Agenda item

Dalton Cenac, Highways Asset Manager, and Roy Thabrew, Street Lighting and Signs Manager, provided the Committee with an update on street lighting following the review conducted in 2009/10.

The report was summarised, with key points highlighted:

Outsourcing:

Highways Services was restructured in 2016. Street lighting installation and maintenance works previously delivered in-house had been outsourced to a new external service provider to achieve cost efficiencies and service quality improvements. The Street Lighting Works Term Service Contract was awarded to JMcCann Ltd for a period of 5 years commencing November 2016, with  the option of a 2 year extension.

The scope of the contract included:

1. Capital investment works;
2. Term service works including:
   1. Routine maintenance, inspection and testing of street lighting and traffic signs;
   2. Non-routine maintenance of street lighting and traffic signs to include emergency call outs and on-going fault repairs;
   3. Night scouting;

d.    24-hour emergency call out;

e.    Management of fault reports, complaints and Member enquiries.

3.    Task order works as instructed on an ad-hoc basis based on a tendered Schedule of Rates e.g. street lighting design for improvement schemes.

LED Investment Works

Work had now been completed, on schedule in July 2018, to replace the existing 23,700 sodium lights within the Borough with new LED lights. Approximately 0.2% of lights had not been changed, due to inaccessible columns etc. Phase 1 of the process was to change the lights in order to achieve energy savings as soon as possible. Phase 1 also included the replacement of 700 life expired concrete columns.

Savings

The outsourcing to JMcCann Ltd of Street Lighting Services was expected to deliver net savings of £380k against the previous in-house delivery model, with the associated programme of upgrading existing lanterns to LEDs delivering a further £590k savings through a 60% reduction in energy consumption. The overall saving of £970k was expected to be delivered in full for the 2019/20 financial year, with the outsourcing saving delivered for 2017/18 and energy savings being delivered incrementally as the investment programme was progressed.

Partnering Arrangements

To encourage cross-team working/support with other highways service staff, office space at Harlington Road Depot was made available to the Contractor together with desk space at the Civic Centre. Weekly operational meetings, monthly contract meetings, and six-monthly meetings with senior management were being held.

KPIs / Performance Management

Performance was being monitored and assessed monthly, with KPIs across the following areas:

• Operation of the contactor's quality management system;
• Adherence to programme;
• Financial completion and agreement of accounts;
• Attendance at emergency call-outs;
• Term service works;
• Customer care and responses to Member Enquiries.

Routine fault repairs were resolved in within 5 days, though if there were supply problems, this could be extended to 28 days. Member’s Enquiries (ME’s) aimed to be resolved within 5 days, thought the target was 10 days.

Work was now being undertaken to collect data from councils across London, to enable Hillingdon performance to be assessed against neighbouring authorities from 2019/20 onwards.

Future Works and Priorities

After the initial investment works are completed, the Contractor, (in partnership with Highways), will develop annual programmes of works for both routine maintenance operations and future capital investments, a street lighting policy and asset management plan, and proposals for continuous service improvements utilising new technology and innovation. These included the non-destructive replacement of columns, the de-illumination of bollards, and the replacement of lighting in Council housing estate areas.

Work was being undertaken to draft Hillingdon’s first Street Lighting policy document, which would aim to strengthen the coordination between the various street lighting stakeholders.

The Committee sought clarity on a number of points, including:

How did the 24 hour emergency call-out work?

The emergency call-out was available to fix issues that constituted a danger to the public, i.e. knocked down columns or exposed wires etc. Residents would call in to the out-of-hours team who would arrange for the work to be carried out by JMcCann Ltd.

Had the team acknowledged the feedback from residents that the new LEDs did not provide the same light coverage as the previous sodium lights?

It was acknowledged that the new LEDs were more directional than the previous sodium lights, with less light spillage and a smaller spread of light. In addition no changes had been made to existing lamp mounting heights or column positions. The new LEDs complied with all current lighting requirements, where many of the previous lights were non-compliant.

Moving forward, the next possible phase of the initiative was to target roads which had lights/columns installed under the old, now outdated, policy requirements.  It was accepted that trees could become problematic as they grew in size.

What was to be done with the existing lit bollards located in the middle of roads?

At present, any illuminated bollards that were knocked down were being replaced with de-illuminated bollards. Moving forward, and subject to funding, all bollards would be subject to a phased replacement and de-illumination. Under the terms of the contract, dirty bollards were to be cleaned once every 12 months.

The report made reference to Ward Councillor notification of upgrades, but these notifications were not being received. Why?

This information was made available to Ward Councillors upon request.

Could the Committee be forwarded details of any roads that currently had lighting to old standards or required additional columns, by ward?

This information could be forwarded to the Committee via the clerk.

Performance was being monitored monthly. Could the officers share some details of the performance to date?

Performance and KPIs was being discussed at monthly meetings. Currently, performance was good and there was no cause for concern.

A next possible phase of the LED replacement was to focus on housing estates. Was there any way that housing associations could be involved in the process?

The next phase, subject to funding, would focus on Council housing roads. Private estates and housing associations were a separate matter outside of Council remit, though they could submit plans for their own works to the Council.

The Committee reminded the officers that lights within parks and open spaces also required upgrading.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the report be noted;  and

2.    That information on areas with lighting installations to old standards, by Ward, be forwarded to the Committee via the clerk.