Agenda item

Purpose of report:

 

The purpose of this report is to provide the CEH Select Committee with performance information on Environment, Highways, Transport, Planning & Infrastructure services within the Environment, Infrastructure and Growth (EIG) directorate, and respond to questions and feedback of the content therein.

 

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:

 

1. 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)

 

2. 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.

 

3. 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.

 

4. 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.

 

5. 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.

 

6. 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. 

 

7. 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.

 

8. 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.

 

9. 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.

 

10. 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)

 

11. 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.

 

12. 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%.

 

13. 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.

 

14. 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.

 

15. 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.

 

16. 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.

 

17. 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.

 

18. 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.

 

19. 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.

 

20. 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.

 

21. 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

 

22. 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. 

 

23. 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.

 

24. 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.

 

25. 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.

 

26. 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:

 

1. The Assistant Director Highways Operations and Infrastructure to hold a conversation with Cllr John Beckett about fallen trees in his division.

 

2. The Assistant Director Highways Operations and Infrastructure to hold a conversation with Cllr Jan Mason about gulleys in her area.

 

3. 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. 

 

4. 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. 

 

5. The Strategic Transport Group Manager to share the LCWIP programme summary with the committee.

 

6. 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:

 

1. Welcomes the performance framework and the range of credible and useful KPIs which provide transparency over performance in a number of vital service areas.

 

2. 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.  

 

3. 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.

 

4. Expresses concern about the results of the National Highways & Transport Services Public Satisfaction survey which reports that for overall satisfaction, Surrey is ranked 94^th out of 111 authorities taking part. Surrey should have an ambition to be in the top quartile.

 

5. 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.

 

6. 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.

 

7. 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. 

 

8. 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