SHORTCOMINGS in the standard of upkeep and repair of Surrey's roads are becoming a hot political issue in the run-up to next May's local elections. The ruling Conservatives at County Hall this week heard Lib Dem demands for the resignation of their executive member for transport, after ongoing problems with the Surrey Highways Partnership contracts emerged. Earlier this year, Ringway, the contractor responsible for repairs in the Waverley area, agreed to make a "good faith" payment of £250,000 to the council after being exposed as providing poor value for money. The council decided to renegotiate its contract and that of Carillon, the contractor responsible for the eastern side of the county, which had been found to have overcharged significantly. Councillors have now received audit reports that indicate taxpayers are still not receiving value for money in many cases, with the report on Carillon being the more damning of the two. Issues of accounting, cost control and control of sub-contractors were among those that emerged. And inspectors who targeted a sample of gangs highlighted some incidents of low productivity and unacceptable workmanship. The report made clear that a change in personnel and a restructuring of roles and responsibilities within Surrey County Council as a result of its cost-cutting Business Delivery Review had affected communications with the contractors and "led to some frustration". Lib Dem councillor Sarah di Caprio told The Herald that complaints from the public were mounting, but there were insufficient staff in the department to cope with the backlog of repairs. There are now 50 vacancies out of 344 posts with further savings demanded of the service even after the Business Delivery Review. "Having made people redundant in the summer, they almost immediately had to recruit. There are 11 agency staff and 14 jobs being advertised, so the service will not be up to strength any time soon." She added: "It is one of the things that people talk to us about all the time. People have got problems with the roads and they can't see anything being done. "They have had to shed a third of their staff and they are now having to re-recruit. We had this absurd statement that they could not actually input the data on how many people were off sick, because there were too many people off sick. "We would like to see some action; we don't feel that there has been enough." The Lib Dems would like to see a review of the staffing arrangements, an exit from the contracts negotiated and to look at the possibility of contracting local works to boroughs and districts or other locally managed organisations. "You can't just ditch a contractor, you have to go through certain processes," commented Pat Frost, Conservative county councillor for Farnham Central. Mrs Frost indicated that although Ringway was "not perfect", she had certainly seen an improvement in the situation in the Farnham area, particularly since the appointment of a new highways engineer. "We are starting to get things done and to get things done quickly." She gave the example of the work done by Ringway installing the new mini-roundabouts in Shortheath and Manley Bridge Road. "We were not happy with the quality of the work and the way they were dealing with it. The transport manager was out immediately, on a Sunday and insisted 'we will get it right'." Mrs Frost said she was happy with the way that the Conservatives were handling the situation. "It was the Conservatives who actually identified with the officers that there was a problem and we have changed the performance indicators so that we are able to monitor the contractors." It was by this means, she said, that the contractors could eventually be dispensed with if matters did not improve sufficiently. • The issue of gridlock in Farnham and the need for a Wrecclesham relief road and Hickley's Corner improvements were raised by Mrs Frost at the meeting. She stressed the importance of the projects being included in the county's forthcoming bid for government funding for major schemes. "I am very concerned about the huge developments of housing in Aldershot and Bordon - the road that runs through is the A325 and if development of East Street happens, it will only add to the gridlock," she explained.
