Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Mike Rouse (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) and John Hobbs (Strategic Director, Economy and Infrastructure).

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 25 May 2023). Further details are available on the Council’s website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

Previously circulated.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

It was noted that information requested at the previous meeting in relation to flooding had not yet been received and it was agreed that the request would be followed up by Officers.

(Indicative timing: 10.05 – 11.00am)

The Assistant Director (Highways and Transport Operations), the Assistant Director (Major Projects and Waste) and the Head of Traffic Management attended the meeting to update the Panel on a number of areas relating to the co-ordination, compliance and control of street works activities on the highway.

The Panel received a presentation and were given an opportunity to ask questions.  In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were raised:

Street Works Overview

·       By way of introduction, it was confirmed that Highway Authorities had a ‘Network Management Duty’ under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and Utility Companies had a statutory right to excavate the public highway to place and maintain their apparatus.

·       Figures to show the scale of the County Council’s permit scheme, including compliance (inspections) and control (via fixed penalty notices), were shared.

·       It was confirmed that inspections of site occupancy took place when works appeared not to be progressing at a reasonable pace.  A Member referred to a Severn Trent site in his local area where a hole was dug and traffic lights set up, but no further work took place for 2 weeks.  It was suggested that this could have been an issue of site occupancy.  Alternatively, on occasions Severn Trent was required to carry out checks on chlorination and water quality and may have had to wait for the results before they could go ahead and reinstate the road.

·       It was confirmed that issues reported through the Member Portal should come straight through to the Street Works Team.  Issues raised with the local Highways Liaison Officer would also be passed straight to the Street Works Team.  The Chairman commented that communication with local Members was key.  It was important that Local Members were able to easily find out what was happening in their divisions.

·       It was clarified that the figure of 48,741 referred to the number of checks carried out and not the number of site visits.  Some of these may be repeat visits to follow up issues identified by previous inspections.

·       In relation to fixed penalty notices for work that had overrun, it was confirmed that this would include instances where work had started late or where traffic management was set up but no work was taking place.

·       In response to a Member question, it was confirmed that steel sheets may still be used to temporarily cover a hole but this would depend on the depth of the hole and other health and safety concerns.  It was confirmed that much was done to minimise the impact of necessary works on road users.

·       It was confirmed that a fixed penalty notice for breach of conditions referred to conditions set as part of the agreed permit with reference to the Code of Practice for street works.

·       The Council employed 8 live-site inspectors to check permit conditions and traffic management and 6 inspectors to check reinstatement works and ensure that the highway had not been compromised.  A daily inspection schedule was auto-generated by the Street Manager system.

·       The number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

(Indicative timing: 11.00 to 11.10am)

Members discussed the Panel’s work programme.

Concern was expressed that performance and budget information for Q4 2022/23 had not been available for this meeting as it had not yet been considered by Cabinet.  It would now be discussed by the Panel in July.  The importance of the Scrutiny Panel receiving timely information was noted and it was agreed that the Chairman of the Panel would write to the Leader of the Council about this.

It was agreed that the following would be added to the Panel’s work programme:

·       Biodiversity Net Gain

·       Environment Plan, and

·       Local Nature Recovery Strategy

In addition, the Chairman suggested that it may be useful to hold an informal session to look at highways related information on the Member Portal.

He went on to remind the Panel that the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board (OSPB) would be starting budget scrutiny earlier this year with the intention of providing Cabinet with feedback and suggestions at an earlier stage in the budget setting process.  It would be important to bear this in mind when the Panel looked at financial data in July.

It was agreed that the agenda for the Panel’s 19 July meeting would cover:

·       Update on Street Lighting (LED conversion)

·       Solar Power Generation & Use/ Electrification/ Charging Points (to include information on lamp post charging)

·       Worcestershire Streetscape Design Guide.