Herefordshire council's maintenance deal slammed

Herefordshire’s leaders have agreed a two-year contract extension with the county’s public realm contractor Balfour Beatty. But opposition leaders claim the contract has been badly handled and has given the county poor value for money.

But opposition leaders claim the contract has been badly handled and has given the county poor value for money.

The arrangement with the international infrastructure company, which began in 2013, gives it responsibility for maintaining Herefordshire’s roads, parks and open spaces, and for street cleaning and lighting.

The decision to approve two one-year extensions, taking the deal up to August 2026, was made by the county’s cabinet last Thursday.

But Liberal Democrats group leader Coun Terry James said he was “very concerned about the performance of, and our control over, Balfour Beatty”.

“What we’re getting, for what we’re paying, is just not good enough, and many people see it day-to-day,” he said.

“We had section 106 [developer] money for a new school crossing agreed three years ago, but now Balfour say that inflation has pushed the cost above that sum. Failure to manage the contract is putting children in danger.”

True Independents leader Coun Bob Matthews also questioned whether the council was meeting its obligation to “robustly manage” the contract.

He gave as an example four dead elm trees at Credenhill, which “were perfectly easy to drop – you or I could have done it”.

“But Balfour Beatty sent eight men, three or four of whom were sat in a field all day,” he said.

“Jobs aren’t assessed properly, it’s costing the council two or three times what it should, and the standard of work isn’t checked. There’s so much waste, and taxpayer sees it.”

Former cabinet member for finance and now group leader of the Independents for Herefordshire Coun Liz Harvey said the contract her group inherited in 2019 was “a mess”.

“We weren’t able to demonstrate value for money, work had just been shovelled across for Balfour Beatty to deliver, and it’s taken us a while to dig ourselves out of that.”

Meanwhile the council has “bled away” its own expertise to monitor the work, allowing its contractor to “write their own cheques”, she said.
Cabinet member for roads and regulatory services Coun Barry Durkin said “issues of value for money are being looked at”.

Service director for environment and highways at the council Mark Averill acknowledged: “It’s a very good contract, but we have let the provider take the lead.”

And though the key performance indicators on which the contractor is assessed are being reviewed for next year, both parties would have to agree to any changes, Mr Averill said – a situation Coun Harvey called “outrageous”.