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ITEM EX11

EXECUTIVE – 15 MARCH 2005

HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME 2005/06

Report by Assistant Head of Transport: Highway Management

Introduction

  1. This report lists the proposed expenditure on highway maintenance activities programmed for 2005/06 from both the capital and revenue budgets.

  2. The available revenue budget of £17,027,400 consists of the agreed base revenue budget, plus a standard inflation allowance of 2%, an additional contract inflation allowance and an ongoing 2004/05 Policy and Budget Plan allowance for the revenue implications of Capital Schemes. In addition there is funding to cover increased energy costs identified within the 2005/06 budget pressures.

  3. Offsetting these increases to the base budget are the agreed reductions to meet the Efficiency Savings and Budget Pressures and also budget virements which need to be agreed to cover a shortfall in the staffing budget. This shortfall is the result of an increase in the insurance premium, the cost of Job Evaluation increases and the unfunded staff costs of previously agreed additional posts.

  4. For clarity Annex 1 (download as .doc file) sets out the calculation of the Highway Management Road Maintenance Revenue budget in tabular form and for comparison shows the sum allocated in 2004/05. In actual terms the budget for 2005/06 is some £200k less than the previous year, however in real terms allowing for inflation and pressures in 2005/06 not there in 2004/05 the difference is in excess of £1m.

  5. The available capital budget of £16,788,000 is made up of £13,097,000 of basic capital funding for highway maintenance plus £3,691,000 emergency maintenance funding for drought damaged roads. The total allocation is from the agreed transport element of the SCE( R) for 2005/06 and will remain provisional until final confirmation of the capital programme within this meeting.

  6. Over and above the SCE(R) allocation a further £3.595m has been specifically allocated to carry out major maintenance on the A40. Approval has been obtained from GOSE to carry some of this funding into 2006/07 to enable the maintenance works to be coordinated with planned changes to Headington Roundabout.

  7. As at the end of January there is a forecast 2004/05 revenue underspend within Highways Management of £375k. This is made up mainly from additional income to budget from charges and general underspends on staff costs due to unfilled vacancies. Of this, £300k will be carried forward to fund an ongoing Business Process Review of Highway Management and the balance will help offset the 2005/06 planned reduction in the Local Safety Programme to meet part of the savings target proposals.

    8. Drought Damaged Roads

  8. The prolonged spell of hot dry weather in 2003 adversely affected many roads in the county due to shrinkage of the underlying ground. A conservative estimate of the damage caused put the cost of repair at about £4.5m. A case was made to the Department for Transport for emergency funding to cover this damage and the 2005/06 settlement contains a sum of £3.691m for this purpose. This is a proportionately better settlement than those received by most other local authorities. Some emergency works, including major reconstruction at A329 Rycote Lane, were accommodated in 2004/05 by adjusting expenditure on assessed schemes. The funding received will permit the cost of the work carried out to be added back in to the assessed schemes programme for 2005/06.

    9. Insurance Premiums

  9. Although we are robust and generally successful in our defence of highway compensation claims industry costs are rising and we face a significant increase in our insurance premiums. This was not known at the time budget pressures were initially identified and an additional sum of £96,200 has been allocated to cover increased costs

    10. Energy Costs

  10. The Energy Contract is due for renewal from 1 October 2005. The current contract was entered into at a particularly favourable time and we have benefited from below market rates for some time. A significant increase in our energy running costs is therefore inevitable. The energy market is currently extremely volatile and we are taking procurement advice to ensure that we get the best deal available. A sum of £300k has been estimated as the likely half year increase.

    11. Service Priority for Local Roads and Pavements

  11. As in 2004/05 the available budget has been prioritised to support the County Council’s objective to improve the condition of local roads and pavements while at the same time holding the condition of the principal road network at its present level.

  12. An early indication has been obtained that the condition of the Principal Road network has dropped marginally from 6% to 7% between 2003/04 and 2004/05. This is acceptable as the stated intention was to manage principal road condition at a level of between 6% and 8%. However any further deterioration may take us outside those constraints.

    13. Overview of Local, Non-Principal, Road Condition

  13. The desperate state of our non-principal roads towards the end of 2000/01 had been significantly improved by the end of 2002/03 by the provision of additional funding, and most locally important roads were in a reasonable condition. In 2003/04 expenditure on larger schemes on these roads was reduced to £0.7m from £4.6m the previous year and their maintenance relied largely on patching and surface dressing treatments. As a result of this reduction in funding, and compounded by the damage caused to parts of the highway network by the extremely dry summer, the condition of non-principal classified roads deteriorated significantly. Budgets were reallocated in order to carry out emergency treatments on drought damaged roads, but not in time to influence the BVPI, which worsened placing Oxfordshire in the bottom quartile for non-principal classified road condition.

  14. The total amount of repairs justified by assessment continues to be very high - roads are still fragile and vulnerable to weather damage, and we are still not repairing minor rural roads and urban estate roads other than doing urgent repairs. The overall maintenance backlog cannot be accurately determined but currently stands at well over £100m with about 90% of this attributable to the non-principal road network.

  15. However, the increased spend on secondary roads in recent years may now be having an effect. We still do not have BVPI data on the condition of local roads and footways for 2004/05 in which we have full confidence. Provisional survey results suggest some very encouraging improvement, but there are as yet some unresolved issues about the software provided by DfT and used by our survey contractor and we want to carry out further checks before drawing firm conclusions. This is being urgently pursued.

  16. It is a fact that sustained spending is required for deterioration to be controlled and improvements maintained. 2005/06 funding is therefore targeted at improving the condition of non-principal roads by increasing the Assessed Carriageway Schemes and Surface Dressing budgets. The bulk of the £3.69 million grant for drought damage will also be spent on the non-principal network. Improvements in BVPI 97a (non-principal classified roads) in particular, will impact on the CPA score for highways.

    17. Principal Roads (‘A’ numbered roads)

  17. The priority and investment given to principal road strengthening has improved the condition of these roads to the point that the target set in the Local Transport Plan was met by the end of 2002/03, and the rate of improvement placed Oxfordshire in the top quartile for principal road condition. With the exception of roads particularly affected by drought damage principal roads are now at what is regarded as an optimum condition level and the aim is to keep condition at this level in the future. The condition prediction model based on surveys of road strength shows that spending in future years will need to increase to keep principal roads at the optimum condition of 6-8% of the road length requiring strengthening at any time, and to meet our other LTP target of reducing the numbers of injury accidents involving skidding on wet roads. The sensitivity of this BVPI to expenditure is born out by the marginal drop from 6% to 7% between 2003/04 and 2004/05.

  18. The Principal Roads budget is increased by £3.6 million in 2005/06 for crucial works on the A40 Northern bypass. Approximately £1.2 million of this ring-fenced money will be carried forward to spring 2006 to co-ordinate with the construction of the improvements at Headington (Green Road) Roundabout. All work on the A40 and surrounding road network will be co-ordinated closely with planned Highways Agency carriageway schemes on A34 and bridge works on the A40. Project appraisals for structural maintenance schemes in excess of £500k are included in Annex 5 (download as .doc file) .

    19. Footway (Pavement) Conditions

  19. An increased level of funding for footways has been maintained in recent years with positive results. The year-on-year assessment ratings that signal the need for repair and, consequently, the level to which deterioration has occurred on footways across the county as a whole has been reduced. The provisional BVPI also supports this view. However, it must be stressed that there are large numbers of footways whose condition justifies repair but which still do not make the programme.

    20. Oxford City Centre Improvements

  20. As in 2004/05 £400k of the 2005/06 budget has been allocated to footway improvements in the centre of Oxford. This continues our commitment with Oxford City Council to improving the appearance and cleanliness of the city centre where funds have recently been directed towards the repaving of George Street and the footways over Folly Bridge. The intention in 2005/06 is to repave New Road in the vicinity of the Oxford Castle site when the development works have been completed.

    21. Drainage System Maintenance

  21. During 2004/05 the initial budget allocation of £300k was increased in recognition of the increasing number of local flooding problems and the high level of public concern that this has caused. This increase has allowed the completion of 29 drainage schemes including two larger schemes at Aston Tirrold and Brize Norton. Drainage schemes are prioritised based on the need to protect highways and property from flooding and although good progress is being made in delivering the drainage programme there are still a significant number of schemes to be completed. The budget allocation will now be set at £350k to reflect the number of outstanding schemes. In recognition of the recommendations of Scrutiny the gully emptying budget was increased in 2004/05 to permit the more frequent cleaning of locations with persistent problems, this level of funding will be increased again in 2005/06. However this is still insufficient to return to 2 cleaning cycles a year for most road gullies.

    22. Bridge Maintenance

  22. The structural maintenance basic allocation includes a significant sum for the repair of road/rail bridges. Due to national difficulties in obtaining commitment from Network Rail to the agreement of works programmes it is extremely unlikely that any more than £1.75m will be spent on structural (LTP) bridge maintenance and strengthening during the year. The overall maintenance budget has therefore been based on the premise that bridge maintenance funding over and above that figure will be added to the roads budget in the short term and repaid when the outstanding bridgeworks are committed. The revenue allocation for routine bridge maintenance remains at the same level in real terms as 2004/05.

    23. Allocation of the available budget to the programme

  23. The use of the available budget has been prioritised to support the County Council’s objective to improve the condition of local roads and pavements while at the same time holding the condition of the principal road network at its present level. The use of the available budget can be summarised as;

    • Drought damaged roads – of the £3.69m grant received, £1.28m has been vired to the Non-Principal Roads Assessed Schemes budget, and £150k to the general Principal Roads budget in lieu of funds spent last year on drought damage repairs. The remaining £1.76m will be spent on the prioritised list of drought damaged road schemes together with a further £0.5m allocated for specific patching repairs on drought damaged roads.

    • Principal roads structural maintenance – funding of urgent schemes on critical routes.

    • Non-Principal roads assessed programme – significantly increased capital allocation to improve condition of non-principal classified roads.

    • Bridge strengthening – smaller programme in 2005/06 to reflect uncertainties in Network Rail works programme.

    • Drainage - capital spending increased to £350k.

    • Gully emptying – increased again to reflect Scrutiny concerns.

    • Surface Dressing - the treatment most roads will still rely on to preserve them for the future – increased to £3.65m to help improve non-principal roads. Increased budget also reflects the priority given to maintaining skid resistant surfaces.

    • Patching – funds for surface dressing pre-patching are now identified separately within the surface dressing budget. The allocation for General Structural Maintenance is therefore effectively greater in 2005/06.

    • Planned footway repairs – maintained at 2003/04 levels.

    • Tree and landscape maintenance increased to £358k for continuance of Tree Management Action Plan, and to reflect changes in establishment (2 aboriculturalists now in post and actively addressing backlog of tree-works). Additional funds have also been directed to tree works on classified roads in Oxford.

    • Road condition surveys budget set at £300k for carriageway and footway condition assessment, and information gathering to support BVPIs.

    • £485k set aside for Safety Fence inspection, testing and repair.

    • £930k for Aids to Movement, primarily for survey, assessment and repair of road markings and road studs, following introduction of more rigorous national standards.

Oxford City Section 42 Submission and Allocation

  1. Officer level discussions are being held with Oxford City Council to establish the best way of delivering a range of highway services but no conclusion is expected before the start of the 2005/06 financial year. In the meantime Oxford City Council have claimed their right under Section 42 of the Highways Act to maintain the unclassified roads in Oxford. Section 42 requires the City Council to submit by 15 December an estimate of maintenance works costs for the following financial year. The County Council may approve the estimate as submitted or with modifications.

  2. The City Council have submitted their estimate as required and this is shown in Column A of Annex 3. The estimate includes the cost of repairs to all defects noted on all of the unclassified roads and is the equivalent within Oxford of the total backlog for the County as a whole. The recommended modified estimate is shown in Column B. The modified estimate carries on the basis of the 2004/05 figures, as agreed, adjusted by a proportionate share of any generally applicable budget changes. The modified estimates for assessed carriageway and footway schemes are the totals of schemes in Oxford City which have been through the same rating process as all other similar schemes in the county and are included in the programme lists in the Members’ Resource Centre.

    3. Snow Clearing

  3. The County Council has a duty under the Highways Act 1980 to remove snow from the highway. Section 150 (1) states that "if an obstruction arises in a highway from accumulation of snow or from the falling down of banks on the side of the highway, or from any other cause, the highway authority shall remove the obstruction".

  4. It is generally accepted that any accumulation of snow which prevents safe or convenient access to any community has to be cleared as quickly as possible in compliance of this duty.

  5. There are no funds within the Environment & Economy budgets to clear snow, which could cost between £250,000 and £500,000 per day. The current policy of the Council is a resolution of the Strategy & Resources Committee from February 1994 to:

    6. "instruct the County Engineer to use his professional judgement in determining whether it is necessary to incur expenditure on snow clearing and that any costs should then be the subject of a supplementary estimate."

  6. The intention of the Committee in agreeing this resolution was that the supplementary estimate would be granted unless the financial position of the authority precluded it.

  7. There is concern that there should be sufficient balances available to the Council to enable the Executive to agree to a supplementary estimate and thereby protect other budgets in Environment & Economy, and to ensure that the County Council’s duty is undertaken.

  8. In order that there is clarity about the process which should come into place in the event of there being a substantial snowfall, it was felt appropriate to establish an agreed protocol. A suggested "Protocol for the financial implications of Snow Clearance" is attached at Annex 6 (download as .doc file).

    9. Summary Tables

  9. Annex 1 contains a breakdown of the Highway Management revenue budget (download as .doc file)

  10. A summary of the planned expenditure on all activities is shown in Annex 2.(download as .doc file)

  11. Annex 3 is Oxford City Council S.42 estimate and recommended modified estimate as explained above. (download as .doc file)

  12. Annex 4 is a summary of the standards of non-assessed maintenance activities and budgets.(download as .doc file)

  13. Annex 5 contains Capital Project Detailed Resource Appraisals for the A40 and A4144 Abingdon Road Structural Maintenance schemes.(download as .doc file)

  14. Lists of the individual schemes included in the programme on the basis of the ratings derived from surveys of each site have been put in the Members’ Resource Centre. Separate lists are given for drought damaged roads, principal roads, non-principal roads and footway schemes.
  15. Annex 6 sets out the Protocol for the Financial Implications of Snow Clearance. (download as .doc file)

    16. RECOMMENDATIONS

  16. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to;

          1. endorse the details of the 2005/06 Highway Maintenance programme as set out in Annex 2.(download as .doc file), subject to confirmation of the capital funding for structural maintenance;

          2. approve the Oxford City Council’s Section 42 estimate as modified and shown in Column B of Annex 3 (download as .doc file) ;

          3. approve the Detailed Project Appraisals at Annex 5 (download as .doc file); and

          4. approve the Protocol for the Financial Implications of Snow Clearance at Annex 6 (download as .doc file) .

BRIAN FELL
Assistant Head of Transport: Highway Management

Background papers: Oxford City Council document entitled "Highways Act 1980, Part IV , Section 42; Schedule 7 Estimate of the cost of maintenance of Highways in the City of Oxford 2004/05.

Contact Officer:
Brian Fell Tel: Oxford 815083
Kevin Haines Tel: Oxford 815687

March 2004

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