BALFOUR Beatty Living Places looks set to lose some control of roads and public spaces as Herefordshire Council brings some management back in-house.

The council has been exploring ways to take back control from contractor Balfour Beatty because the current contract won't deliver the council’s medium to long-term aspirations.

The council’s vision is to design and deliver new public realm services that are fit for the future embracing technology and digital innovation, a transition to electric plant, vehicles and new materials to meet net zero carbon by 2030.

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It also wants to invest in people that support development and innovation enabling the service to continually improve, maximising resources and opportunities to best meet the needs of local residents and communities.

To achieve that vision, the council, working in partnership with the public realm service contractor, wants to select and develop a future operating model that has been determined as the best model to deliver this vision while minimising service and financial risks during this period of change.

The current model sees the council have one contract for professional services and all works.

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But the best model moving forward, which the cabinet will vote on this week, could see client and technical staff in-house, meaning they are employed and based with Herefordshire Council, with Balfour Beatty providing top-up professional services and works.

Coun John Harrington, Herefordshire Council cabinet member for infrastructure and transport, said: “When we came in as an administration we were determined to review the public realm contract.

"The issues I felt needed resolving were not around which partner we use but around the structure of the contract and around whether Herefordshire Council had enough oversight and technical services still with our internal departments, having moved almost all those positions over to BBLP in 2013, under a previous administration.

"Exploring the option of bringing technical and contract management staff back in-house, as well as the inspectors, gives me more confidence that Herefordshire Council can manage the contract better and that we take back more responsibility (with the associated risk) and give clearer direction to BBLP to ensure we get best value for money and are able to give more direction to our partner.”

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Coun Gemma Davies, cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets, added: “This report reflects the four years that we have spent as an administration trying to provide more scrutiny, accountability and best value from the contracts that we procure.

"It is now more important than ever, with the cost of living crisis, that people rightly expect the council to be getting the most out of the contracts that are outsourced.

"This next step of the Public Realm contract journey will allow us to concentrate our effort on those services that are best dealt with an external provider and those that are better placed in-house with the council. I would like to thank BBLP for their readiness to be part of this work to help us achieve the best for the residents of Herefordshire.”