Witnesses:
Matt
Furniss, Cabinet Member
for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth – in
person
Natalie
Bramhall, Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure
– in person
Marisa Heath, The Cabinet
Member for Environment – in person
Katie
Stewart, Executive Director for Environment,
Infrastructure & Growth – in person
Jo Diggens, Deputy Chief of
Staff, Environment, Infrastructure & Growth (report author)
– in
person
Carolyn
McKenzie, Director Environment - in person
Paul Millin, Strategic Transport Group Manager
– in person
Lucy Monie, Director, Highways and
Transport – in
person
Richard Bolton
– Assistant Director Highways Operations and Infrastructure
– in person
Doug Hill
– Flood and Climate Resilience Manager –
remote
Richard
Parkinson – Resources and Circular Economy Group Manager -
remote
Paul Wheadon
(also attending remotely) Strategic Contract Group Manager -
remote
Key
discussions:
- The Chairman asked
witnesses what areas rated as red they were the most concerning.
The Executive
Director for Environment, Infrastructure
& Growth said that for all areas identified in
red, plans to resolve them were in place. The RED RAG rating for
Road Safety and the increase in numbers of ‘killed or
seriously injured’ incidents (KSIs) was
concerning. The work underway to
develop a new road safety strategy for Surrey was really
importance. The Executive Director
urged communities to engage with the upcoming
consultation. Customer enquiries was
assessed as RED. Improving engagement
with customers across all areas of the Council was also a big
priority. Work was underway to improve
and professionalise the customer experience for
residents.
Highways Keeping the network safe road defects, KSIs,
streetlight repairs)
- A Member asked what
the target repair time was for potholes. The Director of Highways and Transportsaid
that there were three targeted response times based on the severity
of potholes. Repairs had a guarantee of 2 years but as repairs were
conducted reactively where weather conditions varied, the life
expectancy could be shorter. Defects would be picked up in
inspections annually.
- A member queried if
contractors would fix potholes at no extra charge if they did not
last the 2-year quality guarantee. The Director of Highways and Transport
said that it would not be an additional cost if it
was proved that the issue was a failure to repair properly on the
contractors end. The highways inspection staff were able to
identify failure to repair.
- A Member noted that
there was a 49% increase in the number of potholes from 2022 to
2023 and asked if Ringway had provided insight on this and if the
data could be used to project long term trends in defect volumes.
The Director of
Highways and Transportsaid that the increase
was largely due to rapid changes in weather conditions and climate
change. The Executive
Director for Environment, Infrastructure
& Growth noted that other authorities in the
country also experienced the same rise in numbers and emphasised
the need for climate adaptation to better respond to changing
weather patterns.
- A Member asked if it
would it be necessary to implement special measures such as
‘find & fix’ pothole repairs considering the
increase of road defects from 2022 to 2023. The Director of Highways and
Transportsaid that in the last four weeks,
there had been 2000 defects reported by the public compared to 8000
in the same period in 2023. The Director noted that the Service had
become a more resilient force with better capacity.
- A Member asked how
much the Council had spent on pothole payouts. The
Director of Highways and
Transportsaid that 2023 had seen a large
surge with payouts totalling £171,000 compared to
£10,300 in 2022. The Member queried how many claims were
refused and asked for the process of claiming to be made clearer to
residents on the Council’s website. The Director agreed to
provide a written response on the number of claims and would
feedback the comments on the claims process to the relevant
team.
- A Member asked if
there was a team of inspectors inspecting the quality of work done
on repairs. The Director of Highways and Transportsaid
that there was a team that did compliance checks on a proportion of
repairs who would flag issues with the supplier.
- A Member noted an
incident where residents were told that it would take 6 weeks to
fix a felled tree and said that this was not a timely response
considering felled trees raised safety issues. The
Assistant Director Highways Operations and
Infrastructure offered to speak to the Member about
the incident.
- A Member noted that
the Highway Team’s emergency response was excellent but asked
how their capacity was being increased considering the impact
climate change would have on the demand of the Service. The
Assistant Director Highways Operations and
Infrastructure said that there were emergency
response plans in place and the Service held meetings regularly
with officers and contractors.
- A Member asked if
there were solutions around tree roots damaging pavements.
The Assistant Director Highways Operations
and Infrastructure said that the Council was
investing to clear areas such as tree stumps. The Cabinet
Member for Environment noted that the Council had to
navigate the line between clearing stumps but also providing good
habitats for Surrey wildlife. The Cabinet Member asked for Member
support and input in the new Tree Policy.
Highways routine maintenance improvement (Gullies, pedestrian
& cycle routes, lines)
- A Member asked how
much work had been paid to Ringway when there was work still
outstanding. The Director of Highways and Transport said
that in the vast majority of cases the contractor was only paid
after the work had been completed.
- A Member noted that
Ringway and sub-contractor resource issues were flagged as
contributing factors for red performance indicators and asked what
the Council could do to resolve those issues. The
Assistant Director Highways Operations and
Infrastructure noted that issues around the Gullies
Cleaning Programme would be resolved in 2024 but the delivery of
the lines programme had been challenging but was receiving
fortnightly updates for the delivery of that programme. A Member
noted that the 85% target for gullies to be free flowing was low.
The Assistant Director Highways Operations and
Infrastructure said that the intention was to be
realistic and that it would be increased to 93%.
- A Member asked if all
the gullies in Surrey were maintained by the Council and that it
would be helpful for Councillors to be aware of maintenance
timelines. The Assistant Director Highways
Operations and Infrastructure said that if a gully
was on a public highway, the Council maintained them. Gullies were
cleaned every year and every six months in flood risk areas. The
Assistant Director offered to speak to the Member on issues in his
division.
- A Member asked a
question on the Signs Maintenance Scheme. The Assistant Director Highways Operations and Infrastructure
noted that there were difficulties in installing new
signs such as resourcing and the Traffic Sign Manual which meant
there had to be consistency across the country.
- A Member noted that
the parking enforcement deployment remained below the 95% target.
The Assistant Director Highways Operations
and Infrastructure said that NSL, the contractor,
was paid for hours deployed and as such, there were incentives for
reaching the target number of deployment hours. Past problems had been due to low levels of
staff. Surrey now exceeded the average
number of parking tickets issued previously by Districts and
Boroughs. The Assistant Director said
that the Parking Line backlog would be complete by the end of the
financial year.
- A Member said that
the target bus passenger journeys was 2 million and asked why that
was different from the target for bus patronage. The
Strategic Transport Group
Manager said that Bus Service Improvement
Plan set out targets and was first published in 2021 and updated in
May 2023. The Department for Transport had issued a new set of bus
guidance and tasked local transport authorities to provide another
update in June 2024. The Group Manager offered to send the
Committee the number of bus journeys taken in Surrey which was
accessible on the County Council website. A Member asked
for a written response on the Digital Demand Response Transport
service and the Strategic Transport Group Manageragreed.
- A Member noted that
the target for new pedestrian and cycle routes was 5km per annum
but asked if that should be more ambitious considering LTP4. The
Member also asked if the Council was considering other metrics for
measuring active travel. The Strategic
Transport Group Manager said that the target
was still contextually ambitious due to the standards required in
delivering these new schemes. The Local Transport Plan Delivery
Plan that was going to be brought to the Committee in July 2024
would include Active Travel metrics.
- A Member asked for an
update on the Local Cycle Walking and Infrastructure Plans.
The Strategic Transport Group Manager answered that each
District and Borough would have completed a LCWIP by the end of the
financial year which meant Surrey would have Countywide coverage.
The Manager offered to send a Programme summary to the
committee.
- The Chairman noted
that the proportion of waste to landfill had dropped to less than
1%. The Resources and Circular Economy Group
Manager explained that waste that had originally
gone to landfill was now directed to shredding sites and expressed
confidence that the low levels would be
maintained.
- A Member asked if
community recycling centres could operate at pre-pandemic levels
again. The Resources and Circular Economy
Group Manager said that the amount of waste had
reduced compared to before by almost 60%. Sites were currently able
to handle the amount of waste coming through and were actively
trying to recycle as much as possible. A Member queried if as only
1% of waste was going to landfill if it meant that 99% was
recycled. The Resources and Circular Economy Group Manager
said that recycling wastes in Surrey were about 55%
and the rest could be recovering from waste such as waste being
composted so the energy value could be recovered. The Member asked
for a written summary of waste and recycling handling in
Surrey.
- A Member asked if the
Council was on track to meet the target to reduce residual
household waste per household by 50% by 2042. The Resources and Circular
Economy Group Manager said the first step was
actively encouraging residents to use the right bins, encourage
recycling and reduce waste in the first place. Legislating and
encouraging manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging or to
produce recyclable materials was also important.
Flood risk management
- A Member asked if
there should be additional metrics to capture the effectiveness of
the Council’s response particularly to any severe flooding
events such as those experienced by residents following Storm Henk
in January. The Flood and Climate Resilience
Manager noted that the Council recorded 60
properties flooded and 180 externally flooded by Storm Henk. Better
measurements could improve management of flood risks, community
resilience and planning. An annual
impact report would be produced by the end of financial year
reporting on delivery of the Flood Risk Management
Strategy. This could be brough to the
Committee. It was noted that the Council was the Lead Local Flood
Authority although responsibility also rested with the
Environmental Agency and Districts and Boroughs also had authority
for evacuations.
- A Member asked how
the Service was proactively contacting homeowners to clear ditches
to reduce road flooding. The Flood and
Climate Resilience Manager said that the service had
ran media campaigns before winters to remind landowners of their
responsibilities. The Service had also worked with residence
associations in the past which had been helpful.
- A Member noted that
the report stated that performance around management of enquiries
were not being addressed in a timely manner. The Member asked if
these issues were being addressed. The Executive Director for Environment, Infrastructure & Growth said
that a lot of work was being done to improve customer satisfaction
and better integrate the handling of customers. The Highways online reporting tool would be
introduced in late 2024. Improvements were underway to improve
management of enquiries and trying to anticipate peak demand to be
better prepared. The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport
and Economic Growth said that a focal point was
communication and getting things right the first
time.
- A Member asked if the
Committee could be sent a simple written response on the
different areas of
responsibility of the Highways Department as
well as a breakdown of spending compared to previous
years.
- Committee Members
discussed a set of draft recommendations, including the
recommendation that a special public scrutiny session be held on
Ringway, to review the performance of the contractor and the
Council’s performance in managing the contract in light of
the problems experienced with roads last year and escalating
costs. The Executive Director for Environment, Infrastructure & Growth suggested that a visit to the Ringway depot be arranged
instead. The Chairman agreed but
reserved the Committee’s position, highlighting that a formal
scrutiny session may still be required if the informal visit was
not satisfactory. The depot visit would
provide an opportunity for Ringway to explain its operational
challenges and for Members to see the quality assurance that is
taking place.
Actions:
- The Assistant Director Highways
Operations and Infrastructure to hold a conversation with Cllr John
Beckett about fallen trees in his division.
- The Assistant
Director Highways Operations and Infrastructure to hold a
conversation with Cllr Jan Mason about gulleys in her
area.
- The Strategic
Transport Group Manager to provide a
summary report on the Digital Demand Response Transport (DDRT)
service including details of passenger journeys to the
Committee.
- The Highways Service/Head of
Highways to liaise with the claims team to find out: i) of the
claims made how many are paid? ii) what more can be done to ensure
the claims process and claims eligibility is made clear to the
public through the claims webpage and application process. Feedback
on both points to be circulated to Committee
members.
- The Strategic Transport Group Manager to share the LCWIP programme summary
with the committee.
- The
Executive Director for Environment,
Infrastructure/Head of Highways - to share a plain English Summary
of the different areas of responsibility of the Highways Department
plus the amount of money being spent this year and next. Focus
on promoting positives and providing something that can be shared
with residents.
RESOLVED
That the Communities,
Environment and Highways Select Committee:
- Welcomes the
performance framework and the range of
credible and useful KPIs which provide transparency over
performance in a number of vital service areas.
- Notes that it
highlights a mixed performance picture with a
number of challenges particularly in respect of the number of
killed and seriously injured on Surrey roads, the lines programme,
bus reliability, and customer/Councilor
enquiries.
- Expresses
concern around the
efficiency and efficacy of road repairs which is an issue residents
care deeply about; and the efficacy of services that have been
brought back from the Bs & Ds for example parking enforcement
and verge-cutting.
- Expresses
concern about the results
of the National Highways & Transport Services Public
Satisfaction survey which reports that for overall satisfaction,
Surrey is ranked 94th out of 111 authorities taking
part. Surrey should have an ambition to be in the top
quartile.
- Welcomes increased
investment following Task
& Finish to deliver improvements in a number of areas including
customer experience, the lines programme and gully cleaning; and
welcomes plans to publish the gully cleaning programme next year
and the new Highways online reporting tool.
- Requests further
work to improve signage on the highways
network to improve information to residents; and to publicise
mechanisms for residents to report issues and faults.
- Requests that
additional KPIs/metrics be
developed in respect ofcycling and active travel and a target for
reducing the number of car journeys on our
roads.
- Requests scrutiny
by this Committee of Climate Change
adaptation and flood risk management in light of severe extreme
weather and flooding suffered by residents and that this be
scheduled by the end of 2024.
Marissa Heath joined 10:20 AM.
Natalie Bramwell left 11:34 AM