Agenda item

Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/19/39) seeking approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Revenue Budget and On Street Parking Account, attached.

(Councillors Connett, Hannaford and Greenslade attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/19/39) seeking approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Revenue Budge and On Street Parking Account 2019/2020, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

It recommended the allocation of revenue highway maintenance funding for 2019/20 by maintenance function as well as a programme of work identified in accordance with the provisions of Traffic Management Act 2004, to be funded from the On-street Parking Account.

The revised Code of Practice, ‘Well Managed Highway Infrastructure’ came into force in October 2018 which moved highway authorities towards a more risk-based approach to maintenance. This approach was used in Devon on highway safety inspections and defects assessed on the level of risk based upon the likelihood to cause harm and the impact should harm occur.

Devon had a duty to maintain a road network of 8,025 miles (12,915 km) and the Report highlighted the three types of maintenance works undertaken. This was reactive repairs such as pot-hole filling, flooding issues, replacing road signs and markings, clearing overhanging vegetation or precautionary salting and snow clearance. Second was routine or cyclic maintenance such as gully emptying, grass cutting, cleaning and clearing of drainage pipes, ducts and channels and then, third, planned, programmed or structural maintenance such as resurfacing, reconstruction and surface treatments etc.

The Council revenue budget for 2019/20 the highway maintenance base budget had been set at £23,115,000 (£20,815,000 in the Highways service budget and £2,300,000 funded from the On-street Parking account) and was made up as follows.

·         Highway Maintenance £7,417,204

·         Bridges and Structures £483,719

·         Safety Reaction £6,058,970

·         Winter Maintenance, Emergencies & Depots £3,462,567

·         PROW £591,851

·         Street Lighting £4,104,000

·         TMC Fixed Overhead Charge £996,689

Detailed allocations by work function were given at Appendix I to the Report, based on Devon's asset management principles and experience of maintaining the network.

The Cabinet noted that the Strategy used a framework to manage the highway network as described in the Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Policy (HIAMP).  With a total asset (under CIPFA guidance) valued at £12.26 billion (Gross Replacement Cost), the highway network was the County’s most valuable public asset. The approach was aligned to three clear business plan objectives to drive efficient delivery of the service, mobilise community support and manage demand for highway services.

They further noted Devon’s transformation approach to ‘doing what matters’, how the service could make fundamental changes to provide better outcomes at a lower cost.  Partnership working was important and community, voluntary and private enterprises encouraged and supported to innovate and run services traditionally delivered by the Council.

In respect of the On-Street Parking Account, expenditure of the income was restricted by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.  The costs of operating the service was first and any remaining surplus used in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out in S55 of the Act.

The 2019/20 Highways Maintenance budget included £2.3m for highways cyclic maintenance and lining works, funded from the account.  Full details of the proposed On-street Parking Account non-operating expenditure for 2019/20, totalling £5.473M, was shown in Appendix II.  The projected closing balances of the On-Street Parking reserve were shown on page 108 of the 2019/20 Budget Book with the estimated balance of the account expected to reduce from £2.999M at 31 March 2019 to £1.583M by 31 March 2020 and £0.489M by 31 March 2021. 

In relation to Traffic Management Plans, there continued to be a high demand for the review and implementation of parking restrictions.  The current level of demand meant the 2019/20 programme was filled with existing commitments, many approved at local HATOC meetings. New requests would be prioritised on the basis of traffic management need, sustainability, and community support for inclusion in the 2020/21 programme.

The Report also reflected on the results of the 2018 National Highways and Transport (NHT) Public Satisfaction Survey, analysis of which showed the condition of the highway network and speed and quality of repairs were important to the public. The complete survey could be seen at NHT Survey.

A copy of an updated overview of the Budget 2019/20 Equality Impact Assessment for all service areas had been circulated separately and was available to all Members of the Council at:  https://www.devon.gov.uk/impact/budget-2019-2020/

The Cabinet finally noted that the service ensured the availability and preservation of a safe and functional highway network which supported the economy of the County.  A key strategic element was to slow the rate at which ‘assets’ deteriorated, notwithstanding that insufficient budgets, would impinge on the standards of maintenance.

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 Chief Officer’s Report and referred to above having been considered:

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

RESOLVED

(a) that the budget allocations for highway maintenance for 2019/20 detailed in Appendix 1, be approved;

(b) that authority to amend the allocations between different work types to maintain the budget within the total allocation and to maximise the impact of the maintenance programme be delegated to the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management; and

(c) that the programme funded from the On-street Parking Account for 2019/20, as set out in Appendix II of the Report, be approved.

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