Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tony Muir.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 8 November 2021).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address listed on this agenda and on the website.

None.

Previously circulated.

The Minutes of the meeting on 20 September 2021 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

(indicative timing: 2:05 to 3:05pm)

In attendance for this item:

Worcestershire County Council:

Paul Smith, Assistant Director for Highways and Transport Operations

Rachel Hill, Assistant Director for Economy, Major Projects, and Waste

Steph Simcox, Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Michael Green, Senior Flood Risk Consultant

Glenn Lucitt, Contract Project Manager

Mark Morris, Highways Drainage Manager

Severn Trent Water – Tim Smith, Flooding and Partnerships Manager

South Worcestershire Land Drainage Partnership (SWLDP)  - Martyn Cross

North Worcestershire Water Management (NWWM) - Richard Osborne

The Panel received the Annual report on Flood Risk Management in Worcestershire. The Senior Flooding Risk Consultant (SFRO) gave a presentation, commencing with a reminder of the background context of the report and highlighting the Council’s responsibilities as Lead local Flood Authority. The following provides a summary of the key points highlighted in the presentation and the discussion points and questions raised by the Panel during this time.

Understanding and prioritising flood risk

·         The Panel was reminded that all of the partners had worked together on 3 major flood events during the year, with January 2021 being the most significant.

·         A new template had been developed for Section 19 flood investigation reports, which would make the process more efficient.

·         With regard to the development of the new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, to follow on from the current 6-year strategy, the SFRO advised that guidance from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) was awaited. Once this was received a timeline for the development of a new strategy would be able to be drawn up.

·         Local site investigations had been completed in Hagley, Redditch and Wythall following recent flood events and flood risk plans were being produced as a result. The Representative from NWWM highlighted that these areas had been impacted by multiple sources of flooding, and therefore the plans were needed to bring all relevant partners together.

·         The Cabinet Member commented that the Council’s role was one of facilitator, working in partnerships with other agencies.

·         A Member raised an issue concerning Droitwich town centre which had suffered from surface water flooding resulting from a main drain being blocked by developers. The SFRO confirmed that both District Councils and the County Council (as statutory consultees) had a responsibility for sustainable development. The SDLWP representative, commented that he was unaware of this issue, and it was agreed to be followed up after the meeting.

Reducing the likelihood and impact of flooding

New schemes and developments:

·         The full list of completed flood alleviation schemes was included in the appendix to the report, along with others that were planned as well as drainage schemes in the pipeline.

·         For the past 3 years a natural flood management programme had been funded by Defra, which had proved to be very successful. A short video was shown to the Panel of examples of the types of interventions which had been installed in river catchment areas. A new bid for continued funding had been submitted and funding was now in the process of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 426.

(indicative timing: 3:05 to 3:35pm)

In attendance for this item:

Steph Simcox – Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Paul Smith – Assistant Director for Highways and Transport Operations (HTO)

Rachel Hill – Assistant Director for Economy, Major Projects, and Waste (EMPW)

Dave Corbett – Management Information Analyst

Performance – Quarter 2 (July to September 2021)

The Panel raised a number of questions relating to the performance data, as follows:

·         Potholes – A Member highlighted that the detailed information regarding performance requested at the previous Panel meeting, had not yet been made available. The Assistant Director (HTO) explained the current process in some detail. He advised that the Highways Inspector inspected potholes and determined whether they required repair in 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days or 28 days. For potholes falling within the 7 and 28-day categories, the details of the pothole would be recorded, photographed, and forwarded to Ringway for action. If the pothole required repair within the 1 hour or 1-day categories, the emphasis was on safety and ensuring that the required work was reported immediately by telephone. The tracking of the repair was a secondary concern, but the Directorate were looking at this to see how it could be done retrospectively. The Panel was informed that the 7-day repairs were completed in an average of 5 days, whilst the 28-day ones averaged 22 days. The Assistant Director highlighted that to ensure efficiency, potholes were clustered together, but always completed within the set timescales.

·         Members felt that there had to a be a way of extracting more detailed performance information from the Ringway system or have different internal measures. The Management Information Analyst advised that Ringway had previously sent detailed data for the 7 and 28-day repairs and he had requested that they do so again. The Assistant Director advised he would ensure that this outstanding matter was resolved in time for the Panel’s next review of performance data.

·         Other queries raised on potholes, included the length of time between a member of the public reporting a pothole, it being inspected and then them receiving a response. Also, regarding the process that takes place when a pothole is reported. Tthe Assistant Director advised that potholes reported by the public were inspected, and that there were two routes for them to be reported through, either, directly to Ringway of via the Public Enquiries Management system (PEM’s) depending on the nature of the call.

·         Public Enquiries – A query was raised as to why the number of outstanding public enquiries had doubled since September 2020. The Panel was informed that there was a slight increase due to seasonal factors, but the major reason was due to the reduction in road usage during lockdown, and thereby less reporting of issues, which meant that last year’s figures were much lower than usual.  The Panel was informed that the figure had now risen back to pre-pandemic levels.

·         Measuring economic performance – A Member queried how the general measures of economic performance were updated and strategy documents reviewed. The Assistant Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 427.

(indicative timing: 3:35 to 3:50pm)

The Panel was invited to review its current work programme. There were no alterations to the work programme, but the following points were noted about forthcoming events.

·         A visit to the Ringways Depot would be organised as soon as this was allowed. In the meantime, a demonstration of the final version of the online gully mapping system would take place on 29 November, via teams, at a time to be confirmed.

·         A visit to the House of Commons, courtesy of Nigel Huddleston MP, would be arranged as soon as public visits were resumed, to enable members to watch a Select Committee.