Issue - meetings

This Cabinet report has been developed to: 

1.     Note the allocation of £2.864M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Pothole Funding and seek approval to add it into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

2.     Seek recommended approval to deliver the proposed programme outlined in Appendix A to utilise the £2.864M Pothole Fund award. 

3.     Note the allocation of £4.184M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Challenge Funding and seek approval to add it into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

4.     Seek recommended approval to deliver the proposed programme outlined in Appendix B to utilise the £4.184M Challenge Fund award 

5.     Outline funding shortfalls within Highway Delivery to fulfil Council statutory obligations as set out in Section 41 & 58 Highways Act 1980 and the Well Managed Highways Infrastructure code of practice 2016. 

Seek to address the in-year (2020/21) funding gap for Highway Delivery Services approved spend - to support repairs, maintenance and asset replacement in order to enable the fulfilment of the Council’s statutory duties. 

The Portfolio Holder for Transport and Infrastructure presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

RECOMMENDED that:-

(a)          Cabinet note the allocation of £2.864M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Pothole Funding and approve its addition into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme;

(b)               Cabinet recommend approval to full Council of the proposed programme outlined in Appendix A to utilise the £2.864M Pothole Fund award;

(c)   Cabinet note the allocation of £4.184M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Challenge Funding and approve its addition into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

(d)  Cabinet recommend approval to full Council for the proposed programme outlined in Appendix B to utilise the £4.184M Challenge Fund award 

(e)   Cabinet recommend approval to full Council for the capital allocation of £700k to Environmental Services.  

(f)   Cabinet receives a further report at the earliest opportunity to consider future years capital funding allocation options and impacts for Environment & Growth & Infrastructure Services. 

Voting: Unanimous/Nem. Con. X:Y (Z abstentions)

Portfolio Holder(s):

This Cabinet report has been developed to: 

1.    Note the allocation of £2.864M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Pothole Funding and seek approval to add it into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

2.    Seek recommended approval to deliver the proposed programme outlined in Appendix A to utilise the £2.864M Pothole Fund award. 

3.    Note the allocation of £4.184M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Challenge Funding and seek approval to add it into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

4.    Seek recommended approval to deliver the proposed programme outlined in Appendix B to utilise the £4.184M Challenge Fund award 

5.      Outline funding shortfalls within Highway Delivery to fulfil Council statutory obligations as set out in Section 41 & 58 Highways Act 1980 and the Well Managed Highways Infrastructure code of practice 2016. 

Seek to address the in-year (2020/21) funding gap for Highway Delivery Services approved spend - to support repairs, maintenance and asset replacement in order to enable the fulfilment of the Council’s statutory duties. 

The Portfolio Holder for Transport and Infrastructure presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet were advised that the national funding was intended to fix up to 50 million potholes but was also available for local authorities to undertake longer-term road resurfacing works to prevent potholes from appearing in the first place. In relation to this Cabinet were requested to consider the report and recommendations to Full Council.

RECOMMENDED that:-

(a)          Cabinet note the allocation of £2.864M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Pothole Funding and approve its addition into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme;

(b)          Cabinet recommend approval to full Council of the proposed programme outlined in Appendix A to utilise the £2.864M Pothole Fund award;

(c)          Cabinet note the allocation of £4.184M of Dept for Transport (DfT) Challenge Funding and approve its addition into the 2020/21 LTP Capital Programme. 

(d)          Cabinet recommend approval to full Council for the proposed programme outlined in Appendix B to utilise the £4.184M Challenge Fund award 

(e)          Cabinet recommend approval to full Council for the capital allocation of £700k to Environmental Services.  

(f)           Cabinet receives a further report at the earliest opportunity to consider future years capital funding allocation options and impacts for Environment & Growth & Infrastructure Services. 

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder(s): Environment and Climate Change

                               Transport and Infrastructure

To consider issues within the Transport and Infrastructure Portfolio area including the following scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 30 September:

·       Highway Maintenance Funding 2020/21 report

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Andy Hadley, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Infrastructure

The Cabinet report is attached for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Highway Maintenance Funding - The Portfolio Holder for Transport and Infrastructure introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix ‘C’ to the Cabinet minutes of 30 September 2020 in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

·     A Board member asked what paragraph 22 of the report meant in reference to the comment on an increase in maintenance block allocations in future years. The Portfolio Holder advised that we were coming to the end of the three-year period of the pothole fund and the Local Transport Plan and we did not know what the allocations would be for next year. The Council would need to bid into the Challenge Fund – and would find out in December what the allocation would be.

·     In response to a question regarding road maintenance in Christchurch it was noted that historically compared to Bournemouth and Poole it was underfunded. It was noted that the funding in Christchurch was approximately a quarter of that per kilometre compare to the rest of the area. The inspection regime was more frequent for more urban frequently used roads, particularly on bus routes and there were less of these types of roads in Christchurch.

·     A Board member asked about the various repair dates which had fallen behind. The Portfolio Holder advised that this was partly due to the impact of Covid on the supply chain but also due to staff not being available as they had to shield and it was recognised that there was some catching up to do on this.

·     A Board member asked about the uses of the Pothole fund and whether there was a mechanism for Councillors to get more involved in improving roads. It was noted that funding was limited so it was not possible to undertake any major changes under this fund. However, sometimes opportunities arose to carry out repairs in line with transforming cities or other major works and in these cases the team would do its best to manage how and when repairs were completed.

·     A Councillor commented that approximately three years ago some local roads were given a treatment which did not work and have now been resurfaced. In light of this, it was suggested that the O&S Board could look at whether anything had been done to evaluate the different measures of resurfacing. The Portfolio Holder advised that in some cases a road inspector will fill in as a temporary measure for safety issues but in the case referred to there was an issue with a contractor at the time. The Portfolio Holder suggested member seminar on the issue may be useful. The Councillor stated that he was concerned that this was an issue which needed looking into.

·     A Councillor commented that the highways budget included pavements as well as roads but that he couldn’t see pavement improvements included in the report.  The Portfolio Holder advised that pavements were inspected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62