Local councils in the UK are facing a range of challenges, from ageing road networks, to rising repair costs, shrinking budgets and growing public frustration – all of which pile pressure on day-to-day operations, says Chris Newson, Business Development – Strategic Asset Management at Brightly Software. Too often, councils continue to respond to these issues reactively – addressing challenges only after they are reported.
The key to financially sustainable asset management lies in proactive prevention, in order to future-proof assets. Smart, predictive solutions enable councils to identify the risks early – before they become major issues, allocating appropriate budgets and taking action before there is a substantial impact. But how can councils best do this?
Digital capital planning and asset lifecycle modelling tools, can foresee the multitude of issues councils face today, helping them to act pre-emptively, rather than reactively, addressing problems before they get out of hand – or even before they arise at all. Something that managing a capital works programme by spreadsheet, simply cannot do.
Asset investment optimisation plays a key role in this too. It analyses data and strategically allocates financial resources across assets and investment opportunities to maximise returns – all while minimising risk and delivering better outcomes for the council and the public.
An excellent example of this is the perennial problem of potholes. Typically, councils deal with potholes reactively, after complaints are made by local residents, but these repairs often last little more than a few years, making them a poor return on investment and a focal point for public anger and distrust. With the right digital tools, councils can accurately assess where potholes are most at risk of appearing (based on historic data and predictive models), and carry out regular preventive maintenance to (in many cases) prevent them from forming in the first place.
Proactive interventions like this, using tools like Brightly’s digital capital planning solution, Predictor, deliver on value, thanks to the ability they offer to analyse risks, performance, conditions and budgets, allowing councils to be proactive rather than reactive in their operations.
Cross-asset trade-off
Whilst focus is often on the road pavement, with that being any local authority’s largest asset, an asset agnostic approach allows councils to assess issues across all asset types within the wider portfolio to deliver optimum capital programmes, regardless of asset. By employing cross-asset trade-off, councils can determine an equitable spend distribution over their entire asset portfolio, ensuring that each asset type receives the funding it requires to meet service level goals. This can eliminate the repetition of any entrenched historical distribution of funds that may no longer be appropriate.
Driving delivery efficiencies
A key advantage of an asset agnostic tool is the ability to combine asset-siloed projects into unified schemes to drive delivery efficiencies. Having all planned projects, whatever the asset , visible together, optimises works planning, allowing, for example, a drainage scheme to be combined with a pavement scheme in a single project? By consolidating discrete projects into deliverable schemes, councils can maximise the return on delivery.
Proactive and predictive planning supports clearer decisions that help councils to plan strategically rather than reactively, without compromising on performance, managing budgets effectively and maintaining the public’s trust.
To learn more about Brightly Software, visit: https://www.brightlysoftware.com/en-gb/products/predictor
(Picture: Brightly Software)
