Highways Agency

Report on Responses to the Consultation Document for Local Authorities and Suppliers

Date: March 2005

Contents

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. CONSULTATION
2. QUESTIONS
   • 2.1 Question 1: In what ways do Local Authorities and suppliers want to collaborate?
   • 2.2 Question 2: How can the issues/ constraints on achieving collaborative efficiency savings be overcome?
   • 2.3 Question 3: How could organisations benefit from working together on roads procurement?
   • 2.4 Question 4: How should best practice for roads procurement be identified?

• Annex 1 Statistical analysis of 'tick box' responses
• Annex 2 Statistical analysis of written responses
• Annex 3 List of respondents

Executive Summary

The Highways Agency is seeking further efficiencies through collaboration. Delivering efficiency and best value are central to both the Highways Agency and Local Highways Authorities. By working together we can reap the efficiency benefits that improving our procurement practices can afford.

The Highways Agency's Collaboration and Efficiency Team has been liaising with Local Authority colleagues, suppliers and stakeholders to identify potential opportunities for working together and to establish new working patterns that will achieve efficiency gains.

Some 250 organisations were invited to respond to the consultation questionnaire including all Local Highway Authorities in England, their suppliers and selected government and highways industry bodies.

57 responses were received from the consultation.

The consultation has shown that there is evidence of an appetite for collaborative working and belief that benefits can be achieved.

Proposed enablers include:

• Change of government strategy to support collaborative working
• Cultural change among stakeholders
• Measures and measurement to support the right behaviours
• Better contracts and programming of renewals

1 Consultation

The consultation document through its questionnaire sought to:

• Outline proposals for collaborative working between Local Authorities and other organisations with the Highways Agency
• Highlight the issues and constraints involved
• Establish the industry's views and the best way forward
• Review what changes need to be made to demonstrate efficiency savings

Some 250 organisations were invited to respond to the consultation:

• All Local Highway Authorities in England
• All suppliers of highways services to Highways Agency*
• Government organisations involved in highways
• Selected highways industry bodies
• Local Authorities were asked to involve their suppliers in the consultation

57 responses were received:

• 30 Local Highways Authorities (20% of those invited)
• 21 suppliers, comprising 7 Designers (9%) and 14 Contractors (19%)
• 6 Government and other organisations (60%)

2 Questions

The consultation asked the following questions:

• Q1: In what ways do Local Authorities and suppliers want to collaborate?
• Q2: What are the issues / constraints on achieving collaborative efficiency savings? How can they be overcome?
• Q3: How could organisations benefit from working together on roads procurement?
• Q4: How should best practice for roads procurement be identified?

In each case, at least one 'tick box' question was posed alongside a question requiring a written response.

The following sections detail the responses to each of these questions. The 'tick box' results are detailed in Annex 1 and the written response results are detailed in Annex 2.

2.1 Question 1: In what ways do Local Authorities and suppliers want to collaborate?

2.1.2 Ideas for specific pilots

From the written responses the following ideas were gleaned:

1. Regional framework contracts
2. Single regional provider
3. Full public private partnerships
4. Integrated teams
5. Early contractor involvement
6. Extending the Highways Alliance
7. Realign first quarter spending
8. Bulk procurement savings

2.1.3 Inference

The distribution of responses is not very different between Local Authorities and suppliers.

There is enthusiasm for Local Authorities to have joint contracts (e.g. regional frameworks) with suppliers. Although there is interest in collaborating on techniques for supplier selection, there are few clues as to the preferred form of these joint contracts. Respondents want the timing of contracts to be managed to reduce peaks in the workload. Ideas for specific pilots mostly concern improving the way services are contracted (See also Q2 regarding benefits).

Collaboration on performance measures and measurement is seen as important, suggesting that evidence needs to be made available to support improvements.

Sharing of staff resources and shared training of staff in procurement skills are desired.

Bulk procurement savings were proposed by a number of Local Authorities and suppliers.

2.2 Question 2: How can the issues / constraints on achieving collaborative efficiency savings be overcome?

2.2.1 Tick-box Rankings

2.2.2 Ideas for overcoming constraints

From the written responses the following ideas were gleaned:

1. Controls & Regulations / Political Support
   • Review Government / Local Authority controls & regulations
   • Increased political / Government support
2. More open performance reporting
3. Lead by success of a trial
4. Learning from experiences in other fields
5. Financial incentives
6. Meaningful partnering / output based contracts
7. Sharing of risk & experience
8. Collaborative working through industry bodies e.g. Roads Board, LOTAG, TAG, CSS
9. Communication & cultural focus
   • Communication across & within all parties
   • Collaboration culture disseminated
   • Address different cultural & historical ways of doing things

2.2.3 Inference

There is strong belief among Local Authorities and suppliers that there needs to be change of government strategy regarding the regulation of LA business, coupled with increased support for collaborative working.

Comments on cultural issues are prominent. It is widely understood that cultural change is required to allow collaborative working to succeed.

Appropriate performance measures and measurement are seen as important. The proposed improvements are specific aspects of cultural change, requiring better sharing of information and dissemination of knowledge.

2.3 Question 3: How could organisations benefit from working together on roads procurement?

2.3.1 Tick-box Rankings

2.3.2 Ideas

Examples of the benefits of working together included:

• More sustainable long-term solutions
• Minimise disruption to public at roadworks and diversions
• Framework contracts
• Innovation
• Improve efficiency & effectiveness
  • standard documentation
  • improved systems & performance
• Savings on procurement costs
• Sharing of overall goals and best practice
• Making better use of resources
  • Staff and specialist expertise
  • better ability to resource peaks & troughs
  • greater degree of consistency for tenderers and in specification of works

2.3.3 Inference

Both Local Authorities and suppliers are keen to use collaborative working to establish long- term solutions, underpinned by cultural change and appropriate measurement.

There is broad recognition of the need to focus on the outcomes valued by stakeholders, for example minimising disruption to road users.

The use of collaborative working to achieve economies of scale in inputs, such as managing peaks in staff resourcing, is a common theme.

Improvements to the efficiency of service outputs feature in the 'tick box' responses but not to any great degree in the written responses.

2.4 Question 4: How should best practice for roads procurement be identified?

2.4.1 Tick-box Rankings

2.4.2 Ideas

From the written responses, ideas for identifying best practice included:

• Establish key measures of success
  • consistent & agreed set of KPIs
  • consistent approach to measuring indicators
  • individual groups setting standards
  • lessons learned captured
  • sharing of experiences & successes
• Collaborative arrangement of trials
• Look outside the road sector
• Service outcome
• Value for money
• External inspection / self assessment
• Set up National / Regional benchmarking groups
• Through existing forums e.g. IDeA, LGA, CSS, RCEs

2.4.3 Inference

There is strong support for establishing in the contract the right performance measures linked to stakeholder outcomes in order to drive the right behaviours in the supply chain.

Measurement of supply chain performance against the agreed (contract) criteria is seen as necessary.

Benchmarking of performance against external examples of good practice is seen as equally important.

Annexes

• Annex 1 Statistical analysis of 'tick box' responses
• Annex 2 Statistical analysis of written responses
• Annex 3 List of respondents

• Annexes available as single download (60KB PDF)
• Full copy of this report including annexes (120KB PDF)