to roads maintenance. This would involve seeking new and improved ways of delivering services to highway users, better management of highways assets, making use of collaborative partnerships to improve processes and outcomes and delivering a sustainable balance between meeting the needs of highway users, improving quality and minimising costs.
Highways Agency - The Highway Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Transport (DfT). Responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. In order to manage England's strategic network, the agency has divided the country into thirteen areas. Each area is assigned an Area Team and a contractor - known as a Managing agent or Managing Contractor. Each area team, with their corresponding Managing Agent is responsible for the maintenance of the Agency roads in their area.
Welsh Assembly - The Welsh trunk road network is run by two public sector agencies, the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency (NMWTRA) merger formed in April 2012 and South Wales Trunk Road Agency (SWTRA), on behalf of the Welsh Assembly. These agencies strategically manage services on the trunk road network, which are primarily delivered by local authorities (LAs). The LAs also manage their own road networks. There are, in addition, various degrees of outsourcing in discrete and term contracts by SWTRA and some LAs.
Midlands Highways Alliance (MHA) - The MHA is an unincorporated association by agreement. Its members are currently made up of 17 local authorities and the Highways Agency. The goal of this organisation is to improve performance, share best practice and make efficiency savings in the delivery of highway services by working together.
Denmark - The Danish Road Directorate is an agency of The Ministry of Transport and Energy. Within this organisation is an Operation & Maintenance department. This group contract out the entire maintenance of the road network. To measure the quality of the whole network it is physically inspected once a year.
Finland - In control of the road network is the Finnish Transport Agency, who report to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The road network is divided into 80 contract districts. Local contactors are in charge of road maintenance in compliance with the service level specified by the Finnish Transport Agency.
Norway - The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) operates under the jurisdiction of The Ministry of Transport and Communications. The NPRA is divided into 5 regional offices, each led by a Director General, with each region divided into 30 district offices. All state road network maintenance is contracted out in Norway. These contracts are performance based and usually last 5 years. Each district could have up to 3 or 4 contact agreements regarding road maintenance.
Sweden - The Swedish Transport Administration is responsible for the construction and maintenance of public roads and railways. The operations and maintenance of trunks roads has been contracted out entirely since 1997. The contracts are area specific and based on 130 operational area maintenance contracts. The contract types used are a hybrid type, which include a combination of performance based and traditional requirements for the performance level of service delivery.
Western Australia - The agency Main Roads Western Australia is split over 10 regional offices across Western Australia. In each region the services they provide are Operational Assets Management, Road Network Operations, Project Delivery and Community Engagement. Main Roads Western Australia has introduced integrated service arrangements to deliver a better service. Through Integrated Service Arrangements (ISA's) Mains Roads are targeting roads maintenance. This is controlled through each regional office and then works in partnership with an integrated service arrangement.