Agenda item

Report of the Acting Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HCW/17/34) on progress with the 2016/17 programme of capital funded schemes and proposals for capital funding of highway maintenance programmes in 2017/18, attached.

(Councillors Brazil, Connett, Julian, Owen and Westlake attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Acting Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HCW/17/34) on progress with schemes in the 2016/17 programme and approval of proposed programmes for capital funding of highway maintenance in 2017/18.

The Cabinet noted that the capital funding settlement for 2017/18 had, for the third year in succession, been based on the Government’s national formula for allocating Local Highway Maintenance, comprising a needs element, incentive funding and a Challenge Fund. The overall levels of funding to this and other Councils generally fell well short of the amount needed to maintain all elements of the highway in a steady state.

The County Council had been allocated £37,611,000  in 2017/18 for the needs based formula based on all highway features, not just carriageway structural maintenance. The ‘incentive formula’ allocation was not yet known but could secure an additional £3,617,000. The Council had to date also been awarded £3,192,000 for its Pothole Action Fund and £3,169,000 from the National Productivity Investment Fund. £3,962,000 had also been allocated under the Challenge Fund for street lighting and further bids for other schemes were being prepared. The settlement for 2018/19 had been confirmed at £34.042m with a similar indicative allocation for each of the following 2 years.

The Chief Officer’s Report now submitted recommended the adoption of a programme which had been designed to make best use of the available financial resources using the Council’s approved Asset Management approach; recognising that without a significant injection of additional funding by Government it would continue to be the case that there would be insufficient resources to allow the County Council to maintain all of the network as it would wish, working towards the objectives of the Council's Strategic Plan.

Members acknowledged that through use of the asset management approach and by selecting preventative treatments, rather than the “worst first” approach, a greater length of the network could be treated thereby delaying further deterioration: nonetheless and in light of the funding issues outlined above some minor road carriageways would remain in a poor state of repair receiving only reactive maintenance to deal with large defects, in accordance with policy. Consequently, the need for careful monitoring of all maintenance work undertaken was regarded by Members as essential both to ensure value for money and effective service delivery.

The Head of Service’s Report referred to the ‘Budget 2017/18 Impact Assessment’ - which related to this programme - previously considered by and taken into account by the Cabinet and County Council in determining the Budget for 2017/18 noting also that individual schemes – which could make a considerable contribution to supporting equality through improving the network - would be fully assessed as would the environmental aspects of any proposals through the separate Environmental Impact Assessment process. 

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability, carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Head of Service’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

It was MOVED by Councillor Hughes, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the progress of 2016/17 capital funded highway maintenance schemes detailed in Appendices I and II to Report HCW/17/34 be noted;

(b) that approval be given to the capital funded highway maintenance programmes for 2017/18 as set out in Appendices III and IV to Report HCW/17/34;

(c) that the allocation of the available budget to schemes be determined by the Acting Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste on the basis of priorities identified from technical surveys and inspections, within the limits of the approved budget;

(d) that the Acting Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste be authorised to amend the programme to maximise its impact within agreed policy guidelines and in the case of any changes to individual schemes exceeding £25,000 to exercise that authority in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management & Flood Prevention;

(e) that the 2017/18 capital programme be increased by £3,169,000 to reflect the allocation of the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) grant.

[NB: The Impact Assessment referred to above may be viewed at:  http://new.devon.gov.uk/impact/].