Procurement, PFI expiry, and highway lighting will all be agenda at next month’s Lighting Live 25 – Local Authority in Daventry. The event on 6 February will also be a great opportunity to network, knowledge and check out the latest innovations
The arrival next month of the Procurement Act 2023 will have the potential significantly to affect how lighting is procured now and into the future, especially through local authority lighting teams.
This legislative change is set to feature among a number of important conversations at next month’s ILP Lighting Live 25 – Local Authority CPD event and exhibition in Daventry, Northamptonshire.
Returning for now for its third year, the event, which is being held once again at the Mercure Daventry Court Hotel on 6 February, will see ILP members come together to discuss and learn about some of the challenges and opportunities facing local authority lighting.
The event this year boasts four event partners: Urbis Schréder, Stainton Lighting Design Services, CU Phosco, and Charles Endirect.
There will also be an exhibition space, where exhibitors will showcase their latest products and innovations for members, as well as opportunities aplenty for networking and knowledge sharing.
The whole-day event, which will kick off from 10am (with registration from 9am), will include an expert panel discussion on the Procurement Act 2023, including looking at its ramifications for lighting teams.
PFI EXPIRY
There will also be a keynote CPD presentation on PFI (private finance initiative) expiry by Neil Sennett from Amey and Katie Moreton from Walsall Council.
This is of course another looming change coming down the track for many local authority lighting teams. Neil and Katie will talk about Amey’s partnership with Walsall, where the public lighting PFI is due to end in 2028, making it one of the first council lighting PFIs to expire.
Walsall and Amey have been working in partnership to plan for expiry and all that entails. Neil’s presentation will share the journey so far, lessons learned and the plans for the final three years of the contract, including the final asset survey.
Sticking with PFI, George Bailey of Kiwa CMT (Construction Materials Testing) will examine importance of data collection and testing services ahead of the PFI hand-back process.
His paper will outline the importance of asset verification via data collection surveys and structural testing services as PFI contracts near expiry and hand-back.
He will emphasise the need to ‘know your assets’ and their condition to ensure compliance prior to PFI expiry, and how this is becoming a growing issue for both large contractors and local authorities.
He will also outline findings from major projects, highlighting some of the integrity issues encountered and the need for validation of performance prior to asset handover.
HIGHWAY LIGHTING UPDATES
In a two-handed presentation, WSP’s Allan Howard and Chris Bolt from Arup will examine the new Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) and Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW) road lighting requirements.
These documents, they will highlight, are being revised and updated with the intention of publishing them early next financial year.
Within this, there are significant changes members will need to be aware of. The DMRB road lighting requirements and advice documents (RADS) for lighting appraisal, for example, cover design, inspection and maintenance and have been revised and an additional scheme handover developed, known as RAD (GD501).
In parallel and driven by the changes coming in via the Procurement Act 2023, the MCHW is evolving to become an equipment and system performance specification, something that is a step-change from what designers and contractors will have been used to.
But this is very much just a snapshot of what is gearing up to be a fascinating and informative days of CPD, networking and product innovation, a day that, ultimately, is all about putting the authority into local authority lighting. So do keep an eye out online for updates.
Tickets for the CPD day range in price. Local authority attendees – or those representing a local authority, government, academic or charitable organisation – can attend for free, as long as they sign up by 24 January.
For ILP members representing commercial organisations the price is a discounted £72, rising to £96 for commercial non-members.
Full details, including how to register and book your place, can be found on the ILP website at https://theilp.org.uk/event/lighting-live-25/
This is an abridged version of the article that appears in this month’s edition of Lighting Journal. Click on the page-turner opposite to read the full article.
NEED TO KNOW
What: ILP Lighting Live 25 – Local Authority CPD event and exhibition
When: 6 February, from 10am (registration from 9am) to 4.30pm
Where: Mercure Daventry Court Hotel, Sedgemoor Way, Daventry, Northampton, NN11 0SG
How: register/sign up at https://theilp.org.uk/event/lighting-live-25/
Key partners: Urbis Schréder, Stainton Lighting Design Services, CU Phosco Lighting, and Charles Endirect.
Image: the panel discussion from 2024’s Lighting Live event in Daventry
