Agenda item

Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/28) relating to the County Road Highway Maintenance Capital Budget, including progress on 2023/24 Schemes and proposals for the 2024/25 Programmes and the On-street Parking Account 2024/25, attached.

The relevant Impact Assessment is the Budget Impact Assessment, which has been previously circulated, and is attached as a link for the attention of Members at the meeting - Budget Impact Assessment 2024-25.

RESOLVED

(a) that the progress on 2023/24 capital funded highway maintenance programme, as detailed in Appendices B and C of the Report, be noted;

(b) that due to the Department for Education Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Safety Valve Programme Grant funding agreement being more than anticipated at budget setting in February 2024, it is noted it is now possible to release £10 million of Capital Receipts to support Highways Infrastructure;

(c) that an increase of £10 million to the Climate Change Environment and Transport 2024/25 capital programme funded by capital receipts be approved;

(d) that a further increase of £639,551 to the Climate Change Environment and Transport capital programme be approved, being £455,000 in 2024/25 and £184,551 in 2025/26, funded by the DfT Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant and Green Light Fund.

(e) that the capital funded highway maintenance programme for 2024/25, as set out in Appendices D and E, be approved;

(f) that the detailed allocation of the available budget is determined by the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management, on the basis of the Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan, and within the limits of the approved budget; and

(g) that the programme funded from the On-street Parking Account for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix F, also be approved.

(Councillors Biederman, Dewhirst, Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport (CET/24/28) which sought approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Capital Budget, gave a progress update on 2023/24 Schemes and outlined proposals for the 2024/25 Programmes and the On-street Parking Account 2024/25. The Report had been 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.

The Cabinet noted that the 2024/25 indicative funding awarded to the Council from central government included in the Report had been approved by Full Council in February 2024.  Consideration had been given to the deteriorating condition of the road network, and the need for additional investment, to try to prevent a further decline. As such an in-year increase of £10 million to the capital programme was proposed, utilising capital receipts funding now available following conclusion of the Government’s SEND Safety Valve settlement. 

The Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (HIAMP), approved in April 2023, was a positive output of consolidated learning in recent years, providing a framework to enhance existing good practice and improve the effectiveness of decision making. To better reflect current working practices, elements of the Plan were updated dynamically to better match the changing environment in which the Service operated.

Also, to meet the changing dynamics and challenges in managing highway infrastructure the service must continue to engage with the market sector to encourage innovation that would serve to provide the service with the means to be more versatile in meeting changing environmental, political and funding pressures. Increased engagement through formal programmes of testing and trialling of new proprietary treatments and technologies would inspire development and add value to how the service was delivered. The Report outlined the Cross Asset Innovation Programme which had seen 34 innovation proposals submitted and highlighted that the Council in 2023 had been one of 7 successful bidders to ADEPT’s (Association of Directors of Environment Economy Planning and Transport) Live Labs 2 programme, a £30 million Department for Transport (DfT) funded scheme which aimed to decarbonise the local road network. The Council’s bid (with Milestone Infrastructure and the University of Exeter), would receive £3.68 million to use on bringing innovations together on the A382 scheme with the aim of constructing a carbon negative project.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the capture and monitoring of asset condition was developing at pace and had also been recognised by the DfT who were currently reviewing its road condition data standards through the trial of emerging AI technologies.

Section four of the Report focussed on the Capital Programme and for 24/25 the indicative Highway Maintenance Block (HMB) funding was £29.346 million. In addition to the HMB funding was the 2024/25 Potholes Fund indicative allocation of £23.477 million, plus an extra allocation of £6.663 million from the Network North announcement, which totalled £30.140 million

On the 26 March 2024 the Council was informed that further to the application submitted to a challenge process, the DfT had allocated funding of £639,551 from the Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant and Green Light Fund. It was further proposed to increase the level of investment in the highways network in 2024/25 with an increase of £10 million to the currently approved Capital Programme. The full list of funding sources were outlined in the table at section four and totalled £72,187,000.

Sections 5 and 6 gave a detailed summary of road condition, strategy, statistics and analysis, noting the classification of roads and also the categories of red, amber and green with red being the worst condition and green carriageways in a good state of repair. Figure 1 of section 5 showed the proportion of classified and unclassified roads across the network. The survey data showed the percentage of roads categorised in red condition was 2% for A roads, 3% for B roads, 13% for ‘C’ roads and Unclassified roads were 23%. Appendix A, Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, provides a summary of Devon’s RCI data in a graphical form over time by road classification using the national indicator bands.

In terms of the Capital Highway Maintenance Programme: 2023/24, progress on the 2023/24 Highway Structural Maintenance Programme was shown in Appendix B and the 2023/24 Bridges Assessment and Strengthening Programme in Appendix C. Since 2020 there had been additional challenges due to the impact of high inflation, which had an impact on the spending power of the items within the programme. The Report also highlighted that a total of 212 bridge and structures projects had been included in the annual programme for design, inspection or works. A programme of inspecting and testing circa 10,000 ageing columns had also been undertaken and in parallel, over 1,000 ageing street lighting columns had been replaced.

The Capital Highways Maintenance Programme: 2024/25 had a total allocation of £72.187 million (as detailed in Table 1 of section 8). The breakdown was £64,707,000 for highway structural maintenance and £7,480,000 for the Bridge and Structures Programme. A detailed breakdown of the respective programme elements could be found in Appendix D and E. Key elements of the programme included Highway Structural Maintenance (HSM): Principal Roads (A class roads) and Skid Resistance Treatment (SCRIM). For all roads, local asset programme and preventative programme treatments, minor road strategy, road restraint systems, Highway Lighting Column Upgrades and LED Replacement, Traffic Signal Replacements, Bridges and Structures, Storm Damage (resilience contingency), Cycleways and Public Rights of Way Network, Cross Asset Innovation Programme and Minor Traffic Management Improvements.

The expenditure of on-street parking income was restricted by the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Any remaining surplus must be used in accordance with the eligibility criteria set out in Section 55 of the Act. Full details of the proposed OSP non-operating expenditure for 2024/25, totalling £5.456 million, were shown in Appendix F.

The relevant Impact Assessment was the Budget Impact Assessment, which had been previously circulated, and was attached as a link for the attention of Members at the meeting - Budget Impact Assessment 2024-25.

The Service had adopted a risk-based approach to the management of highway infrastructure maintenance, including setting policy and strategy, establishment of inspection and condition assessment regimes, determining priorities and programmes, procuring the service and the management of all associated data and information.

In summary, the Report highlighted the fact that Government provided insufficient capital funding to meet all network maintenance needs. However, the proposed programme was designed to make best use of the available financial resources using the Asset Management approach. The Network North funding announcement signalled a welcome step change in Government funding during the next 10 years and during the forthcoming year the service would be developing longer-term strategies and programmes of work to make best use of this.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

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

RESOLVED

(a) that the progress on 2023/24 capital funded highway maintenance programme, as detailed in Appendices B and C of the Report, be noted;

(b) that due to the Department for Education Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Safety Valve Programme Grant funding agreement being more than anticipated at budget setting in February 2024, it is noted it is now possible to release £10 million of Capital Receipts to support Highways Infrastructure;

(c) that an increase of £10 million to the Climate Change Environment and Transport 2024/25 capital programme funded by capital receipts be approved;

(d) that a further increase of £639,551 to the Climate Change Environment and Transport capital programme be approved, being £455,000 in 2024/25 and £184,551 in 2025/26, funded by the DfT Traffic Signal Obsolescence Grant and Green Light Fund.

(e) that the capital funded highway maintenance programme for 2024/25, as set out in Appendices D and E, be approved;

(f) that the detailed allocation of the available budget is determined by the Director of Climate Change, Environment and Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highway Management, on the basis of the Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan, and within the limits of the approved budget; and

(g) that the programme funded from the On-street Parking Account for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix F, also be approved.