integrated plan part b - strategic direction and … · plan (ltp) and, in particular, the economic...

INTEGRATED PLAN

PART B - STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES

Highways and Environment Portfolio

Contents Page

Portfolio on a Page 151 - 152

Section 1: Future Strategic Direction 2020/21 - 2023/24

• Key priorities for the portfolio over the period 153 - 154

• Key pressures and challenges facing the portfolio 154 - 155

• Key projects / programmes that the portfolio will deliver 155 - 156

• Benchmarking and other information used in setting Strategic Direction and assessing service outcomes

157 - 160

• Key Risks, mitigation and resilience plans 160 - 161

Section 2: Revenue Budget Information

• Key Budget Movements: o Technical Adjustments o Exceptional Inflation o Pressures o Savings

162 - 163

• Revenue Budget by Objective Area 164

Section 3: Capital Programme 165 - 176

IP Part B: Strategic Direction - Highways & Environment 150


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• 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• Develop and deliver minor capital Integrated Transport Projects

and major capital projects• 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 350+ 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 including multiple benefits for people and wildlife

Key priorities and programmes:• Publishing and delivering the cross-Council

Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy• Seek continuous improvement of the Highways

Service through the extended HST Contract• Sustain top tier performance for DfT Maintenance

Incentive Funding • Support the growth agenda by developing a

Highways & Transport Infrastructure programme, starting construction on A120 Little Hadham Bypass, translating emerging strategies for Hemel East, Stevenage and A414 corridor into defined projects for delivery post 2021

• Complete the conversion of Hertfordshire’s remaining powered assets to LED and CMS technology

• Enhance the physical and natural environment of Hertfordshire through Countryside Management services Volunteering Opportunities, Rights of Way improvement and Health Walks

Key risks in achieving IP proposals• Local construction inflation impacting on the sustainability of the

Highways Service Term Contract• 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 county’s trees from pests and diseases and the cost

and disruption of dealing with these.• Managing an ageing asset, (e.g. lighting columns, sign posts,

traffic signals) and associated increases in reactive maintenance



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 (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 Programme2020/21£000s

2021/22£000s

2022/23£000s

2023/24£000s

114,466 82,089 79,950 74,997

Key Budget Movements2020/21£000s

2021/22£000s

2022/23£000s

2023/24£000s

Service Specific Inflation 879 1,891 2,975 4,091

Reversal of time limited expenditure (231) (231) (216) (231)

Demography 30 61 91 121

Legislative 263 180 30 30

Other Pressures 1,433 1,745 2,090 1,672

TOTAL PRESSURES 1,495 1,755 1,995 1,592

Existing Efficiencies (18) (18) (18) (18)

Existing Policy Choice (288) (116) (20) 82

New Efficiencies - (210) (270) (280)

TOTAL SAVINGS (306) (344) (308) (216)

40

42

44

46

48

50

52

2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24

£m H&E Net Revenue Budget


Highways and Environment Portfolio: Future Strategic Direction

1 What are the key priorities for the portfolio over the period 2020/21 – 2023/24?

The key priorities of the services in this portfolio are to ensure an:

• Environment that supports biodiversity, access for all, and contributes to overall quality of life including health and wellbeing; and

• Efficient Highway system that delivers safe, reliable journeys, sustainably.

It will do this by:

• Coordinating the publication and delivery of the cross-Council Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy, which will outline the County Council’s response to the current climate emergency. This strategy will cover environmental issues like climate change, biodiversity and the Council’s use of resources – as well as focusing on social issues like education, health care and building a thriving local economy.

• 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.

• Delivering an effective network (including the 3,000km of Rights of Way and access network) and development 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).

• 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 2020/21 – 2023/24?

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

1 National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme


particularly from London. Similarly, the impact of major national infrastructure projects, a weak pound, increasing energy prices 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 undertaken by HCC, 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.

A key pressure for road safety is that strategic decisions taken by partners due to competing and emerging priorities may lead to reduced numbers being referred for NDORS driver offender retraining (speed awareness) courses. This could impact on resources available for road safety preventative activity.

Recent reductions in the number of road casualties may prove difficult to maintain. Predicted growth in road traffic could lead to increases, particularly within some vulnerable road user groups as more people choose to walk and cycle.

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 it benefit from it. Securing developer contributions to “place shaping” alongside competing Social and Economic objectives will be key.

3 What are the key projects/programmes that the portfolio will deliver 2020/21 – 2023/24?

• Co-ordinating publication and delivery of the cross-Council Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy.

• Ensure that the customer journey is simple, efficient and effective through improved processes and systems, supported by comprehensive staff training.

• Evolve and future-proof the Highways Service by seeking continuous improvement through the extended Highways Service Term (HST) Contract.

• Continue to deliver efficiency improvements that will enable current service levels to be maintained in the face of continued inflation.

• Improve the condition of unclassified roads through the i2i programme, aimed at halving the number of those roads needing treatment.

• 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.


• Sustain top tier performance for Department for Transport (DfT) Maintenance Incentive Funding and ensure that its approach takes on board the new code of practice ‘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.

• Complete the conversion of Hertfordshire’s remaining powered assets to LED and CMS technology and consider options for further dimming strategies to burn less carbon and avoid costs.

• Introduce Highways Resilience strategies and schemes, which will reduce the amount of highway maintenance operations.

• The future Highways Service Model will need to have been identified by 2021/22 in readiness to start the procurement of the next highways contracts.

• 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.

Key savings proposals

• Increased income in relation to the New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA).

• Increased income in relation to Development Management work.


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 1Safety 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 2Serviceability

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 jointsealing to fix specific localised defects or areas of deterioration.

Cat 4Prevention

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 6Serviceability

Focus

Client-led campaigns, guidance from maintenance communities with maintenance themes and activities identified by the HST contractor.

Patching/resurfacing generally greater than 100 Km in length. Dealing with emerging issues e.g. winter recovery, and planned campaigns such as crack and joint sealing.

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 interventionNorfolk 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 hoursLuton UA 24 hours Cambridgeshire CC 36 hours Norfolk CC 2 hours

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

• 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 £4m2 and a micro asphalt costs approximately £8m2, with each extending the carriageway’s service life by approximately 10 years.

In contrast, renewal options are more expensive, with a resurfacing costing £22m2

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 has recently engaged Proving Services Ltd to undertake a comprehensive value for money assessment of the service. The all-day workshop, attended by Councillor Bibby and senior Highways officers from HCC, WSP and Ringway identified potential 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 will be discussed by Highways Senior Management Team and Executive Members, with a view to drawing up an action plan for implementation.

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, supported by the work of the Road Safety and Active Travel team.

There is no national comparative data available for the Countryside & Rights of Way Service (CRoW). However, local data shows that over 75% of our Rights of Way were assessed as easy to use (average over the previous 3 years is 70%). 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 and is above target. 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 17/18 Q4 17/18 Q1 18/19 Q2 18/19 Q3 18/19 Q4 18/19 Q1 19/20

Herts 410 420 436 447 444 417 389

360

370

380

390

400

410

420

430

440

450

460

Nu

mb

er

of

KSI

s

Total Killed or seriously injured as a result of road traffic collision


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:

• 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 has to 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.

Q417/18

Q118/19

Q218/19

Q318/19

Q418/19

Q119/20

Q219/20

Actual 14922 16357 14815 16131 17727 16275 17776

Target 13000 14000 14000 14000 14000 15000 15000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

No

. of

Par

tici

pan

ts

Attendance on walks


HCC works in partnership with Hertfordshire Constabulary to deliver the full suite of driver offender retraining course. The contract is due to expire and, due to the number of other service providers, there is a risk that the County Council is not successful in regaining the contract. Work is underway to prepare a response to any invitation to tender received from the Constabulary. 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.


KEY BUDGET MOVEMENTS 2020/21 - 2023/24

2020/21

TOTAL

£000s

2021/22

TOTAL

£000s

2022/23

TOTAL

£000s

2023/24

TOTAL

£000s

879 1,891 2,975 4,091

(231) (231) (216) (231)

30 61 91 121

263 180 30 30

1,433 1,745 2,090 1,672

1,495 1,755 1,995 1,592

(18) (18) (18) (18)

(288) (116) (20) 82

- (210) (270) (280)

(306) (344) (308) (216)

Ref Description DeptType of budget

movement

2020/21

TOTAL

£000s

2021/22

TOTAL

£000s

2022/23

TOTAL

£000s

2023/24

TOTAL

£000s

Approximate

current

budget

£'000

Technical Adjustments

None

Service Specific Inflation

Highways: Client Support Term Contract (CST) E&IService Specific

Inflation216 466 734 1,010

Highways: Service Term Contract (HST) E&IService Specific

Inflation623 1,343 2,117 2,914

Countryside, Rights of Way: Local Authority Income E&IService Specific

Inflation4 8 12 16

Highways - NRSWA:Income; Permits; Fees - Advertising; Fees - Applications E&IService Specific

Inflation36 74 112 151

Pressures

RTL3

Baldock Railway BridgesThe provision of 3 bridges over the Hitchin to Cambridge railway line plus connections to the existing highway network and provision for utilities to open up an HCC owned development site and enable the delivery of 2,800 homesNote: This is a business case for these infrastructure items only and not for the provision of the resulting development

E&IReversal of time

limited expenditure

(231) (231) (216) (231) 231

D6Road length increases - routine maintenanceAdditional budget is required to finance the extra maintenance requirements due to increased road adoptions for new residential and commercial developments.

E&I Demography 30 61 91 121 18,535

L5Countryside & Rights of Way - Commons Applications

E&I Legislative 150 150 - - -

L6New DFT IT system for managing roadworks and streetworks to replace the existing systems.

E&I Legislative 113 30 30 30 -

OP10Procurement of New Highways ContractsInternal and external resources required to procure new Highways Service contracts for 2024

E&I Other Pressures 192 528 804 615 -

TOTAL SAVINGS

Other Pressures

TOTAL PRESSURES

Existing Efficiencies

Existing Policy Choice

New Efficiencies

Legislative

Service Specific Inflation

Reversal of time limited

Demography


Ref Description DeptType of budget

movement

2020/21

TOTAL

£000s

2021/22

TOTAL

£000s

2022/23

TOTAL

£000s

2023/24

TOTAL

£000s

Approximate

current

budget

£'000

OP11Revenue Impact of Capital bid - A120 Little Hadham Bypass and Flood Alleviation Scheme Operational and maintenance costs for signals, pumps, lighting, swales and the like starting 21/22

E&I Other Pressures - 35 35 35 -

OP12County Travel SurveyA 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 - - -

OP31East Herts Grass CuttingCosts for HCC to deliver grass cutting in East Herts


OP32Hertsmere Grass Cutting Plant Storage FacilityIncreased storage requirments to deliver grass cutting in Hertsmere

E&I Other Pressures - 120 50 50 -

OP38Tree MaintenanceFunding to support additional tree maintenance work, inlcuding inspection and safety related work


OP39Drainage – GulliesFunding to support additional gully maintenance work


OP44

School Travel PlanningAs part of Hertfordshire’s growth agenda proposals exist for an additional 60 primary and 20 secondary schools over the next 10 years to meet demand. As part of any planning application all new schools have a requirement to produce, maintain and deliver against a travel plan for a period of at least 7 years as the schools become fully occupied. This rate of growth / expansion is unprecedented.

E&I Other Pressures 40 40 - - -

OP58Watford Growth role


Savings

EE22Reduced Street Lighting Scouting frequency

E&IExisting

Efficiencies(18) (18) (18) (18) 3,012

EPC2Revenue impact of the LED Street Lighting – Phase 4

E&IExisting Policy

Choice(272) (100) (4) 98 3,638

EPC3Review of funding to Groundwork Hertfordshire and the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust

E&IExisting Policy

Choice(16) (16) (16) (16) 40

NE57Highways - 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 New Efficiencies (160) (220) (230) -

NE58Highways – Development Management cost recovery Review of Highways costs being charged to developers.

E&I New Efficiencies (50) (50) (50) -


ANALYSIS OF REVENUE BUDGET BY OBJECTIVE AREAS

Net Budget

2019/20

£'000 Objective Area

Gross

Budget

2020/21

£'000

Income

£'000

Net

Budget

2020/21

£'000

Net

Budget

2021/22

£'000

Net

Budget

2022/23

£'000

Net

Budget

2023/24

£'000

Environment & Infrastructure

Structural Maintenance

3,986This primarily consists of works which slow the rate of highway deterioration caused by wear and tear or extreme weather

4,252 (128) 4,124 4,283 4,440 4,518

Routine Maintenance

19,788This 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.

21,651 (551) 21,100 21,441 22,037 22,224

Winter Maintenance

3,634Aimed 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.

3,769 - 3,769 3,872 3,980 4,075

Lighting

6,045This 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.

6,272 (127) 6,145 6,409 6,600 6,783

Traffic Management and Safety

3,470The 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.

5,675 (1,897) 3,778 3,924 4,025 4,081

Environmental Management

1,194The 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.

2,017 (283) 1,734 1,738 1,592 1,596

Transport Planning Policy and Strategy

4,293

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.

9,714 (4,925) 4,789 4,938 5,214 5,421

Advance Preparation and Consultation

1,914The 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.

1,755 - 1,755 1,821 1,899 1,894

44,324 Highways & Environment Total 55,105 (7,911) 47,194 48,426 49,787 50,592


Highways and Environment capital programme 2020/21-2023/24

The total capital programme 2020/21 to 2023/24 for the portfolio is £351.502m and for 2020/21 is £114.466m. This includes all new bids and re-programming from 2019/20 at the end of quarter 2.

2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

HCC funding 60,843 56,454 50,619 43,349 211,265

Grant 21,877 22,378 22,932 23,483 90,670

Contributions 31,746 3,257 6,399 8,165 49,567

Total 114,466 82,089 79,950 74,997 351,502

New capital bids The portfolio has three new bids compared to the previous Integrated Plan as shown in the table below

Scheme

Total cost

2020/21

HCC funding 2020/21

Other funding 2020/21

Total scheme

cost 2020/21-2023/24

Total HCC

funding 2020/21-2023/24

Total other

funding 2020/21-2023/24

Description

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

South Mimms Depot 330 330 - 330 330 -

Replacement of accommodation units in the Highways Depot at South Mimms.

Safety Barriers refurbishment/ replacement programme

1,100 1,100 - 1,100 1,100 -

Programme to replace and refurbish the safety barrier infrastructure across Hertfordshire’s highway network.

Streetlighting LED SDA Programme 3,000 3,000 - 3,000 3,000 -

To convert special design apparatus (SDA) / heritage lighting in conservation areas to LED and Central Management System (CMS) control.

Total 4,430 4,430 - 4,430 4,430 -


Removed capital bids The following bid has been removed.

Scheme Cost

2020/21

HCC funding 2020/21

Other funding 2020/21

Total Cost

2020/21-2023/24

Total HCC

funding 2020/21-2023/24

Total other

funding 2020/21

- 2023/24

Reason

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

A414 Hertford Major Project (3,500) (3,500) - (5,500) (5,500) -

At this point in time, no further work is planned for this scheme. Once the initial revenue-funded stages of development of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project has been completed, further capital bids will be forthcoming to support the development of the project.

Total (3,500) (3,500) - (5,500) (5,500) -

Revised capital bids - annual programmes

The following annual programmes have been revised.

Scheme

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21

HCC funding

increase/ (decrease)

2020/21

Other funding


2020/21

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21-2023/24

HCC funding

increase/ (decrease) 2020/21-2023/24

Total other funding


Reason

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Street Lighting Refurbishment/Replacement Programme

3,668 3,668 - 3,668 3,668 -

Additional investment in 2020/21 following structural testing of the current asset base.

Traffic Signals Refurbishment/Replacement Programme

1,443 1,443 - 1,443 1,443 -Additional investment in 2020/21 following condition survey of the current asset base.

Highways maintenance of roads including carriageway maintenance, bridge asset management, highways drainage and footway & cycleway

440 440 - 3,684 505 3,179

Costs have been redistributed between budgets leading to increase/decreases on individual lines. Pressure on highways drainage budget of £505k relating to drainage pumps and gully covers & ironwork. Assumed increase in Department for


Scheme

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21

HCC funding


2020/21

Other funding


2020/21

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21-2023/24

HCC funding


Total other funding


Reason

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

maintenance Transport grant from 2021/22.

Highways ITP Budget

5,790 - 5,790 3,930 - 3,930Budget has been brought in line with available funding

Management & Improvement of the Access & Rights of Way (RoW) Network

- - - 451 108 343

Increase has arisen from the RoW network survey which indicated that HCC needed to increase its investment to continue to maintain the network in a safe condition and to deliver on the Active Travel Network priorities.

Total 11,341 5,551 5,790 13,176 5,724 7,452

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 eight capital bids since the 2019/20 IP. These are set out in the table below:

Scheme

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21

HCC funding


2020/21

Other funding


2020/21

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21-2023/24

HCC funding


Total other funding


Reason

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Introduction of weight limit on A507

118 114 4 118 114 4

£114k increase due to expansion of the scheme. Additional design work and signage is needed to cover the larger area of road which will be included in the restriction.


Scheme

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21

HCC funding


2020/21

Other funding


2020/21

Total increase/

(decrease) 2020/21-2023/24

HCC funding


Total other funding


Reason

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

New River Bridge Scheme

2,790 - 2,790 2,940 - 2,940

£2.94m increase based on latest cost estimates for delivering the scheme following detailed design work.

A414 Scheme development

(937) - (937) 6,924 - 6,924

Increase of £6.924m following work undertaken in 2019/20 to establish objectives for the corridor in the longer term and the need to cater for future transport requirements.

A120 Little Hadham Bypass

(1,016) (2,229) 1,213 (3,338) (4,700) 1,362

Overall reduction of scheme costs following a review of the risk allocation required to be held on the scheme. Reduction has allowed funding to be reallocated to alleviate pressure on the A602 improvement scheme.

A602 Improvements

1,303 - 1,303 6,003 4,700 1,303

Additional costs associated with the additional design requirements to progress the delivery of Section B.

A120 Standon 152 - 152 152 - 152 Additional S106 funding available.

A10 Buntingford South Roundabout

- - - 615 - 615

£615k increase based on latest cost estimates for delivering the scheme. Scheme is subject to future LEP funding allocations and approvals.

Street Lighting Private Cable Network Refurbishment

100 100 - 100 100 -Additional testing of the network has identified increased investment of £100k being required.

Total 2,510 (2,015) 4,525 13,514 214 13,300


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.


Highways and Environment Portfolio Capital Programme 2020/21 - 2023/24

Ref Description

New (N), existing (E), revised (R), re-profiled (P)

Portfolio

Total cost of Scheme

Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21

Contributions 2020/21

Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H1

South Mimms Depot (N)Replacement of accommodation units in the Highways Depot at South Mimms.

Highways & Environment

330 330 330 - - - - -

H2

Safety Barriers refurbishment/replacement programme (N)Programme to replace and refurbish the safety barrier infrastructure across Hertfordshire’s highway network


1,100 1,100 1,100 - - - - -

H3

Street Lighting Refurbishment/Replacement Programme (R) Ongoing maintenance and replacement of the existing street lighting and illuminated signs infrastructure.


Annual programme

6,100 6,100 - - 2,325 2,325 2,325

H4

Streetlighting LED SDA Programme (N)To convert special design apparatus (SDA) / heritage lighting in conservation areas to LED and Central Management System (CMS) control, providing the Council with the ability to control the level of lighting along with the operating period, and consequently, reduce the costs associated with energy and carbon emissions


3,000 3,000 3,000 - -


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H5

Street Lighting Private Cable Network Refurbishment (R) Investment to replace the existing private cable network with new cabling.


850 350 350 - - 250 - -

H6

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


Annual programme

2,140 2,140 - - 718 718 718

H7

Carriageway maintenance (R)This is an ongoing project to extend the life of the highway carriageway infrastructure and ensure they meet their full 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.


Annual programme

35,324 18,014 17,310 - 35,956 37,475 38,599


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H8

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.


Annual programme

5,903 5,903 - - 6,080 6,262 6,450

H9

Highways Drainage Asset Maintenance and resilience (R) This programme carries out major repairs, renewals, and upgrades to the highway drainage system with the aim of extending the life of the highway drainage assets and ensure they meet their full service potential.


Annual programme

3,168 3,168 - - 3,263 3,361 3,462

H10

Footway & Cycleway maintenance (R) This is an ongoing project to extend the life of the highway footway and cycleway infrastructure and ensure they meet their full 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.


Annual programme

3,438 3,438 - - 3,541 3,647 3,757


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H11

Highways Locality Budgets (E) Annual programme which allows councillors to direct funding to highway maintenance and improvement schemes in consultation with residents and communities.


Annual programme 6,006 6,006

6,006 6,006 6,006

H12

Carriageway maintenance - improving local roads (E) 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


37,000 8,000 8,000 - - 8,000 8,000 -

H13

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. Improve the quality of life for residents through speed compliance, and accessibility schemes and support economic development.


Annual programme

8,990 - 3,800 5,190 5,743 5,743 5,743


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H14

Management & Improvement of the Access & Rights of Way (RoW) Network (R)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.


Annual programme

500 256 204 40 601 650 700

H15

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.


Annual programme

- - - - - - 64

H16

New River Bridge Scheme (R,P) To construct a new road and bridge adjacent to the existing Essex Road link.


9,898 5,446 - - 5,446 100 25 25

H17

A120 Bypass (Little Hadham) and Flood Alleviation Scheme (R,P) Will provide a northern 3.9km bypass of Little Hadham


46,230 10,727 - - 10,727 2,580 73 48


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H18

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


28,657 12,292 2,371 - 9,921 5,576 165 -

H19

A10 Buntingford South Roundabout (R,P) 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 and, if not addressed, will cause severe congestion on the A10 itself and within the town.


2,410 140 - - 140 500 1,500 100

H20

Introduction of weight limit on A507 (R,P) Scheme to address safety concerns on the A507.


298 228 204 - 24 - - -


Ref Description


Portfolio


Cost 2020/21

HCC Funding 2020/21

Grants 2020/21


Cost 2021/22

Cost 2022/23

Cost 2023/24

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

H21

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


13,763 950 387 563 - 850 4,000 7,000

H22

A120 Standon (R,P)Delivery of Highways Improvements to the A120 through the Village of Standon in East Herts to reduce the severance caused to the community by the road and maintain traffic flows.


1,758 334 76 - 258 - - -

Total 114,466 60,843 21,877 31,746 82,089 79,950 74,997


integrated plan part b - strategic direction and … · plan (ltp) and, in particular, the economic...

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