FIN(4) AM 08
Inquiry into Asset Management Survey
Response from Anglesey County Council
The Finance Committee are currently undertaking an inquiry into the process of asset management in the Welsh public sector. This inquiry is considering two main areas:
¡ processes involved in the management of the Welsh Government’s own estate; and
¡ guidance, support and the promotion of good practice by the Welsh Government in relation to asset management across the wider Welsh public sector.
Further detail on the terms of reference for this inquiry can be found on the committee’s webpages.[1]
The Committee previously called for information,[2] however due to the limited responses received, now requires further evidence in support of this inquiry. In order to properly understand the issues involved and to gain appropriate evidence for consideration, the Committee needs to develop an understanding of how asset management is approached in local government/health bodies.
To this end, we are seeking further detailed information in relation to the process and practice of asset management within your organisation and would appreciate it if you could provide the information requested below, as fully as possible, and provide examples where you feel it is appropriate.
Strategic links and leadership
1.
How does asset management fit within the organisation’s
overall strategy?
The authority is embarking upon a process of service transformation
which includes the establishment of three programmes Boards to
oversee Island of Enterprise, Service Excellence and Business
Transformation. Running concurrently with this the Council has
established the Anglesey Asset Rationalisation Programme (AARP) as
a key element of the review of the Council’s Capital
Investment Strategy and Asset Management Plan. The asset
rationalisation programme has carried out strategic asset reviews
with a number of key services and is working at a high level to
confirm the Council’s corporate approach to assets, whilst
also reviewing the way in which the Council’s assets will
support service delivery for the future. Asset Management is
therefore an integral part of the organisation’s corporate
strategies for future delivery of public services on the
island.
2.
Does the organisation have an overall asset management strategy and
published plans which support the corporate objectives?
The current Asset Management Plan (AMP) was approved in 2009 for
the period to 2013, and this is currently being reviewed in light
of the work in connection with the AARP. The AMP supported the
corporate objectives at the time of preparation, however, as the
Council’s strategic direction changes the AMP will need to be
reviewed and re-aligned to the new Transformation Plan
priorities.
a. How does
this strategy link into the capital investment strategy and wider
financial planning?
In the past links to the Capital Investment Strategy have been weak
and whilst needs have been identified there have been no clearly
identified solutions which stem from the wider medium and long term
financial planning. The Council is now linking medium term
financial plans to include the full cost of running and maintaining
properties. A schedule of programmed works is being included in the
mtfp subject to value for money assessment in the investment and
proposals for future use of the assets. Plans for closure, sale or
alternative use of buildings will be included in the capital
strategy along with associated costs.
3. Who has responsibility for leadership on asset management:
a. At a
Cabinet/Board level?
Corporate Director Sustainability Development
b. At
Executive level?
Portfolio Holder for Property and Asset Management
c. At Service
level?
Head of Service Property
4.
How are Council/Board Members engaged with property asset
management and how regularly does the Council/Board review asset
performance?
Regular reports are made to the Portfolio Holder and periodic
reports to the Executive and County Council. In 2010 the Council
Leader established a series of Task and Finish Panels to review
assets and identify potential for rationalisation within various
services. Currently there is a Board for the AARP which is in
progress and which meets monthly to receive details of the reviews
are taking place with Education, Social Services, Leisure and
Libraries services. A review of the office accommodation strategy
is also underway and which will form part of this programme of
work.
5.
Is there a dedicated property division or similar? If so
please detail its structure and relationship with other service
divisions.
Currently all property related services are structured together
within the Property Service under one Head of Service. This
includes estates and valuation services, corporate asset
management, energy management, Architectural services, building
maintenance and office facilities management. Property Services
have a number of Service Level Agreements (SLA) in place with other
services and budget holders, for example Schools, Education and
Social Services. A programme of work is in progress to ensure SLAs
are in place with all relevant services. All relevant services are
represented on the Corporate Property Group which provides a forum
for review of capital programmes of work, service asset management
plans (SAMP) and office campus issues.
6.
Across the organisations (e.g. at Council/Board, Executive and
Service level) can you demonstrate that property is utilised as a
corporate resource and enabler of service provision?
The work on-going as part of the AARP will, when concluded, enable
the Council to demonstrate efficient and effective use of corporate
property assets across the organisation to support service
provision.
Systems and Processes
7. Can you demonstrate that property maintenance is supported by adequate information systems? Are these information systems used to:
§ Benchmark performance against that of other bodies; and/or
§ Link with other
relevant systems (e.g. geographical information systems)
Property Services have implemented an asset management system based
on Technology Forge to maintain records of all Council owned
property assets. Property Services maintain asset condition surveys
of all Council owned property and these, along with SAMPs, are used
on an annual basis to determine maintenance priorities. Asset
surveys for all properties are renewed and updated over a 5 year
rolling programme. The Council contributes to the Welsh Government
Core Asset Management (CAM) performance indicators and also the
Consortium of Local Authorities in Wales (CLAW) suite of
benchmarking indicators. These are reviewed annually and trends of
performance for Council property are reviewed at quarterly service
performance review meetings. All Council owned property is
identified on GIS and part of the current AARP work is considering
the “governance of place” by utilising GIS information
to review corporate asset strategies. In addition the Council
maintains an energy monitoring and targeting system to identify
poor performing buildings.
8.
How often does the organisation conduct an options appraisal to
ensure that the property maintenance backlog is being managed
effectively?
Annual reviews are undertaken at the Corporate Property Group to
review the impact of expenditure on backlog maintenance and to
prioritise future spending on needs.
a. Is there a
programme of regular property reviews? If so, what do these
consider and how often are they conducted?
All Council assets were reviewed in 2010 under the work of various
Member led Task and Finish Panels. The current work being
undertaken for AARP is reviewing all property portfolios on a
prioritised basis. These reviews include consideration of how the
service visions support the corporate strategies and how the
Council’s corporate assets can best provide support and
enable the service delivery plans, whilst ensuring governance of
place.
b. Is
information on running costs and environmental impact available to
the review team?
Information on revenue and capital costs is being gathered as part
of the AARP work. Information on energy usage is also available to
inform decisions on future use of assets. Asset condition survey
information over a projected 5 year period is also included in
these reviews.
9.
Can you demonstrate that decisions on new capital projects and
other planned works are based on a clear business case, including
options appraisal and whole-life costing?
To date the Council has not considered whole life costing as part
of a business case for decision on new projects, although this is
an aspiration included within the current AMP. Whole life costs are
now to be included in business cases before decisions are taken.
Decisions with regard to planned maintenance works are determined
at the Corporate Property Group meetings and are informed by a
formal process of risk assessment undertaken through a matrix which
includes and scores a variety of elements including, for example,
health and safety, legislative requirements, service requirements,
availability of grant funding, etc.
Decisions in relation to new capital projects are taken following
consideration of business cases submitted by the relevant services
and following consultation with Property Services. Assessments of
value for money arising from the use of assets are to be monitored
regularly.
10.
How does the property division interact with service divisions,
what are the arrangements for involvement/support?
The SLAs with various services and the Corporate Property Group are
the main formal means of interaction with service divisions. A
Property Helpdesk has been established to deal with day to day
responsive needs from all service areas. Communication at officer
level also takes place to progress specific matters of concern.
Resources and value for money
11.
What are the levels of resource available, at corporate level, to
review property assets and running costs? Is this
adequate?
Currently there are two members of staff within the Corporate Asset
Management Team and a further 3 members of staff are employed
within the energy team monitoring running costs, energy contracts
and identifying energy efficiency schemes. In addition a revenue
budget of some £27,000 is available during 2012/13, but
reducing to some £14,000 in 2013/14, for employing external
consultants to carry out asset condition surveys. The current
provision will need to be increased by one post for a Programme
Manager in relation to the AARP once key decisions are taken after
the local election in May 2013.
12.
What information on the property costs of the buildings occupied by
services is available to senior management, and how is this
utilised by them in considering service delivery?
Costs are available in relation to energy usage and costs, planned
and reactive maintenance and capital improvements/ capitalised
planned maintenance. Energy/ Water usage costs, day to day
maintenance costs, Backlog Maintenance costs and Facility
Management costs are available for Service managers to use which
allows them to compare the performance of buildings their services
are provided from.
The use of this information in connection with service delivery is
under consideration as part of the on-going AARP work.
13.
Does property maintenance have adequate resources to meet its
policy objectives and is sufficient priority given to routine
maintenance within the budget process?
Currently the Council does not have adequate funding resources to
keep pace with maintenance requirements. A number of reports during
the past 2-3 years have highlighted concerns raised by Property
staff that there is a growing risk of un-planned closure of
buildings due to health and safety or environmental issues,
including, for example, failure of heating systems. This risk of
unplanned building closures would clearly have an impact on the
delivery of services across the island, and hence also on the
Council’s policy objectives. There have been concerns raised
during the budget setting process in recent years when maintenance
budgets have been under pressure in the search to achieve budget
cuts.
a. Is funding
maintenance linked to the condition of assets?
No. Maintenance budgets are largely based on historical spend
profiles, however, additional funding is made available from time
to time to meet particular needs and following consideration at
Executive level.
14.
Given the current climate of reducing budgets, is there any
perception at corporate, or service, level that resources should be
diverted directly to front-line services rather than to property
management?
This forms part of a review which is presently underway to examine
and change the current service structure within the authority.
Current indications suggest that the Property function will be
retained as a central provision, rather than being devolved to
front-line services.
15.
Can you provide examples of how the organisation works with
partners to achieve economies of scale in asset management?
A number of collaborative initiatives exist through the CLAW
network. These include the shared provision of standard
specification documents for M&E maintenance and new works,
consortium purchasing arrangements for building components, joint
membership of the CIPFA AMP Network at reduced rates to member
authorities and use of frameworks for the procurement of
maintenance works.
16.
Can you please detail the framework in place to continuously review
and improve the performance of property management?
Property management is reviewed formally on a quarterly basis at
Performance Management meetings at which Board members and the
Performance Team may challenge various aspects of work and
progress.
a. Are there
annual performance plans, agreed by Council/Board Members, setting
clear targets for improvement?
The Council has an annual improvement plan which is approved by the
Council. Annual business plans have been prepared for all services
for a number of years, however as part of the Council’s
Transformation Plan new arrangements for agreeing and setting
annual targets, together with monitoring of progress is currently
being introduced. The Property Service Annual Business Plan is used
to review and improve property management which sets clear targets
for improvement of energy & water usage, property condition,
sale of surplus properties etc. Some of this information is used to
report on the CAM & CLAW performance indicators mentioned in
item 7 which is made available to the public once audited.
b. Does the
organisation include this information in public performance
reporting?
Information on the CAM and CLAW performance indicators is made
available in the public domain.
Guidance and good practice
17.
What if any, guidance is adhered to in conducting asset management
in the organisation?
The Council has utilised guidance contained within “A
Guidance to Asset Management Planning in Wales” published by
WLGA (Welsh Local Government Association) and CLAW (Consortium
Local Authorities Wales) published in September 2001, and more
recently the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
document entitled “RICS Public Sector Asset Management
Guidelines – A guide to best practice” that was
produced in January 2008.
18.
Do you share good practice and lessons learned on asset management
with other organisations/professional bodies, and if so, via what
mechanisms?
Officers within various disciplines share good practice and
resources through the CLAW network and Working Groups. The various
CLAW Working Groups cover the following areas of property related
work – estates management, asset management, building
maintenance, energy management, design, mechanical & electrical
building services. Such matters are also discussed with fellow
property professionals during regular meetings and seminars such as
the CIPFA/CLAW meetings, ACES/CAPE meetings etc.
19.
Would a central source of expertise and good practice be beneficial
to the Welsh public sector, and if so where should this sit?
Currently there is a central source of expertise available to local
authorities and Police/Fire authorities through CLAW and the
agreement with CIPFA in relation to the asset management network.
Currently this does not extend to the further education sector,
health sector or central government, although CLAW has links in
place with Welsh Government through Constructing Excellence Wales
and Value Wales. There would be value in bringing together all
public sector areas in Wales to share good practice and facilitate
greater cross sector use of assets.
a. Would
training in property/asset management be beneficial?
The Council makes good use of training programmes provided by CIPFA
under agreement with CLAW as part of the Asset Management Planning
Network, and also from time to time as part of the CPAS programme.
Other training packages may be of benefit and help to ensure a
consistent approach in relation to asset management across the
Principality.
20.
Would the drive to improve asset management benefit from a repeat
of the Wales Audit Office’s 2010 report on buildings
management?
Probably not. The sorts of issues contained within this request for
information are very similar to those items discussed during the
2010 report. From the original report we know where the gaps are
and what we should be doing but the lack of resources and possibly
political will are the biggest bars to the drive for the
improvement of asset management.
[1] National Assembly for Wales, Finance Committee, Asset Management Inquiry
[2] National Assembly for Wales, Finance Committee, Asset Management Inquiry