h&e strategic direction · it challenging to recruit and retain engineering staff in the face...
TRANSCRIPT
INTEGRATED PLAN
PART B - STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES
Highways & Environment Portfolio
Contents
Portfolio on a Page
Section 1: Future Strategic Direction 2021/22 - 2024/25
Key priorities for the portfolio over the period
Key pressures and challenges facing the portfolio
Key projects / programmes that the portfolio will deliver
Benchmarking and other information used in setting Strategic Direction and assessing service outcomes
Key Risks, mitigation and resilience plans
Section 2: Revenue Budget Information
Key Budget Movements: o Technical Adjustments o Exceptional Inflation o Pressures o Savings
Revenue Budget by Objective Area
Section 3: Capital Programme
Highways and Environment Portfolio
Strategic Direction:
Moving Hertfordshire forward by ensuring a safe and
efficient highways system, promoting safe, reliable and
sustainable travel and protecting the physical and
natural environment.
Key services provided:• Develop and implement transport strategies, including
engagement with our customers.
• Deliver core maintenance services to keep the highway
network safe and operational.
• Work in partnership with others to reduce the numbers of
people killed or injured on our roads.
• Undertake statutory network management and development
management functions.
• Improve and promote use of the active travel network
including management of the public Rights of Way network.
• Enable Health Walks 300+ volunteers to lead walks for
residents who are inactive and suffering from long term
health conditions.
• Enhance green infrastructure through delivery of
management plans to secure “environmental net gain.”
Key priorities and programmes:• Publishing and delivering the cross-Council Sustainable
Hertfordshire Strategy.
• Seek continuous improvement of the Highways Service
through the forthcoming re-procurement of the main
Highways contracts.
• Sustain top tier performance for DfT Maintenance
Incentive Funding.
• Support the growth agenda by taking forward a
Highways & Transport Infrastructure programme,
including the A120 Little Hadham Bypass, emerging
strategies for Hemel East, Stevenage and the A414
corridor.
• Introduce 20mph areas where they are viable,
affordable and in line with the Speed Management
Strategy.
• Enhance the physical and natural environment of
Hertfordshire through Countryside Management
services. Volunteering Opportunities, Rights of Way
improvement and Health Walks.
• In response to climate change and more severe rainfall
events to increase the drainage programme to reduce
incidents of flooding.
Key risks in achieving IP proposals• Local construction inflation impacting on the sustainability of
the Highways contracts.
• Inability to keep pace with customer expectations around
sustainability (including active travel and drainage works),
due to insufficient resources.
• Staff shortages due to the buoyant construction industry and
the influence of London.
• The size and scale of growth and pace of development, key
projects and ability to respond to these.
• Threat to trees from pests and diseases - including the cost
and disruption of dealing with these.
• Managing an ageing asset, (e.g. lighting columns, sign
posts, traffic signals, drainage infrastructure) and associated
increases in reactive maintenance. 165
Highways and Environment Portfolio
Key Capital Schemes:• Programmes of structural maintenance and
Integrated Transport Improvements
• Major Capital Projects such as Little Hadham
bypass, Essex Road and converting lights to LED &
CMS
• Active Travel infrastructure management &
improvement (Public Rights of Way and other
access facilities)
Key Revenue Pressures:• Demographic pressures from traffic growth,
changes in travel patterns and modes and the
construction of new roads associated with the drive
for economic growth and housing.
• Increased demand for travel, despite the
improvements in technology enabling “smarter”
working.
Key Revenue Savings Proposals:• LED Street Lighting continuing to deliver cost
avoidance in terms of energy costs.
• Increasing income in relation to the New Roads and
Street Works Act and Development Management.
Capital Programme
2021/22
£m
2022/23
£m
2023/24
£m
2024/25
£m
94.897 89.580 86.408 85.691
Summary Revenue Budget Movements
2021/22
£m
2022/23
£m
2023/24
£m
2024/25
£m
Service Specific Inflation 0.62 1.64 2.59 3.39
Demography 0.03 0.06 0.09 0.09
Legislative (0.06) (0.21) (0.21) (0.21)
Other Pressures 0.64 1.22 0.73 0.96
TOTAL PRESSURES 0.61 1.07 0.61 0.84
Existing Efficiencies (0.15) (0.21) (0.28) (0.28)
Existing Policy Choice (0.15) (0.15) (0.15) (0.15)
TOTAL SAVINGS (0.30) (0.36) (0.43) (0.43)
44.000
46.000
48.000
50.000
52.000
2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2023/24
£m H&E Net Revenue Budget
166
Highways and Environment Portfolio: Future Strategic Direction 1 What are the key priorities for the portfolio over the period 2021/22 – 2024/25?
The key priorities of the services in this portfolio are to ensure an:
• Efficient Highway system that delivers safe, reliable journeys, sustainably.
• Environment that supports biodiversity, access for all, and contributes to overall quality of life including health and wellbeing; and
It will do this by:
• Coordinating the delivery of the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy, delivering on the nine central ambitions to achieve the organisations sustainability and environmental goals. This includes the publication and delivery of the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy Action Plan, which outlines how the Council plans to deliver on its ambitions. This comprises the delivery of multiple work programmes like reducing carbon emissions across the council estate, improving the county’s biodiversity levels, coordinating collaboration opportunities with our Local Authority partners and preparing our services to meet future environmental challenges.
• Increasing the drainage programme to reduce incidents of flooding, in response to climate change and more severe rainfall events.
• Developing and implementing transport strategies to support the Local Transport Plan (LTP) and, in particular, the economic and housing growth agenda.
• Delivering a core highway service, which is determined and funded strategically, based upon need. Overall technical strategies and programmes will be delivered using the most appropriate current best practice and economies of scale. Reactive and responsive works will be related to safety or asset protection and planned schemes will be delivered to achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
• Supporting elected Members in taking decisions, within the overall policy framework, which affect their local area including discretionary Highway Locality Budget funded work.
• Improving the customer journey, doing what we say we’ll do and enabling them to better understand what services we do and do not deliver, and the standards we work to.
• Enabling the effective and efficient movement of people and goods through robust network management.
• Minimising the draw on County Council resources by securing alternative funding sources and optimising income.
• Delivering Local Transport Plan, Health and Environmental Strategies by increasing and promoting increased use of cycling and walking infrastructure (including Rights of Way, access network and partner Greenspace, and delivery of new cycling infrastructure).
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 167
• Continuing development of a collaborative safe systems approach through the multi-agency Hertfordshire Road Safety Partnership in order to reduce the number and severity of collisions, casualties, costs and concerns.
• Supporting mode shift and alternatives to car-based travel through increased cycle training for adults and children, development and maintenance of travel plans, education and promotion of cycling and walking infrastructure.
• Continuing to support and deliver an efficient and effective School Crossing Patrol Service to encourage adults and children to undertake daily physical activity and walk safely to school.
• Continuing to deliver the full suite of NDORS1 driver offender retraining courses on behalf of Hertfordshire Constabulary and expanding the range of courses delivered in line with strategic priorities.
• Enhancing publicly owned green infrastructure through production and delivery of appropriately funded management plans to deliver “environmental net gain” (as set out in the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan) including multiple benefits for people and wildlife; this to include local authority green space, access network, redundant railway lines and the HCC owned woodlands forming part of the National Nature Reserve.
• Continuing to engage volunteers in the management of the Rights of Way network, greenspace improvement and Health Walks initiative; securing approximately one-third of HCC volunteering activity.
• Delivering Hertfordshire Health Walks to enable the least active of the county’s residents and those living with long-term health conditions to participate in volunteer led walking for the benefit of their health.
2 What are the key pressures and challenges facing your portfolio for 2021/22 –
2024/25?
The main demographic changes come about from traffic growth, changes in travel patterns and modes and the construction of new roads associated with economic growth and housing. The growth will increase the demand for travel, despite the improvements in technology enabling “smarter” working. The challenge will be to meet those pressures without adversely changing the character of the county. Technology will assist by:
• Enabling greater accessibility to and from customers who want a more interactive, responsive service and self-help.
• Enabling services to improve their communications, processes and design efficiency
• The revolution in transport technology enabling ‘Mobility as a Service’ and autonomous, electric vehicles.
As the investment in national infrastructure projects continues, the Highways service finds it challenging to recruit and retain engineering staff in the face of competition particularly
1 National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 168
from London. Similarly, the impact of major national infrastructure projects, a weak pound and green taxes are increasing costs.
The impact on traffic flow through current traffic growth and the 70-80,000 authorised highway activities per year, is moderated by pro-active network management that keeps traffic moving as efficiently as possible and provides multi-media real time information. The key challenge is that the growth in capital investment in infrastructure is not mirrored by the growth in revenue needed to develop and maintain infrastructure and to support the day to day service delivery.
Predicted growth in traffic volumes combined with an increase in vulnerable road users (more people choosing to walk and cycle) could lead to increases in the number of casualties on Hertfordshire’s roads.
A key challenge arising from the predicted economic and housing growth will be to ensure that the “environmental net gain” set out in the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (January 2018) is achieved and the people living and working in Hertfordshire benefit from it. Securing developer contributions to “place shaping” alongside competing Social and Economic objectives will be key.
A further key pressure is the significant investment required by Hertfordshire County Council to deliver the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy and the various infrastructure developments required to enable the delivery of the key works programmes identified as part of the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy Action Plan.
3 What are the key projects/programmes that the portfolio will deliver 2021/22 –
2024/25?
• Coordinating the delivery and implementation of the cross-Council Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy.
• Coordinating publication and delivery of the cross-Council Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy Action Plan.
• Coordinating Hertfordshire County Council’s contributions to the Hertfordshire Climate Change & Sustainability Partnership and Officers Group.
• Ensure that the customer journey is simple, efficient and effective through improved processes and systems, supported by comprehensive staff training.
• Design and procure new service delivery arrangements to replace the current Highways Service Term (HST) Contract and Client Service Term (CST) contracts to ensure continuity of service beyond September 2024.
• Continue to deliver value for money changes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the highways service.
• Improve the condition of unclassified roads through the i2i programme, aimed at halving the number of those roads needing treatment.
• Introduce 20mph areas where they are viable, affordable, and in line with the Speed Management Strategy.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 169
• Make best use of the ‘Highways Together’ schemes, which are aimed at enabling Town and Parish Councils to undertake non-statutory local maintenance (e.g. to clean village signs), whilst making the best use of volunteers and other resources such as the probation service.
• Maintain the serviceability of the highway by achieving the best possible balance of statutory duty and annual Routine Maintenance campaigns and increase the number of drainage works on the highway.
• Sustain top tier performance for Department for Transport (DfT) Maintenance Incentive Funding and ensure that our asset management approach builds on best practice from ‘Well Maintained Highway Infrastructure’.
• Support the growth agenda by: o Delivering A120 Little Hadham Bypass; Essex Road, A10 Roundabout at
Buntingford and A602 Stevenage to Ware improvements o Translating emerging strategies for Hemel East and the Enterprise Zone,
Stevenage and A414 corridor into defined projects for delivery post 2021 o Producing the LTP Delivery Programme to capture all of the medium
sized and major projects, which will enable HCC to: ▪ Deploy resources more effectively;
▪ Give clarity to potential partners about HCC’s role;
▪ Chase funding opportunities to deliver HCC’s priorities.
o Developing a portfolio of business cases for medium sized projects. o Re-focusing DfT’s ITP Block Allocation towards delivering medium sized
projects.
• Consider options for further dimming strategies to burn less carbon and ‘greening’ of verge maintenance service through Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy Highways Action Plan (funding dependant).
• Develop a carbon calculator, to support Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy Highways Action Plan, to enable the ‘carbon cost’ of structural maintenance of the highway to be considered alongside value for money
• Introduce Highways Resilience strategies and schemes, which will reduce the amount of highway maintenance operations.
• Facilitate, manage and lead the multi-agency Road Safety Partnership by developing an evidence led strategy and safe systems model.
• Continue to work closely with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to provide oversight and administration of his road safety fund in order to add value to HCC priorities.
• Influence the planning, design and promotion of schemes to encourage more walking and cycling, particularly for short journeys, in line with a refreshed active travel strategy.
• Enable growth and LTP4 travel mode shift through investment of internal and external funds including those secured through the planning system and other sources, in priority elements of the 3,000km Rights of Way and access network.
• Maintain and develop relationships to enable cost efficient improvement of Hertfordshire’s environment and community involvement/volunteering.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 170
• In 2017 it was agreed that additional funds (£37 million across five years) be spent on local roads maintenance. This additional funding was specifically targeted at unclassified roads that are in, or close to, poor condition. Measurement of road condition is based on the percentage where maintenance should be considered, so a lower number is better, and the measure can broadly be thought of as the percentage of the road network that is in ‘poor’ condition. The additional funding has been used to improve unclassified roads and the latest data for 2019/20 shows that the project has met its target earlier than anticipated. In 2016/17 the percentage of unclassified Hertfordshire roads where maintenance should be considered was 16%, and that indicator has now reduced to 7%. The IP includes £4m of funding in 2021/22 for the i2i programme to continue to improve local roads.
4 How has the portfolio reviewed its effectiveness / value for money in delivering service outcomes?
The Highways service maintains 5,100 km (3,169 miles) of carriageways. The gross replacement cost of this network would be approximately £6 billion. To maintain this network, the service undertakes reactive and planned carriageway maintenance through the following categories of work, as laid out below.
Category Purpose Typical Work Types
Cat 1 Safety Focus
Reactive service. Keep the network safe and ensure HCC discharges its legal duties in a robust and efficient way
Fixing potholes and other urgent defects
Cat 2 Serviceability
Focus
Planned preventative maintenance and repairs. Keep the network serviceable, prevent Cat 1 defects forming and defer the need for Cat 4 work.
Localised patching works and joint sealing to fix specific localised defects or areas of deterioration.
Cat 4 Prevention
Focus
Planned preventative maintenance and planned renewals. Keep the network serviceable, prevent Cat 1 defects and deliver best value by focusing on long term benefits and whole life costs of options.
Large scheme-type works and, where possible, developed and delivered as work streams in order to get economies of scale.
Cat 6 Serviceability
Focus
Client-led campaigns, guidance from maintenance communities with maintenance themes and activities identified by the HST contractor.
Patching/resurfacing. Dealing with emerging issues e.g. winter recovery, and planned campaigns such as crack and joint sealing.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 171
Service levels for ‘Cat 1’ work on the Highways compare favourably to other councils. The below tables provide a comparison of both for the pothole depths that trigger an intervention levels, and for the quickest response times that each authority offers for the most severe of pothole defects.
Authority Pothole depth triggering intervention
Norfolk CC 40mm
Peterborough UA 40mm
Southend UA 40mm
Cambridgeshire CC 40mm (On cycle routes)
50mm (On other routes)
Hertfordshire CC 40mm (On cycle lanes)
50mm (On other routes)
Essex CC 50mm
Luton UA 50mm
Central Beds UA 50mm
Thurrock UA 50mm
Suffolk CC 50mm
Authority
Quickest response time (For most severe pothole defects)
Norfolk CC 2 hours
Peterborough UA 2 hours
Suffolk CC 2 hours
Southend UA 2 hours
Essex CC 2 hours
Central Beds UA 2 hours
Thurrock UA 2 hours
Hertfordshire CC 24 hours
Luton UA 24 hours
Cambridgeshire CC 36 hours
Norfolk CC 2 hours
It is worth noting that although Hertfordshire’s quickest pothole response time is 24 hours, this applies only to potholes of 50mm (40mm where it’s on a designated cycle route on the road) or greater depth on classified roads (A, B and C roads), where there are chunks of loose material on the road about the size of a tennis ball. The majority of Cat 1 pothole defects are on Unclassified roads and fall within a 5 to 20 working day repair timeframe. Value for money is optimised in the delivery of the Highways Service by:
• Taking a risk-based approach to service levels across all services.
• Adopting strategic, rather than micro-financial management.
• Investing in programme planning and co-ordination.
• Bulking like-activities into countywide work streams.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 172
• Removing inter-organisational boundaries within the Whole Client Service.
• Streamlining the design process through the use of ‘walk and build.’
• Maintaining competitive tension between contractors.
• Promoting channel shift and the local member community leadership role. The Highways service operates from the principle that preventing defects from occurring is cheaper than addressing them later on. In simplified terms, it aims to reduce the amount of reactive Cat 1 repairs (i.e. filling potholes) by making use of the preventative treatments available in Cat 4 (i.e. surface dressing, micro asphalt). This is because preventative treatments in particular are relatively cheap. A surface dressing costs approximately £4/m2 and a microasphalt costs approximately £8/m2, with each extending the carriageway’s service life by approximately 10 years. In contrast, renewal options are more expensive, with a resurfacing costing £22/m2
and having an expected life of up to 20 years, while the ‘do nothing’ option (i.e. continue to perform reactive repairs) sees Cat 1 costs balloon as the road surface deteriorates.
The Highway Service is working on two initiatives below, both of which are focused on driving Value for Money in the service, including (but not limited to) Cat 1 works:
• Building a predictive model for reactive repairs – The service is working with the Business Intelligence Team to explore the possibility of predicting reactive interventions on the network before they occur. This involves taking datasets on all the possible variables that could determine the occurrence of a pothole, i.e. surface type, drainage conditions, traffic levels etc., and determining the causality between each variable and the occurrence of a pothole in a particular road section. It is an experimental piece of work that may not return significant results, but if successful, would be the next step in enhancing the planning of workloads at a service level, and at a granular level intervene on the network before the need for a reactive repair arises.
• Comprehensive Value for Money assessment of the service – The service engaged Proving Services Ltd to undertake a comprehensive value for money assessment of the service. This included an all-day workshop, attended by Councillor Bibby and senior Highways officers from HCC, WSP and Ringway, which identified a number of areas for further evolution to work more efficiently and to increase its strategic value. One of the assessment conclusions was that overall the service “compares reasonably well to its peer group”. The recommendations from the assessment were presented to the Highways and Environment Cabinet Panel in September 2020. An action plan is now being drawn up for implementation.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 173
HCC has nearly halved the number of classified (A, B and C roads) roads in ‘poor’ condition over the past five years.
Levels of Road Traffic casualties continue to fall, and E&I officers continue to work in Partnership with other agencies to reduce even further.
There is no national comparative data available for the Countryside & Rights of Way Service (CRoW). However, local data shows that over 77% of our Rights of Way were assessed as easy to use (average over the previous 3 years is 75%). CRoW has increased the opportunities for volunteers to deliver surveying, maintenance and development of the Rights of Way network and will continue to innovate in this area.
Levels of participation in the Hertfordshire Health Walks initiative continues to grow above target until their suspension in the light of Covid19 Lockdown and the following restrictions. The initiative has been identified to be the largest and best value scheme in the country following simple benchmarking at a national level (number of participants and cost per participant).
Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20 Q2 19/20 Q3 19/20 Q4 19/20 Q1 20/21
Herts 444 421 422 416 420 434 377
340
360
380
400
420
440
460
Nu
mb
er
of
KSI
s
Total Killed or seriously injured as a result of road traffic collision
Q418/19
Q119/20
Q219/20
Q319/20
Q419/20
Q120/21
Q220/21
Actual 17727 16275 17776 15428 15121 0 177
Target 14000 15000 15000 15000 15000 15000 15000
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
No
. of
Par
tici
pan
ts
Attendance on walks
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 174
5 What are the key risks in delivering projects and programmes for this portfolio, and what mitigations are in place? What steps are being taken to ensure resilience?
The major risks to delivery are:
• How long the Covid19 pandemic continues, and how that affects construction and ways of working.
• Managing customer expectations.
• The impacts of climate change.
• Hertfordshire’s chalk geology leads to the particular risk of highway collapse due to swallow holes or the historical sinking of chalk pits.
• Local construction inflation.
• Coal tar which must be treated as hazardous waste.
• Staff shortages due to the buoyant construction industry and the influence of London.
• Securing developer contributions to enhance the aspects of Hertfordshire’s environment that are its characteristics of place – trees and greenspace, walking and cycling infrastructure.
• Costs associated with managing the impacts of tree health issues including Chalara Ash Dieback.
The service will interact with customers through new web pages and the use of new media and improve the quality and reliability of communication through the integration of HCC and Ringway Communications and training of Customer Service Centre staff. The service structure, levels of service, affordability and efficiencies are consistently under review, in order to forge a sustainable service for the future and try to counter inflation. However, if the inflation costs dwarf the efficiency savings then service reductions may need to be considered.
HCC works in partnership with Hertfordshire Constabulary to deliver the full suite of driver offender retraining courses. A new Memorandum of Understanding has been signed continuing this arrangement until at least 2023. Furthermore, the driver training team have diversified and increased the number of new courses they deliver including minibus and banksman training.
For CRoW, working with key customers and improved technological solutions including through new web pages and channel shift for RoW fault reporting will help to improve customer relations. Developing strategies which include growing our own staff through reframing of posts into trainee positions and developing cross team knowledge and awareness can offset some recruitment issues. Collaboration with Herts Highways Development and Growth & Infrastructure Teams to secure “environmental net gain” from development including enabling modal shift to active travel through asset enhancement – the inclusion of Public Rights of Way design guidance in the new Roads in Herts web information will be key to this. In relation to the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy, the major risks to delivery are:
• The impact of climate change on our environment and services.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 175
• Residential engagement and business engagement.
• Support / buy in from other local authorities.
• Sufficient, qualified staff and resources to undertake the feasibility studies and implement the actions identified.
• Sufficient resources to invest and deliver projects and programmes.
• Sufficient supply chains, industry capacity and skill to deliver the required infrastructure.
These risks to Sustainable Hertfordshire are being mitigated through the following actions:
• The Sustainable Hertfordshire Team has played a critical role in establishing and coordinating the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership. This is the central body for delivering joint sustainability work programmes in Hertfordshire, with Local Authorities working together to identify shared opportunities for delivering sustainability projects across the county.
• Working is underway to develop an intelligence network within the council, establishing baseline figures for sustainability standards in the Council and across the wider community. This information will influence the development of work programmes and prepare the Council to meet future environmental challenges.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 176
KEY BUDGET MOVEMENTS 2021/22 - 2024/25
2021/22
TOTAL
£000s
2022/23
TOTAL
£000s
2023/24
TOTAL
£000s
2024/25
TOTAL
£000s
615 1,639 2,587 3,389
31 61 91 91
(63) (213) (213) (213)
642 1,217 729 958
610 1,065 607 836
(150) (210) (280) (280)
(150) (150) (150) (150)
(300) (360) (430) (430)
Ref Description DeptType of budget
movement
2021/22
TOTAL
£000s
2022/23
TOTAL
£000s
2023/24
TOTAL
£000s
2024/25
TOTAL
£000s
Approximate
current
budget
£'000
Service Specific Inflation
SSE10 Highways - Client Support Term Contract (CST) E&IService Specific
Inflation210 472 708 903 -
SSE11 Highways - Highways Service Term Contract (HST) E&IService Specific
Inflation367 1,096 1,772 2,342 -
SSI5 Countryside, Rights of Way - Local Authority Income E&IService Specific
Inflation4 61 92 124 -
SSI8 Highways - NRSWA - Permits E&IService Specific
Inflation5 10 15 20 -
SSI9 Highways - NRSWA - Fees - Advertising / Applications E&IService Specific
Inflation29 0 0 0 -
Pressures
D6
Road length increases - routine maintenance - Additional budget is required to finance the
extra maintenance requirements due to increased road adoptions for new residential and
commercial developments.
E&I Demography 31 61 91 91 20,881
L5
Countryside & Rights of Way - Commons Applications
- As the Commons Registration Authority HCC has a statutary duty to process commons
registration applications. There are strict deadlines associated with these apploications.
Decisions taken may be appealed by either the applicant or the land owner through
Judicial Review.
E&I Legislative - (150) (150) (150) 547
L6
New DFT IT system for managing roadworks and streetworks to replace the existing
systems. - New DFT IT system for managing roadworks and streetworks to replace the
existing systems.
E&I Legislative (63) (63) (63) (63) 1,693
OP10Procurement of New Highways Contracts - Internal and external resources required to
procure new Highways Service contracts for 2024E&I Other Pressures 336 612 423 423 46,024
Legislative
Service Specific Inflation
Demography
TOTAL SAVINGS
Other Pressures
TOTAL PRESSURES
Existing Efficiencies
Existing Policy Choice
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 177
Ref Description DeptType of budget
movement
2021/22
TOTAL
£000s
2022/23
TOTAL
£000s
2023/24
TOTAL
£000s
2024/25
TOTAL
£000s
Approximate
current
budget
£'000
OP11
Revenue Impact of Capital bid - A120 Little Hadham Bypass and Flood Alleviation
Scheme - Operational and maintenance costs including signals, pumps, lighting and
swales starting 21/22
E&I Other Pressures 35 35 35 35 20,881
OP12
County Travel Survey - A comprehensive travel survey is carried out every three years so
that the county can identify changing needs and trends for its services and react
accordingly
E&I Other Pressures 50 - - - 1,693
OP32Hertsmere Grass Cutting Plant Storage Facility - Increased storage requirments to deliver
grass cutting in HertsmereE&I Other Pressures - 120 50 50 20,881
OP39 Drainage – Gullies - Funding to support additional gully maintenance work E&I Other Pressures (229) - (229) - 20,881
OP8Winter Pressure - The additional budget required has been calculated on the 5 year
average of actual winter costsE&I Other Pressures 300 300 300 300 3,841
OP14
Highways programme management system (PMnet) replacement - ICT Security have
identified vulnerabilities of the Highways Programme management system PMNet. Whilst
short-term action is taken to move the application from the HCC Network, discovery has
identified that the system is unsustainable in the medium to long term. Highways therefore
will need to discover and procure a replacement system. If not, we will be liable for
ongoing cloud costs.
E&I Other Pressures 63 63 63 63 1,693
OP105
Highways Correspondance - The highways service receives a disproportionately high
amount of correspondence (from a range of stakeholders) compared to other services
within the council. Additional resource is required within the Customer Journey Team to
ensure this is managed appropriately.
E&I Other Pressures 87 87 87 87 8,470
Savings
EE24Highways - New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) review - Increased income
generation through expansion of the service and review of current charges for licences.E&I
Existing
Efficiencies(100) (160) (230) (230) 1,693
EE25Highways – Development Management cost recovery - Review of Highways costs being
charged to developers.E&I
Existing
Efficiencies(50) (50) (50) (50) 1,693
EPC2Revenue impact of the LED Street Lighting – Phase 4 - Revenue impact of the LED Street
Lighting – Phase 4E&I
Existing Policy
Choice(150) (150) (150) (150) 5,800
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 178
Net Budget
2020/21
£'000
Objective Area
Gross
Budget
2021/22
£'000
Income
£'000
Net Budget
2021/22
£'000
Net Budget
2022/23
£'000
Net Budget
2023/24
£'000
Net Budget
2024/25
£'000
Environment & Infrastructure
Structural Maintenance
4,124This primarily consists of works which slow the rate of highway deterioration caused by wear and tear or extreme
weather4,459 (131) 4,328 4,321 4,344 4,391
Routine Maintenance
21,100This area covers work of a cyclical nature required to maintain highways in a serviceable and operational
condition, such as grass cutting, emptying gullies, keeping signals operational and sign cleaning.22,008 (531) 21,477 22,471 22,763 23,426
Winter Maintenance
3,769
Aimed at keeping roads and footpaths open and as safe as possible during periods of severe cold winter
weather, most of the budget is spent on precautionary salting but provision is also made for the emergency
clearance of snow and ice.
4,123 - 4,123 4,221 4,297 4,366
Lighting
6,145This budget covers the regular maintenance and energy costs of all aspects of road lighting – lit signs and
bollards as well as the county’s 100,000 plus street lights.6,237 (130) 6,107 6,231 6,401 6,580
Traffic Management and Safety
3,778
The primary aim of this budget is to reduce road accident casualties and improve movement. This means
addressing the issues of safety, ease of movement and environmental concerns of all road users - motorists,
pedestrians, cyclists and those affected by, or living alongside, roads.
5,827 (1,938) 3,889 3,896 3,887 3,910
Environmental Management
1,734
The group works with other organisations, notably district and parish councils, the business community and the
voluntary sector, on environmental issues. Areas covered include Countryside Management and Rights of Way.
Includes Sustainable Herts
2,315 (275) 2,040 1,945 1,853 1,760
Transport Planning Policy and Strategy
4,789
This budget is concerned with the development and monitoring of transport policies providing the basis for bids
made to government and other external funding sources and the development of transportation plans. It is also
the place where the charges made to utilities under the New Roads and Street Works Act and Traffic
Management Act to reduce congestion are managed.
9,846 (4,991) 4,855 4,878 4,930 5,101
Advance Preparation and Consultation
1,755The department has a medium term programme of projects which are in preparation. Part of this development
work requires close working with local communities and consulting widely on all transportation schemes.1,795 - 1,795 1,833 1,818 1,823
47,194 Highways & Environment Total 56,610 (7,996) 48,614 49,796 50,293 51,357
ANALYSIS OF REVENUE BUDGET BY OBJECTIVE AREAS
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 179
Highways and Environment Capital Programme 2021/22-2024/25
The total capital programme 2021/22 to 2024/25 for the portfolio is £356.576m and for 2021/22 is £94.897m. This includes all new bids and re-programming from 2020/21 at the end of quarter 2.
2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
HCC funding 55,741 49,039 48,389 50,090 203,259
Grant 33,515 34,513 31,983 32,551 132,562
Contributions 5,641 6,028 6,036 3,050 20,755
Total 94,897 89,580 86,408 85,691 356,576
New capital bids The portfolio has five new bids compared to the previous Integrated Plan as shown in the table below
Scheme Cost
2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Other funding 2021/22
Total cost
2021/22-2024/25
Total HCC
funding 2021/22-2024/25
Total other
funding 2021/22- 2024/25
Description
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Sustainable Hertfordshire Fund
2,000 2,000 - 10,000 10,000 -
Central fund to support services in delivering pilot projects to achieve the sustainability agenda.
Highways Maintenance Covid pressure
1,260 1,260 - 1,260 1,260 -
To manage additional costs associated with Covid-19 to ensure that agreed outcomes can be delivered.
20 mph areas 1,000 1,000 - 7,000 7,000 - Fund to support the implementation of 20mph areas.
Active Travel 2,000 2,000 - 3,000 3,000 -
Measures to create an environment that promotes both walking and cycling in line with the Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and Sustainability Strategy.
Climate Change Response
1,500 1,500 - 10,000 10,000 -
To provide additional capital funding to improve drainage in response to highways flooding brought about by increasing and changing rainfall patterns.
Total 7,760 7,760 - 31,260 31,260 -
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 180
Revised capital bids - annual programmes The following annual programmes have been revised.
Scheme
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Other funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Other funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Reason
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Safety Barriers 1,050 1,050 - 4,200 4,200 -
A continuation of the 2020/21 programme to replace and refurbish the safety barrier infrastructure across Hertfordshire’s highway, following a service condition inspection of the un-tensioned safety barrier asset base.
Street Lighting Refurbishment Programme
3,144 3,144 - 12,576 12,576 -
A continuation of the increased level of investment in the 2020/21 IP which reflected the outcomes from structural testing of the current asset base.
Street Lighting Private Cable Network Refurbishment
82 82 - 1,078 1,078 -
Ongoing investment to replace the existing private cable network with new cabling, which will reduce the number of faults affecting significant sections of existing cabling.
Traffic Signals Refurbishment / Replacement
1,312 1,312 - 5,248 5,248 -
A continuation of the increased level of investment in the 2020/21 IP, reflecting the optimised level of investment required to maintain a steady state condition of the asset and deliver best value for money
Highways maintenance
750 (8,250) 9,000 2,125 (34,443) 36,568
An anticipated increase in grant funding of £9m per annum has been reflected in the programme. There is an overall increase of £2.125m over the IP, which relates to the need to replenish the budget following reprogramming of
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 181
Scheme
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Other funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Other funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Reason
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
£750k to 2020/21 to fund covid-pressures and an allowance for inflation in 2024/25.
Bridge Asset management and maintenance service
- - - 194 194 - An increase in 2024/25 to allow for inflation
Integrated Transport Projects (ITP)
1,142 - 1,142 723 - 723
The budget has been brought in line with available funding. This includes an additional £5.161m of Active Travel Fund (ATF) grant, awarded to the Council in 2020/21 for capital schemes that support cycling and walking. This is offset by a reduction in S106 anticipated to be available to support schemes.
Total 7,480 (2,662) 10,142 26,144 (11,147) 37,291
Updated bids for vehicle replacement programmes are also included in the portfolio capital programme. Spend on these annual programmes are variable, dependent on the use of the asset and assessment of need and risk. Revised Capital Bids - Projects The portfolio has revised five capital bids since the 2020/21 IP. These are set out in the table below:
Scheme
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Other funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Other funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Reason
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
A120 Bypass (Little Hadham) and Flood Alleviation Scheme
1,000 - 1,000 1,000 - 1,000
Additional costs anticipated in 2021/22 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adverse weather events and unforeseen ground conditions.
A602 Improvements Stevenage to/from Ware
500 - 500 1,000 - 1,000
Increase reflects additional costs for delivering cycling facilities as part of the scheme.
A10 Buntingford South Roundabout
- - - 671 - 671 £671k increase based on latest cost estimates for delivering the
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 182
Scheme
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Other funding
increase/ (decrease)
2021/22
Total increase/
(decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
HCC funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Other funding
increase/ (decrease) 2021/22 to
2024/25
Reason
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
scheme. Scheme is subject to external funding being secured for the scheme.
A414 Scheme development - - - 664 - 664
An overall increase of £664k over the life of the scheme based on latest cost estimates. Bids for external funding to support the scheme will be submitted once the business case has been approved.
Carriageway maintenance - improving local roads
(4,000) (4,000) - (8,000) (8,000) -
Funding has been re-allocated to support new capital schemes as the project has met its target earlier than anticipated.
Total (2,500) (4,000) 1,500 (4,665) (8,000) 3,335
Carriageway maintenance - improving local roads In 2017 it was agreed that additional funds (£37 million across five years) be spent on local roads maintenance. This additional funding was specifically targeted at unclassified roads that are in, or close to, poor condition. Measurement of road condition is based on the percentage where maintenance should be considered, so a lower number is better and the measure can broadly be thought of as the percentage of the road network that is in ‘poor’ condition. The additional funding has been used to improve unclassified roads and the latest data for 2019/20 shows that the project has met its target earlier than anticipated. In 2016/17 the percentage of unclassified Hertfordshire roads where maintenance should be considered was 16%, and that indicator has now reduced to 7%. The IP includes £4m of funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23 for the i2i programme to continue to improve local roads, but with the target already met, some of the original funding is being reallocated to contribute to new initiatives on sustainability, improving drainage, the introduction of 20mph areas and increased maintenance on active travel routes.
Risks The Maintenance of the Highway asset to prolong serviceable life and the Integrated Transport Projects allocations are based on assumed grant figures from DfT, which have yet to be confirmed.
The maintenance allocation from DfT is also based on HCC retaining its level 3 status within the Incentive Fund. Inflation remains a risk, particularly for major projects.
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 183
Highways and Environment Portfolio Capital Programme 2021/22 - 2024/25
Ref Description
New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)
Directorate
Total scheme
cost
Cost 2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Grants 2021/22
Contributions 2021/22
Cost 2022/23
Cost 2023/24
Cost 2024/25
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
H1
Sustainable Hertfordshire Fund (N): To support HCC’s delivery of the Sustainable Hertfordshire strategy, its nine central ambitions and the delivery of the Sustainable Hertfordshire Action Plan. Funding will be allocated to services for approved schemes that meet these objectives.
Environment &
Infrastructure 10,000 2,000 2,000 - - 1,000 3,500 3,500
H2
20 mph areas (N): In line with the Council’s speed management strategy, this Capital fund will support the implementation of 20mph areas.
Environment &
Infrastructure 7,000 1,000 1,000 - - 1,000 2,000 3,000
H3
Active Travel (N): Maintenance activities to create an environment that promotes both walking and cycling, in line with the objectives in the Local Transport Plan (LTP4) and Sustainability Strategy.
Environment &
Infrastructure 3,000 2,000 2,000 - - 1,000 - -
H4
Climate Change Response (N): To provide additional capital funding to improve drainage in response to highways flooding brought about by increasing and changing rainfall patterns.
Environment &
0Infrastructure
10,000 1,500 1,500 - - 2,500 3,000 3,000
H5
Highways Maintenance Covid pressure (N): To fund additional costs associated with Covid-19, ensuring that agreed outcomes can be delivered.
Environment &
Infrastructure 1,260 1,260 1,260 - - - - -
H6
Highways maintenance (R): This is an ongoing programme to extend the life of the highways infrastructure, including carriageways, footways & cycleways and highway drainage systems, ensuring they meet their full
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
42,760 15,930 26,830 - 44,483 45,818 47,193
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 184
Ref Description
New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)
Directorate
Total scheme
cost
Cost 2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Grants 2021/22
Contributions 2021/22
Cost 2022/23
Cost 2023/24
Cost 2024/25
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
service potential and preserve their value to Hertfordshire. This is delivered by means of a county-wide programme of targeted preventative treatments on identified sections and repair/ rehabilitation of failing/failed sections when practicable.
H7
Street Lighting Refurbishment/Replacement Programme (R): Ongoing maintenance and replacement of the existing street lighting and illuminated signs infrastructure.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
5,469 5,469 - - 5,469 5,469 5,469
H8
Traffic Signals Refurbishment/Replacement Programme (R): Ongoing programme to replace and refurbish traffic signals to ensure the safe, fully functional and reliable operation of these assets which is vital to effective performance of the highway network
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
2,030 2,030 - - 2,030 2,030 2,030
H9
Safety Barriers refurbishment/replacement programme (R): Programme to maintain the replace and refurbish the safety barrier infrastructure across Hertfordshire’s highway network
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
1,050 1,050 - - 1,050 1,050 1,050
H10
Street Lighting Private Cable Network Refurbishment (R): Investment to replace the existing private cable network with new cabling.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
332 332 - - 332 332 332
H11
Bridge Asset management and maintenance service (R): HCC has a statutory duty to maintain highway bridges. Successful management of bridges will also prevent network disruption.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
6,080 6,080 - - 6,262 6,450 6,644
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 185
Ref Description
New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)
Directorate
Total scheme
cost
Cost 2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Grants 2021/22
Contributions 2021/22
Cost 2022/23
Cost 2023/24
Cost 2024/25
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
H12
Highways ITP Budget (R): Projects are a mix of transport and highways improvement measures. Schemes seek to help manage and reduce congestion, provide journey time reliability, address air quality issues by encouraging a shift to the bus, walking or cycling, and the reduction of road casualties. Schemes will improve the quality of life for residents through speed compliance, and accessibility schemes and support economic development.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
6,885 - 5,880 1,005 7,324 4,743 4,743
H13
Highways Locality Budgets (E): Annual programme which allows councillors to direct funding to highway maintenance and improvement schemes in consultation with residents and communities
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
6,006 6,006 - - 6,006 6,006 6,006
H14
A602 Improvements Stevenage to/from Ware (R,P): To improve overall journey times and increase journey time reliability on the A602 route between Stevenage and Ware by increasing the capacity of specific junctions and reducing the curvature of specific bends on the A602 to meet current standards
Environment &
Infrastructure 33,559 6,280 5,780 500 - 665 - -
H15
A120 Bypass (Little Hadham) and Flood Alleviation Scheme (R,P): The scheme will provide a northern 3.9km bypass of Little Hadham
Environment &
Infrastructure 51,982 2,496 243 - 2,253 86 72 -
H16 New River Bridge Scheme (R,P): To construct a new road and bridge adjacent to the existing Essex Road link.
Environment &
Infrastructure 10,198 278 - - 278 80 25 -
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 186
Ref Description
New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)
Directorate
Total scheme
cost
Cost 2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Grants 2021/22
Contributions 2021/22
Cost 2022/23
Cost 2023/24
Cost 2024/25
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
H17
A414 Scheme development (London Colney Roundabout) (R,P): Investment to improve the corridor to assist in facilitating growth set out in Local Plans along the A414 and help to mitigate the impacts of development on the network
Environment &
Infrastructure 13,537 805 805 - - 4,992 5,104 2,000
H18
Carriageway maintenance - improving local roads (R): This project complements the existing carriageway maintenance capital programmes by providing additional funds targeted on unclassified roads that are in or approaching a poor condition
Environment &
Infrastructure 29,000 4,000 4,000 - - 4,000 - -
H19
A10 Buntingford South Roundabout (R): This project proposes major improvements to the roundabout on the A10 where it meets London Road, the southern exit from Buntingford. This will address capacity issues on the roundabout which will evolve as the result of future development in and around the town.
Environment &
Infrastructure 2,771 2,065 - - 2,065 651 45 10
H20
Management & Improvement of the Access & Rights of Way (RoW) Network (E): This is an ongoing project to ensure the County Council discharges its statutory duty to properly maintain the RoW network in a safe and usable condition, including bridge repair and replacement, surfacing & drainage, constructing new routes and improving routes.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
601 256 305 40 650 700 700
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 187
Ref Description
New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)
Directorate
Total scheme
cost
Cost 2021/22
HCC funding 2021/22
Grants 2021/22
Contributions 2021/22
Cost 2022/23
Cost 2023/24
Cost 2024/25
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
H21
Countryside and Rights of Way (RoW) Vehicle Replacement Programme (R): Replacement of vehicles used by the Countryside and RoW team to enable site visits and attendance at meetings and by volunteers undertaking roles on behalf of the service.
Environment &
Infrastructure
Annual programme
- - - - - 64 14
Total 94,897 55,741 33,515 5,641 89,580 86,408 85,691
IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment Portfolio 188