Pothole Fund Application Form

Guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pothole-fund-2014-to-2015-application Only one application form should be completed per local highway authority. Applicant Information Local authority name: Darlington Borough Council Bid Manager Name and position: Dave Winstanley, Assistant Director, Transport and Capital Projects Name and position of officer with day to day responsibility for delivering the proposed scheme. Contact telephone number: 01325 406618 Email address: Dave.Winstanley@darlington.gov.uk Postal address: Transport and Capital Projects Department for Economic Growth Town Hall Darlington DL1 5QT When authorities submit a bid for funding to the Department, as part of the Government’s commitment to greater openness in the public sector under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, they must also publish a version excluding any commercially sensitive information on their own website within two working days of submitting the final bid to the Department. The Department reserves the right to deem the business case as non-compliant if this is not adhered to. Please specify the weblink where this bid will be published: http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/Highways.htm

SECTION A – Your Highway The Department would like to understand more about the highway assets that fall under your statutory duties. We already collect data from your authority in regards to road lengths but we would like to understand more about the other assets you are responsible for. Please answer the following in your application: A1: What is the number of bridges owned by your authority with span over 1.5 metres? 106 A2: What is the total number of street lighting columns under your authority’s responsibility? 13559 A3: What is the total number of street lighting columns under your authority’s responsibility over 40 years old? 3503 A4: What is the total length of footways under the responsibility of your authority (in miles)? 371 A5: What is the total length of off road cycleways under the responsibility of your authority (in miles)? 31.4 A6: Please provide a weblink to your authority’s statement of how the flood recovery funding, awarded in March 2014, has/will be spent: http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/Highways.htm

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DepartmentSECTION B – Potholes B1: Which of the recommendations arising from the Pothole Review Report has your authority adopted? The report can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3995/pothole-review.pdf? Please answer the following, including providing supporting information, where applicable: Question Yes/No All ‘yes’ answers must be

supported evidence. Please append supporting information, clearly marking the question number to which the information refers.

A. Has your authority aligned its maintenance programme to the Government’s highways maintenance funding years (i.e. 2011-2015 and 2015-2021)?

Yes No

See Appendix B1A

B. Has your authority adopted the principle that ‘prevention is better than cure’ in determining the balance between structural, preventative and reactive maintenance activities in order to improve the resilience of the highway network and to minimise the occurrence of potholes in the future?

Yes No

See Appendix B1B

C. Has your authority ensured that appropriate competencies have been made available to make the right choices when designing and specifying techniques and materials for the maintenance and repair of highways? Note - these competencies can be secured through training, collaboration with neighbouring authorities or external advice.

Yes No

See Appendix B1C

D. Does your authority co-ordinate with other parties working on the highway short and long term programmes of work activities for up to four years in advance?

Yes No

See Appendix B1D

E. Has your authority considered the guidance provided in the ADEPT report Potholes and Repair Techniques for Local Highways and adopted as appropriate to your local circumstances?

Yes No

See Appendix B1E

F. Has your authority developed a detailed highway inspection manual and have put

Yes No

See Appendix B1F

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appropriate training in place for your Highway Inspectors?

G. Does your authority use technology and systems for the effective identification and management of potholes?

Yes No

See Appendix B1G

H. Does your authority have a public communications process in place that provides clarity and transparency in the policy and approach to repairing potholes? This should include a published policy and details of its implementation, including the prevention, identification, reporting, tracking and repair of potholes.

Yes No

See Appendix B1H

I. Does your authority monitor public satisfaction with road, footway and cycleway condition and report annually through the National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey or their own surveys?

Yes No

See Appendix B1I

J. Does your authority adopt permanent repairs as the first choice when repairing potholes?

Yes No

See Appendix B1J

K. Has your authority adopted dimensional definitions for potholes based on best practice as part of its maintenance policy?

Yes No

See Appendix B1K

B2: Does your authority adopt any innovative methods to help repair potholes? This could include, for example, specialist pothole maintenance crews.

Yes No If yes, please provide details as an annex as part of your bid. See Appendix B2 B3: Does your authority use reporting tools to identify potholes in your local area including: CTC Fill that Hole Yes No Council’s Own Web Reporting Yes No Other Yes No Please specify: See Appendix B3 B4: Does your authority regularly consult and seek feedback on its highways maintenance regime, including potholes, with key stakeholders? Local Member(s) of Parliament Yes No District, Borough and Parish Councils Yes No Local Residents Yes No (Including neighbourhood Forums) Yes No Business Community Yes No

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Emergency Services Yes No If yes, please provide details as an annex as part of your bid. See Appendix B4. B5: Does your authority have an up-to-date vision and action plan to improve the walking environment and encourage walking?

Yes No If yes, please provide a weblink: See Appendix B5 B6: Please explain how you deliver your duty under NRSWA to ‘co-ordinate the execution of works of all kinds’, including for example permit schemes, noticing, co-ordination meetings? See Appendix B6 B7: What actions does your authority take to ensure road repairs undertaken by other parties (such as utilities companies) meet the standards in the specification?

Inspections regime Scoring programme Performance bench-marking Meetings Other (please specify)

See Appendix B7

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SECTION C – Asset Management C1: Has your authority adopted the recommendations arising from the Asset Management Strategy Guidance published in May 2013 – http://www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org/en/utilities/document-summary.cfm?docid=5C49F48E-1CE0-477F-933ACBFA169AF8CB ?

Yes No Please answer the following, including providing supporting information, where applicable. Question Yes/No All ‘yes’ answers must be

supported evidence. Please append supporting information, clearly marking the question number to which the information refers.

Has your authority got an up to date asset management policy and strategy?

Yes No

If yes, please provide a weblink. See Appendix C1A

Does your authority communicate relevant information associated with asset management through engagement with your relevant stakeholders when you set requirements, make decisions and report performance?

Yes No

See Appendix C1B

Does your authority have an asset management register?

Yes No

See Appendix C1C

Does your authority follow lifecycle planning principles which are used to review the level of funding and which will help support investment decisions including long term investment in your assets?.

Yes No See Appendix C1D

C2: As part of your last L-Pack return for Whole Government Accounting requirements for the accounting period 2012/13, can you confirm you submitted the following return: Carriageway and Footways Yes No Lighting Yes No Structures Yes No Street Furniture Yes No See Appendix C2

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SECTION D – Efficiencies D1: Is your authority actively engaged with securing efficiencies for highways maintenance?

Yes No If yes, please provide additional information on what your authority has done since 2011 including what % efficiency savings (where efficiency savings are defined as delivering a similar or a better outcome at a lower cost) your authority has achieved year on year and what savings you hope to achieve by end of 2014/15. See Appendix D1 D2: Is your authority exploring or has it already joined with neighbouring local highway authorities or a Highways Maintenance Alliance to achieve economies of scale?

Yes No If yes, please provide additional information. For example the names of other authorities or the Alliance. See Appendix D2 D3: Is your authority sharing its efficiency experience and/or case studies with other local highway authorities via the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme or other good practice networks?

Yes No If yes, please provide state where. See Appendix D3

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SECTION E – Other E1: Please provide details on which of the following good practice activities your authority is undertaking for its highways management activities. Invest to save Yes No Cross boundary collaboration Yes No Other (please specify): See Appendix E1. E2: Do you consider your authority to be an exemplar authority in tackling potholes and undertaking highway maintenance?

Yes No If yes, please explain why. See Appendix E2. If yes, would your authority be willing to share its experiences more widely with other authorities / organisations?

Yes No

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SECTION F: Declarations F1. Senior Responsible Owner Declaration As Senior Responsible Owner for the Pothole Fund Application I hereby submit this request for approval to DfT on behalf of Darlington Borough Council and confirm that I have the necessary authority to do so. I confirm that Darlington Borough Council will have all the necessary statutory powers in place to ensure the planned timescales in the application can be realised. Name: Dave Winstanley Signed:

Position: Assistant Director, Transport and Capital Projects, Department for Economic Growth, Darlington Borough Council.

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Appendix B1A

We compile a five year rolling programme of works based on the following:-

1. Yearly condition data, Scanner, CVI, FNS– collected for all classes of carriageway around Sept/Oct each year with the data processed and loaded on to our asset management system by the end of December. Footway data is also collected on a four year rolling programme.

2. SCRIM data – collected and downloaded on to our asset management system to

coincide with the condition data.

3. Engineer and inspectors observations throughout the year.

4. Councillor’s observations and public complaints throughout the year. The programme is updated each year taking in to account the most up to date condition data and a report is produced which scores each section of road or footway and also produces a red, amber, green (RAG) map of the network which highlights the road length needing most attention. When compared to previous RAG maps this enables us to see which part of the network are deteriorating the fastest and these areas are inspected by an engineer to determine a suitable treatment. In addition, high scoring amber roads are inspected as many can be satisfactorily treated with an overlay, surface dressing or micro asphalt (or other appropriate techniques) to stop them deteriorating further to become red roads, which may need a more costly treatment or even reconstruction. Our rolling programme approach enables flexibility to bring forward schemes if additional funding is available or conditions change. Also, due to the timing of the updated programme we can take advantage of the surface dressing and micro asphalt summer programme and increase the amount of preventative maintenance works and make savings due to economies of scale. In addition this approach can reduce the amount of money, which is required for reactive maintenance. As we have up to date condition data for the entire network we feel that we can adapt the programme to match any funding pattern whilst still providing value for money by delivery through internal delivery models of frameworks/alliances that are in place regionally. Attached is a copy of this year’s programme of works and our five year programme. Similar programmes are available Street Lighting and Bridges.

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Five Year Rolling Programme for Highway Work Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

2013 - 2014 2014 - 2015 2015 - 2016 2016 - 2017 2017 - 2018

A167, Burtree Lane to Coatham Mundeville Ph7 (S)

A167, Burtree Lane to Coatham Mundeville Ph. 8 - S (+skid) (P2,3) - Foresters Ph.2

A167, Beaumont Hill area (ABG Sami causing uplifting of WC)

A167, Beaumont hill area (ABG Sami causing uplifting of WC)

A167, North Rd Ph1 (S ) A167, North Rd Ph 2 - S (+Skid) (P1)

A167, North Rd Ph 3 - S (+Skid) (P1)

A167, Grange Rd (RT) A167 Inner Ring Road (Skid site: retexture) (P4)

A167, Croft Rd Ph2 (S) A167, Croft Rd Ph 3 - S (+skid) (P3)

A167, Croft Rd Ph 4 - S (+skid) (P3)

A167, Croft Rd Ph 5 - S (+skid) (P3)

A167, Croft Rd Ph 6 - S (+skid) (P3)

A68 West Auckland Rd Ph2 (S) A68, A1(M) to A6072 Swan House Ph. 3

A68, Royal Oak ( Boundary to Houghton Bank ) - Ph. 3 - DP / S

A68, Royal Oak ( Boundary to Houghton Bank ), Ph. 4 - DP / S

A68, Royal Oak ( Boundary to Houghton Bank ), Ph. 5 - DP / S

A67 Low Goosepool (S) A67, Morton Palms R'bt - Farmhouse Ph. 1 - S

A67, Morton Palms R'bt - Farmhouse Ph. 2 - S

A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph1 (S)

A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph2 - S (+skid) (P4)

A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph3 - S (+skid) (P4)

A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph4 - S (+skid) (P4)

A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph5 - S (+skid) (P4)

A67/030, Carmel Rd S'th (RT) A67/035, Carmel Rd S'th - 30/60 signs to A66 Blands Corner R'bt - S (+Skid) (P8)

A1150 Stockton Rd R'about to Whinbush Way PH1 (S)

A1150 Stockton Rd R'about to Whinbush Way PH2 (S) SMA failure

A1150 Stockton Rd (S) - Inbound Duals

A6072, Heighington Bypass Ph1 (DP & S)

A6072, Heighington -Ph.2 - DP & S - B6444 to C39a

A6072, Heighington -Ph.3 - DP & S - B6444 to C39a

A68, Burtree Lane Junction Ph1 (S)

A167 Beaumont hill (S) A6072, Redworth - Ph1 (DP & S) A68 Woodland Road (S &DP) A68 Bondgate B6275 Roman Rd Ph5 (DP) B6275, Piercebridge, Ph.6 -DP -

B6279 to A68 B6275, Piercebridge, Ph.1 - S - A67 loop

B6275, Piercebridge, Ph.2 - S - Village

B6280 Carmel Rd North Ph4 (S) B6280 Carmel Rd - Ph.5 - S B6280 Carmel Rd - Ph.6 - S B6280, Coniscliffe Rd - S - Victoria Rd R'bt approach

B6280, Parkgate Ph.1 - S - Ring Road to Civic Theatre

B6280, Parkgate Ph.2 - S - Civic Theatre to Neasham Road

B6280, Yarm Road - S - Neasham Road towards Hundens Lane (Central park junction)

B6279 Staindrop Rd Ph1 (S) B6279, B6275 to Boundary Ph2 (Summerhouse) (S)

C39, Walworth Gate to Heighington - Ph.1 - DP

C39, Walworth Gate to Heighington - Ph.2 - DP

C39, Walworth Gate to Heighington - Ph.3 - DP

C39, Walworth Gate to Heighington - Ph.4 - DP

C39, Walworth Gate to Heighington - Ph.5 - DP

C34a, Lime Lane - Ph.3 - DP C34a, Gt Stainton to Bishopton - Ph.1 - DP

C34a, Gt Stainton to Bishopton - Ph.2 - DP

C34a, Gt Stainton to Bishopton - Ph.3 - DP

C49, Bishopton to Redmarshall - Ph.1 - DP

C182, McMullen Road - Ph.1 - DP & S

C182, McMullen Road - Ph.2 - DP & S

C182, McMullen Road - Ph.3 - DP & S

C182 McMullen Road, Ph 4 - DP & S

C55 John Street / Eastmount Rd Ph1 (S)

C55, John Street - Ph.2 - S

C40a, Burtree Lane Ph1 (S & DP)

C40a, Burtree Lane - Ph.2 - S C40a, Burtree Lane - Ph.3 - S C40a, Burtree Lane - Ph.4 - S

C88 Whessoe Rd - HRA cracking

C55 Brinkburn Rd - Ph 6 (S) C38, MSG to Neasham - Ph.5 - DP

C38, MSG to Neasham - Ph.6 - DP

C38, MSG to Neasham - Ph.7 - DP

C46, Haughton Rd - Ph.1 - S C46, Haughton Rd - Ph.2 - S C46, Haughton Rd - Ph.3 - S C182 Thompson St East - S Firth Moor, Ph.3 - DP & S Firth Moor, Ph.4 - DP & S (incl

fenby etc) Firth Moor, Ph.5 - DP & S

Cleveland Ave, Ph.1 - Millbank to Abbey to Cleveland Terrace - S

Cleveland Ave, Ph.2 - Millbank to Abbey to Cleveland Terrace - S

Cleveland Ave, Ph.3 - Millbank to Abbey to Cleveland Terrace - S

Stanhope Rd / Abbey Rd / Duke St R'bt - S

Fenby Ave PH1 (DP) Fenby Ave PH2 (DP) Fenby Ave PH3 (DP)

Allan St Ph2 (S) Whinbush way Ph 3 (S/DP) (Duals at Lights)

Langdale Rd Ph2 (FP) Claremont PH3 (FP) Crown St / Priestagate Jct (S -

cracking and chip loss. Hardipave?)

Estoril Rd (Yarm - Harris St)

Nunnery Lane (Ph1 ?) (FP)

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Edgecombe Drive (S) (Insp) Borough Rd East Back (S) KINGSWAY - ADD TO SLURRY

SITES (SB 10/6/13)

Traffic Calming Repairs (various) West Newbiggin (S + SD) Farrer Street/St Annes Tce (from

SP email 21/6/13)

Cemetery Footways

(S) = Surfacing (resurfacing) (FP) = Footpath works (DP) = Deep Patching / reconstruction (SD) = Surface Dressing (MS) = Micro surfacing (Carriageway) (SS) = Slurry Seal (Footway)

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Highways Maintenance Programme of Works 2014/15 Road Classification Location* A167 Croft Rd Ph 3 (S) A167 North Rd (S) A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph2 - (S) A67 Elm Ridge to Boundary Ph1 - (S) A67 Yarm Road (P) A68 West Auckland Road A1(M) to A6072 Swan House Ph3 (S) Unc Allan St Ph2 (S) B6275 Station Road (P) C40a Burtree Lane - Ph.2 (S) Unc Claremont / Brankin PH4 (FP) Unc Cleveland Ave / Cleveland Terrace R'about (S) Unc Fenby Ave PH1 (DP) - Geneva Rd end Unc Tyne Crescent (DP) Unc Hewitson Rd Sth Ph2 (DP&S) C38 MSG - Neasham (S) C46 Haughton Road (S) B6279 Staindrop Rd (DP) Unc Faverdale / Faverdale North Junction (S) A1150 Whinfiled Rd (FP) Unc Farrer Street and Anns Terrace Back Street (S) Unc Park Lane (FP) C92 Stillington Road (SD) C37 & C49 C37 through Bishopton Village & (C49) Redmarshall Road (SD) C144 Neasham Hill (SD) unc Nelson Terrace (MS) unc Geneva Terrace (MS) unc George Street (MS) unc Stonedale Crescent (MS) unc Hardwick Close (MS) unc Nightingale Avenue (MS) unc Norton Crescent Sadberge (MS) unc Cliffe Way, Gilling Crescent,Rear Eppleby Way and other areas of Estate (MS) unc Louisa Street, Eastbourne Road to Yarm Road (MS) unc Lodge Street (MS) unc North Cottages, School Aycliffe (MS) unc Garthlands, Heighington cul-de-sac area (MS) unc Kirstall Crescent (MS) unc Pierremont Drive (MS) unc Newlands Road (MS) unc Brinkburn Drive, Brinkburn Road to Rye Hill (MS) unc Mowden Street (MS) unc Pendleton Road - end to Wadham Grove (MS) unc Girton Walk, to Emmanual Close (MS) unc Woodburn Drive (MS) unc Stonehurst Drive (MS) unc Stonecliffe Drive (MS) unc Bushel Hill Court (MS) unc Pine Grove (MS) unc Lingfield Green (MS) unc East Close Sadberge (MS) unc Malim Road (MS) unc Rye Hill (MS) unc Branksome Terrace (MS) unc Kingsway Estate (MS) unc Low Coniscliffe (MS) unc Neasham Road (MS) B6280 Carmel Road North (SS) C38 Station Road, Middleton St George (SS)

C54 The Front, Hill Rise, Archer Road, The Oaklands, Middleton One Row (SS) Unc Pinewood Crescent, Heighington (SS) A67 The Green, High Coniscliffe (SS) C39 School Aycliffe Lane, School Aycliffe (SS) Unc Balmoral Road, Atholl Close, Cullen Close, Glamis Road (SS) C51 Norton Road, Sadberge (SS) Unc Town Farm Close, Bishopton (SS)

* Locations are approximate and could change until scheme is designed and the cost is clarified. (S) = Surfacing (resurfacing) (FP) = Footpath works (DP) = Deep Patching / reconstruction (SD) = Surface Dressing (MS) = Micro surfacing (Carriageway) (SS) = Slurry Seal (Footway)

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Appendix B1B

As we have up to date condition data for all of the network it is possible to identify those sections of network where preventative maintenance can be used, at the right time and in line with the ADEPT pothole report, to prevent further deterioration in a cost effective way. It is important that the right treatment is carried out at the right time to minimise the whole life cost of the different parts of the network. "A" Roads The graph below shows that during the period 2005/06 to 2008/09 CAPITAL resources were targeted to improve the condition of "A" class roads with RED roads dropping from over 10% to around the 5% target. Similarly, during this period significant improvement were made in the AMBER status roads; reducing them from 38% to around 18%. Maintenance of AMBER roads is equally as important as they are generally lower cost as the road has not deteriorated to a point where high cost repairs are required.

We do not have enough funds to address all RED roads therefore we must assess and prioritise them based on other data such as Skid resistance, accident analysis. We are presently aiming to maintain these at 5% of the Network. Once a road is RED the treatment is generally more expensive requiring areas of reconstruction and increased costs:-

• Typical treatment costs for an AMBER road can be in the region of £5 to £25 per sq/m compared to £150 per sq/m for a RED road.

• Increase in blacktop prices (associated with Oil prices). • Regional Framework lead by DBC has countered impact to a degree. • Increased costs associated Waste Acceptance Criteria (disposal of Tars in old road

materials has significant disposal costs) • Costs have increased with the closure of the local tarmac mixing plant' in Darlington

resulting in higher costs for delivery and the need to invest in equipment to deal with materials for daily repairs or travel to Coxhoe on a daily basis for small amounts of materials.

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There needs to be a careful balance of addressing the worst RED roads with expensive repairs and lower cost treatments to prevent AMBER roads turning RED. Analysis of data and detailed investigation is resource intensive to ensure cost effective solutions are prioritised. Failure to deliver the correct solution at the right time can be expensive to rectify. The system in place minimises this risk and ensure value for money. B and C Roads The graphs below shows that during the period 2005 to 2009 CAPITAL resources were targeted to improve the condition of "B" and "C" class roads with RED roads for B class roads dropping from around 25% to around 11% and Red roads for C class roads dropping from 25% to around 13%. Similarly, during this period significant improvement was made in the AMBER status roads. Maintenance of AMBER roads is equally as important as maintaining RED roads as the repairs are generally lower cost as the road has not deteriorated to a point where high cost repairs are required.

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Unclassified Roads

The condition of the C and Unclassified Road networks have deteriorated in the last two to three years as shown on the condition graphs. As they account for 84% of the Borough’s road network a small % increase has resulted in an additional 12.44km of carriageway falling in to the red category since 2011. This is illustrated on the combined network graph below, which shows the length of carriageway in the Borough now falling in to the red category. This trend is now being targeted. The Council Cabinet report at Appendix C1B has highlighted this to Members and put an action plan in place to manage this situation.

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ALL CLASSES OF ROADS The Highways submission to Government on Whole of Government Accounting (WAG) shows a maintenance backlog of £74.2M on the network, which includes structures and street lighting. The value of the carriageway (546km) and footway (597km) stands at £694m with a backlog of £74.2M. This demonstrates the level of combined Revenue and Capital funding is not sufficient to stem the overall decline in condition of highway network assets and this is a NATIONAL situation. The maintenance of the highway network utilises Capital from the Department for Transport via the Local Transport Plan (LTP). This Capital allocation has been reduced significantly through recent national spending cuts. Darlington has refocused priorities for LTP spend in the following order:-

1. Maintenance of existing assets 2. Improved Management of the network 3. Improvement Schemes

Improvement schemes will generally only be delivered where there is external grant, a match funding requirement or a business case that supports the investment. INSURANCE CLAIMS Despite, the declining value of the asset the overall the road condition surveys have seen improvement over the last ten years. The highway maintenance strategy and robust systems of inspection and maintenance have controlled Highway insurance claims and resulted in a repudiation rate of 93% in the last 12 months. This has resulted in savings on corporate insurance policy premiums.

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Appendix B1C

Although the Highway Engineers, Technicians and Inspectors all have academic qualifications to suit their posts it is important that they keep up to date with modern techniques and materials. This is usually achieved through attending training such as run by the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSDA) and visiting local supplier’s events to see how materials have developed and used. In addition the technicians rotate around the different processes we use so that they develop a practical knowledge of different types of surfacing available to us and where they can be applied. The experience in the Tees Valley group of authorities is extensive and this is shared at the Tees Valley Highway Maintenance Engineers meetings which are held approximately every two months. Middlesbrough Council has a small highways Laboratory and their manager attends the meetings to keep the group up to date with changes to specifications and also provides a testing service to the group. In addition they carryout checks on suppliers and contractors to ensure that they comply to the Tees Valley Sector Schemes for Asphalt and Aggregates and this information is posted on their web site at:- http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2468 When specialist training is required the Authorities in the Tees Valley have pooled resources in the past to enable training in the local area. In setting up the Specialist Surfacing Framework we have established a good working relationship with all of the specialist contractors who have an important input in to the suitability of the treatments they are asked to provide. In addition they keep us up to date with products they are developing and this is invaluable in broadening experience throughout the team and Tees Valley Group. The specialist contractors also highlight case studies on different types and new materials and visits can be arrange to visit sites in the surrounding area where they have been successful.

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Appendix B1D

Darlington Borough Council attends quarterly coordination meetings through NEHAUC (North East Highway Authority and Utility Committee) with Durham County Council and all of the main Public Utility Undertakers in the area. Forward programmes of work are discussed and conflicts identified to enable reprogramming of works or utilisation of traffic management. In addition other methods of installation, such as thrust boring, are discussed where recently surfaced parts of the highway could be affected by urgent PU works. Although Section 58 Notices are included on the ETON system they are also brought to the attention of the Public Utilities where their proposed work conflicts with the notice. If programmes cannot be changed we then discuss the reinstatement of the works which usually results in full width resurfacing in the areas covered by the notice. In addition to highlighting conflicts between Highway and PU works there are discussions on proposed housing and industrial developments, including any proposed works that the Highways Agency may have on their network. At the early planning stage these types of work are usually discussed with the Traffic Manager as although many are not within our Borough, they can cause problems due to diversion routes in to the Borough and may conflict with our planned and even reactive works. Other event(s) such as Fun Runs, athletic events and parades are discussed at PESAG (Public Events Safety Advisory Group) meetings, which are attended by the Traffic Manager, and highlighted to minimise the amount of works and possible disruption and conflict on a particular route.

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Appendix B1E

The Council have a policy of carrying out a permanent first time repair although in some locations this will not be possible due to the weather conditions at the time or the availability of the right material for the particular circumstance. As indicated in the ADEPT report ‘Potholes and Repair Techniques for Local Authorities’, it is critical that the right selection of treatments, preparation and execution of the works to the right standard, is essential when carrying out patching works. It should first be established that the repair is required due to the failure of the surfacing layers and not a foundation layers as this would require more extensive works, but it may be necessary to carry out a temporary repair to keep the road safe. The inspectors are trained to identify this and specify the most appropriate repair. It is important that the right material is used to carryout repairs and we have found that although a matrix dominated material is required on some of our more heavily trafficked roads, an aggregate dominated material can be used on the lower trafficked rural roads. This is of course dependant on the weather conditions at the time of the work and that all phases of the repair are carried out to a good standard. Inspectors are trained to make this assessment. Although the patching gang are all experienced in carrying out this type of work regular inspections are carried out to ensure that repairs are carried out to a high standard as part of our Quality Assurance processes. This includes checking that cutting of vertical edges to the patch, removing all debris, applying a bond coat and hot material to the patch and compacting well. Particular attention is placed on the preparation of the patch to receive the new materials and at some locations adjacent patches are joined together, where practical, to complete a neater and more robust repair. As many of the rural roads in an area are inspected on a monthly basis by the same inspector, if any patching work starts to fail prematurely if it is easily identified and the reason for failure investigated. Repair records are recorded on the highway management system, Symology Insight and reports can be produced to see where damage to the network is taking place which may help in establishing probable cause of the failure and selecting suitable treatments to prevent further deterioration.

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Appendix B1F

Please find attached a copy of the Highways Safety Inspection Manual. All of the Highway Inspectors are trained to City and Guilds level for reinstatement of the highway up to Supervisor level and registered as such on the Street Works Qualification Register. The week long training course enables them to identify defects in the highway and their possible causes and specify an appropriate repair. In addition they are also they have all attended the Highways Safety Inspectors Modular Training and Assessment Course which is endorsed by Lantra and includes IHE entry onto the National Register of Highway Inspectors.

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HIGHWAY SAFETY INSPECTION MANUAL

March 2014

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Highway Safety Inspection Manual

1 – Introduction

2 – Safety Inspections 3 – Methodology

3.1 - Safety Inspection Procedures 3.2 - Network Hierarchies 3.3 - Frequency of Safety Inspections 3.4 - Items for Inspection 3.5 - Investigatory Levels 3.6 - Defect Categories and Response Times 3.7 - Risk Assessments 3.8 - Risk Register 3.9 - Recording and Training

4 – Appendices

- Appendix A - Risk Register

- Appendix B - Examples of Defects

(currently in development)

- Appendix C - Procedure for Dealing with Statutory

Undertakers Defective Surface Apparatus

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1 – Introduction The establishment of an effective regime of inspection, assessment and recording is the most crucial component of highway maintenance and provides the basic information for addressing the core objectives, namely:

• network safety • network serviceability • network sustainability

In order to meet its responsibilities as highway authority, the Council has established a formal regime of risk management based inspections across its adopted highway network in accordance with the guidance and recommendations contained in:

• Well-Maintained Highways, Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management, July 2005

• Well-Maintained Highways, Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management – Complementary Guidance, August 2010

• Highway Risk and Liability Claims - A practical guide to Appendix C of The UK Roads Board Report “Well-Maintained Highways: Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management” - Second edition, July 2009

Inspections and surveys can be considered in the following categories:

• Safety Inspections • Service Inspections • Condition Surveys

This document, the Highway Safety Inspection Manual, deals solely with safety inspections and is aimed primarily at highway inspection personnel and defines the risk management based highway safety inspection regime. The manual is integral to the Council’s highway maintenance inspection strategy and policy, details of which can be found in the Highway Maintenance Plan.

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2 – Safety Inspections The Council as Highway Authority is placed under a duty to maintain its highways by Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. Section 58 of the Act allows the Council to mount a defence in actions taken against the authority if it can demonstrate that it has taken reasonable care to ensure that the highway was not dangerous to traffic having regards to:

• The character of the highway and the traffic which was reasonably expected to use it; • The standard of maintenance appropriate for a highway of that character and used by

such traffic; • The state of repair in which a reasonable person would have expected to find the

highway; • Whether the authority knew or could reasonably have been expected to know that the

condition of the highway was likely to cause danger to users; • Whether warning notices were displayed when immediate repair could not reasonably be

expected. Essentially this means that the authority must have in force a regular system of highway inspections, act upon any reports of defects, keep comprehensive and accurate records of all inspections and defect repairs and strive to fulfil its declared policy in relation to highway maintenance. Providing it fulfils these criteria it can expect to robustly defend public liability accident claims as well as offer the public an effective highway maintenance service. Safety inspections are designed to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the network or the wider community. Such defects should include those that will require urgent attention (within 24 hours) as well as those where the locations and sizes are such that longer periods of response would be acceptable. The risk of danger is assessed on site and the defect identified as either category 1 or 2 along with its appropriate response time (see Section 3). The Council’s safety inspection regime comprises the following elements:

• frequency of inspections • items for inspection • degree of deficiency • nature of response

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3 – Methodology 3.1 – Safety Inspection Procedures Safety inspections will be undertaken on foot or by slow moving vehicle. Driven inspections will be carried out by two operatives (a driver plus a trained highways inspector) in a clearly marked vehicle (high visibility markings and warning beacons) and at a speed suitable for the category of road:

• urban areas – maximum 20mph (dependent upon site conditions) • rural areas – maximum 30mph (dependent upon site conditions)

Walked inspections will be carried out by an individual, trained highways inspector unless an exception to this rule is fully documented and agreed with the Highways Inspectors Manager. When carrying out walked inspections the highways inspector is required to walk all footways and identify defects over the whole highway (where practicable). Further passes may be necessary in certain circumstances e.g. in pedestrian precincts. When a particular road or section of road is found to be obstructed at the time of inspection e.g. by utilities works or parked vehicles, a note recording the nature and limit of the obstruction(s) must be made on the inspection report. It will be necessary to re-schedule the inspection to take place at a more suitable time or date within a reasonable period. All precautions must be taken to ensure inspections are carried out as safely as possible. If a highways inspector considers it unsafe to carry out a particular inspection they are to consult with the Highways Inspectors Manager before proceeding. Additional, reactive safety inspections outside the planned inspection regime may be necessary in response to complaints or reports of defects received from other officers, the Police, councillors, outside organisations or the public. They may also be required as a result of incidents or extreme weather conditions or in the light of monitoring information.

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Highway Safety Inspection Regime: Procedures

Reactive safety inspection undertaken and details of defects/complaint recorded

Reports regarding highway condition received from

various sources

Cyclic safety inspections undertaken and details of

all defects recorded

Defects assessed, categorised and appropriate response determined. Records kept of recommended responses

Details of action to be undertaken forwarded to source

Reactive

Inspections

Only

Defect made safe at time of inspection

Repair carried out Works added to future programme, schedule a

more detailed inspection, review at future inspection

24 hour,5 day, or 20 day

response time for repair

Inspect to ensure integrity of making

repair is maintained until a permanent repair can be arranged if required

Complete permanent repair if required..

Records kept of all actions taken

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3.2 – Network Hierarchies The network hierarchy is the foundation for a coherent, consistent and auditable maintenance strategy. It is important that the hierarchy adopted reflects the needs, priorities and actual use of each road in the network. These may be determined by importance, environment and non-vehicular traffic factors such as pedestrian usage. Indeed, footway priorities may sometimes conflict with carriageway priorities, and hence it is necessary to define separate footway and cycleway hierarchies. The aim of the highway network hierarchy is to:

• Allow programmes of inspections to be set to enable statutory duties to be fulfilled. • Allocate resources according to the importance of the carriageway/footway/cycleway

within the network. • Set policies and standards according to the importance of the carriageway/footway/

cycleway within the network. The Council has based its network hierarchies on the recommendations given in Well-Maintained Highways, Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management. However, the designation of carriageways and footways to specific hierarchy categories has been made taking into account other factors, not least of which is the frequency of inspections as these are closely linked to hierarchy categories. Due to the dynamic nature of the highway network, hierarchies must be regularly reviewed to reflect changes in network characteristics and use so that maintenance policies, practices and standards reflect the actual current use of the network. The Council will review its network hierarchies on an annual basis. The network hierarchy is sub-divided into three categories to cover carriageways, footways and cycleways:

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Carriageway Hierarchy

Cat No Hierarchy Description

Type of Road General

Description

Detailed Description

Responsibility

1 Motorway Limited access motorway regulations apply

Routes for fast moving long distance traffic. Fully grade separated and restrictions on use.

Highways Agency – A1(M)

2 Strategic Route Trunk and some Principal ‘A’ roads between Primary Destinations

Routes for fast moving long distance traffic with little frontage access or pedestrian traffic. Speed limits are usually in excess of 40 mph and there are few junctions. Pedestrian crossings are either segregated or controlled and parked vehicles are generally prohibited.

Highways Agency – TRA66 Darlington BC – A67 A68 A167 A1150

3a Main Distributor Major Urban Network and Inter-Primary Links. Short-medium distance traffic

Routes between Strategic Routes and linking urban centres to the strategic network with limited frontage access. In urban areas speed limits are usually 40 mph or less, parking may be restricted at peak times and there are positive measures for pedestrian safety.

Darlington BC

3b Secondary Distributor

Classified Roads (B and C Class) and unclassified urban bus routes carrying local traffic with frontage access and frequent junctions

In rural areas these roads link the larger villages and HGV generators to the Strategic and Main Distributor Network. In built-up areas these roads have 30 mph speed limits and very high levels of pedestrian activity with some crossing facilities including zebra crossings. On street parking is generally unrestricted except

Darlington BC

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for safety reasons.

4a Link Road Roads linking between the Main and Secondary Distributor Network with frontage access and frequent junctions

In rural areas these roads link the smaller villages to the distributor roads. They are of varying width and not always capable of carrying two-way traffic. In urban areas they are residential or industrial inter-connecting roads with 30 mph speed limits random pedestrian movements and uncontrolled parking.

Darlington BC

4b Local Access Road

Roads serving limited numbers of properties carrying only access traffic

In rural areas these roads serve small settlements and provide access to individual properties and land. They are often only single lane width and unsuitable for HGVs. In urban areas they are often residential loop roads or culs de sac.

Darlington BC

Footway Hierarchy

Cat No Hierarchy Description

Detailed Description Comments

1a Prestige Walking Zone Prestige Areas in towns and cities with exceptionally high usage, such as Princess Street in Edinburgh and Oxford Street in London.

None in Darlington

1 Primary Walking Route Busy urban shopping and business areas and main pedestrian routes linking interchanges between different modes of transport, such as railways and underground stations, and bus stops etc.

Town Centre area

2 Secondary Walking Route

Medium usage routes through local areas feeding into primary routes, local shopping centres, large schools and industrial centres etc.

3 Link Footway Linking local access footways through urban areas and busy rural footways.

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4 Local Access Footway Footways associated with low usage, short estate roads to the main routes and cul de sac.

Streets have not been identified in this document but have been identified in the UKPMS data base. When designating lengths of footway to specific hierarchy categories the Council’s regime takes account of potential risks to all road users and in particular, areas used by those most vulnerable:

• access to schools, hospitals, medical centres, public buildings and sports facilities • aged people’s accommodation, nursing and residential homes

Cycleway Hierarchy Category

Description

A

Cycle lane forming part of the carriageway, commonly 1.5 metre strip adjacent to the nearside kerb. Cycle gaps at road closure point (no entries allowing cycle access).

B

Cycle track, a highway route for cyclists not continuous with the public footway or carriageway. Shared cycle/pedestrian paths, either segregated by a white line or other physical segregation, or un-segregated.

C

Cycle trails, leisure routes through open spaces. These are not necessarily the responsibility of the highway authority, but may be maintained by an authority under other powers or duties.

Hierarchies are dynamic and need to respond to changes in the network characteristics and use. Accordingly the maintenance policies, practices and standards will also be updated to reflect the actual use of the network.

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3.3 – Frequency of Safety Inspections

Feature

Description

Category

2005 C.O.P.

Frequency

Darlington

Council Frequency

Roads

Strategic Route Main Distributor Secondary Distributor Link Road Local Access Back Lanes Reflectivity

2

3 (a)

3 (b)

4 (a)

4 (b)

4 (b) -

1 month

1 month

1 month

3 months

1 year

1 year

-

1 month

1 month

1 month

3 month

3 month

Annually Biannually

Footways

Prestige Walking Zone Primary Walking Route Secondary Walking Route Link Footway Local Access Footway

1(a)

1 2 3 4

n/a

1 month

3 months

6 months

1 year

n/a

1 month

3 month

3 month

3 month

Cycleways

Part of Carriageway Remote from carriageway & shared surface with footway

A

B

As for roads

As for roads or

footpath category

As for roads

As for roads or

footpath category

Safety inspections are carried out to the frequencies in the above table and on an ad-hoc basis following complaints or reports of defects received from council officers, councillors, outside organisations or the public. It is important that safety inspections are carried out on time though it is accepted that there needs to be a period of grace either side of the designated inspection date to allow for holidays, inclement weather, sickness, etc. The tolerances for carrying out the inspections are: Frequency of Inspection Tolerance Monthly Inspections + or - 5 working days from designated date Three Monthly Inspections + or - 10 working days from designated date Annual Inspections + or - 1 calendar month from designated date

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3.4 – Items for Inspection The following list is based on Appendix B of the Well-maintained Highways, Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management which gives guidance on a schedule of deficiencies to be identified during safety inspections. The list in the Code is not exhaustive and is provided as a check list to be modified to suit local circumstances. The Council has modified this list to create its own schedule of items to be inspected and the type defects to look for when undertaking highway safety inspections:

Items to be inspected

Type of Defects

Carriageways,and Cycleways

Pothole Spalling (this only applies to roads with a concrete running surface) Fretting Cracking Depression Rutting Crowning Settled/proud trench Defective ironwork Gaps/fillets around ironwork Misaligned/loose/rocking channel blocks Tree root damage

Footways,Combined Footway/Cycleways

Trip Pothole Depression Settled/proud trench Rocking or missing paving flags/blocks Damaged/misaligned/missing edging Open joints Severely damaged paving flags Major fretting Defective ironwork Gaps/fillets around ironwork Tree root damage Vehicle overriding Severe encroachment by grass/vegetation

Kerbs

Misaligned Damaged Loose/rocking Badly eroded Missing

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Verges

Severe overriding adjacent to and parallel with the carriageway edge (rural areas) Damage caused by unauthorised parking Defective ironwork Obstructions Uncut grass/street furniture/illegal signs obscuring sightlines

Ironwork

Rocking/sunken/protruding/cracked/broken/worn/polished or missing grates and covers Level differences within framework Gaps within framework (other than designed by manufacturer)

Flooding – where conditions allow

Standing water Water discharging onto or flowing across carriageway and/or footway Significant flooding of property

Drainage

Blocked gully, grip, highway ditch Collapsed/settled items or systems

Road Markings

Faded or worn markings (particularly Stop, Give Way, continuous centre and edge lines)

Road Studs

Displaced items on carriageway Missing/defective studs/cats eyes Void left in carriageway

Traffic signs, Bollards

Traffic signs and bollards missing/damaged/vandalised causing a hazard Traffic signs misaligned/obscured/dirty/faded Traffic signs erected too low or slipped down mounting pole Damaged mounting pole

Safety Fencing, Pedestrian Guardrails, Parapet Walls, Handrails, Boundary Fences and Walls

Damaged/misaligned items projecting into carriageway or footway Damaged/misaligned/missing items due to accident or vandalism Structurally unstable items likely to cause danger Missing sections of panels/walling/lengths of handrail

Trees, Hedges, Shrubs

Dead or unstable trees and branches liable to fall onto

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and Noxious Weeds highway Broken or fallen branches, overhanging trees, hedges or shrubs creating obstruction to highway Old tree stumps creating obstruction in verges or footways Traffic signs, street lighting or sightlines obscured by overgrown foliage/tree branches Damage to trees/root systems by a third party Identification of noxious weeds

Embankments, Cuttings and Retaining Walls

Apparently unstable embankments, cuttings and retaining walls

Highway General

Spillages/debris/mud on highway likely to cause a hazard Overhead wires damaged or unstable Street furniture missing or damaged likely to cause a hazard Sub-standard signing, coning, guarding and/or temporary surface ramping at roadworks Damaged/dislodged traffic calming humps Scaffolding or skips likely to cause a hazard Unprotected building materials on the highway Abandoned vehicles likely to cause a hazard

Other dangers to the public

Anything else considered dangerous in the highway which could affect highway users

Guidance Notes on Items for Inspection Ironwork: This may necessitate repairs to, and the occasional replacement of, the different types of gratings, covers, frames and boxes that are the direct responsibility of the highway authority. It may be necessary on occasions to repair or replace items that are the responsibility of other parties if it is deemed there is a hazard to road users or pedestrians. In the first instance the owner of the apparatus will be informed to make safe on a two hour response if considered in a dangerous location. Signing and guarding may have to be arranged to make safe as a temporary measure, and all costs incurred recovered from the other parties. The majority of covers, gratings and frames are situated in carriageways and footways but those in verges, particularly those verges that are regularly used by pedestrians or horses, should not be ignored and any defects should be risk assessed appropriately. It may be difficult to decide whether a cracked or broken item is in real danger of collapse but if in doubt it should be replaced irrespective of its position. Defects in covers and gratings may pose particular danger to pedal and motor cycle users. It should be remembered that they will not always confine their riding zone to the nearside edge of the carriageway. Public Utilities Covers/Apparatus: Procedures have been agreed through HAUC and a process exists to deal with reports or findings of utility apparatus that is considered to be dangerous (see Appendix C). The procedure entails the highway authority notifying by fax or e-mail the details and location of the defective apparatus. The utility company will acknowledge receipt (or refute responsibility if not their apparatus) within an agreed timescale and confirm 37

actions taken to make safe the apparatus to the satisfaction of the highway authority. Failure of this procedure in any way by the utility company will result in the highway authority acting in default and making safe the location on a rechargeable basis. Flooding: Standing water on the highway reduces safety if allowed to accumulate. The location and extent of the flooding must be noted and appropriate remedial action must be taken quickly, especially on high speed roads. This will include flood signs or road closure in severe circumstances. Road Markings, Road Studs The regulations concerning road markings and road studs are quite comprehensive and it is not within the scope of the safety inspection regime to determine whether or not road markings comply with the regulations. However, safety of the road user and the legal status of road markings can be affected if their reflectivity and/or legibility are not up to standard. The highways inspector will report any faded, eroded or obscured road markings taking into account possible legal and safety implications. Particular attention should be paid to the condition of Stop lines, Give Way markings, continuous centre lines, edge lines and missing/defective road studs on unlit roads. Lighting Columns, Illuminated Signs and Bollards All electrical installations for illumination on the highway i.e. lighting columns, traffic signs and bollards are inspected on a regular basis by suitably qualified contractors based on the guidance laid down in Well-lit Highways: Code of Practice for Highway Lighting Management. With respect to electrical installations, highways inspectors will only identify obvious safety defects and along with any outages, day burners, damaged units or installations obscured by tree branches/foliage/overgrown shrubs will report all defects to the Street Lighting section. Any exposed electrical wiring will be considered hazardous to the public and must be reported immediately and be protected as soon as possible. The inspector shall not leave the site until the street lighting supervisor/operative arrives to take ownership. Traffic Signals Modern traffic signal equipment (including signalised pedestrian crossings) is expected to operate correctly without regular routine adjustments and the inspection and maintenance of equipment is carried out by specialist contractors. All safety defects identified by highways inspectors or received from the Police or public will be reported in the first instance to the Street Lighting section. Illuminated and Non-Illuminated Traffic Signs The regulations concerning the illumination and reflectivity of traffic signs are quite complex and it is not within the scope of the safety inspection regime to determine whether or not a sign complies with the regulations. However, safety of the road user and the legal status of regulatory and warning signs is affected if a sign is not correctly illuminated and/or the reflectivity and legibility of the sign is not up to standard. The highways inspector will report any damaged and/or obscured signs but will pay particular attention to regulatory and warning signs taking into account the possible legal and safety implications. If, over a period of time, it becomes apparent that a sign is repeatedly being subject to vehicle accident damage it should be brought to the attention of the council’s Highway network management section for investigation and possible re-siting in a more suitable location.

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Trees, Hedges, Shrubs, Noxious Weeds The trees, hedges and shrubs referred to are those in the ownership of the highway authority together with those that are the responsibility of private landowners but which potentially affect users of the highway. Highways inspectors are not expected to have the in-depth knowledge of an experienced horticultural or arboricultural officer. However, as safety inspections are carried out all year round this provides the opportunity to identify potential hazards and report them to the council’s streetscene department for appropriate action.

• any tree or part of a tree that appears dead, dying or dangerous and is in falling distance of the highway

• obstructions to movement on the highway caused by overgrown foliage or overhanging, broken or fallen branches

• old tree stumps creating obstruction in verges or footways • traffic signs, vehicle sightlines and street lighting obscured by overgrown foliage/tree

branches • suspected tree root damage to the highway and/or boundary walls • suspected damage to a tree or its roots by a third party i.e. public utility company • noxious weeds in the highway e.g. ragwort, Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed

If the hedge, tree or shrub is council owned then the problem should be reported to streetscene. If the tree, hedge or shrub is privately owned then the landowner should be requested to carry out all necessary remedial works and informed that if they do not comply within a reasonable time period they may be served notice under Section 154, parts 1 and 2, of the Highways Act 1980. Any damage to carriageways and/or footways which is suspected of being caused by tree roots should be assessed to determine if it needs to be referred to the streetscene section for further advice. If the area of the defect is minor and there are no signs of previous repair then appropriate remedial works should be carried out and a note made to monitor the repair at future inspections. If the area around the defect has previously been repaired or the area and severity of the defect is extensive then consultation with the streetscene section should be sought in order to determine a long term solution to the problem, though a temporary repair may be necessary in the interim. If it is suspected that a tree or its root system has been damaged by a third party i.e. a public utility company, then this will be reported to the streetscene section for further inspection. This may lead to a possible action to claim compensation for unauthorised or avoidable damage to the tree. Old tree stumps that create an obstruction in verges or footways should be reported to the streetscene section for removal. All identifications of noxious weeds should be reported to streetscene for verification and further action. In all cases, whenever a highways inspector is unsure of what action to take with regards to a problem concerning trees, hedges, shrubs or noxious weeds then the appropriate council department should be contacted for further advice.

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Embankments, Cuttings, Retaining Walls Highways inspectors are not structural or geo-technical engineers and only obvious safety hazards need to be identified and recorded. Any concerns over the condition and stability of retaining walls should be reported to the council’s structural engineer in the Highway Network Management section. Potential problems associated with the stability of embankments and cuttings need to be referred in the first instance to the Highway Network Management section for appropriate action. Highway General Scavenging applies to the removal of any objects found within the highway boundary that causes an obstruction or hazard to highway users. Immediate action will be required to remove hypodermic needles and other sharp objects, dead animals, large scale spillages and tipped material if causing an obstruction on the highway. Highways inspectors will report any hypodermic needles, syringes and other sharp objects to streetscene. Build-up of litter, fly-tipping, large volumes of fallen leaves and overflowing litter bins will be reported to the council’s streetscene team for removal. If it is suspected that tipped material contains asbestos or other toxic material then it must be reported as a matter of urgency and the highways inspector’s suspicions made clear at the time of the report. Any instances of racist or obscene graffiti observed shall be reported immediately to the council’s streetscene team for removal. Bus shelters that are found to be damaged or vandalised shall be reported to the council’s highway network management team in the first instance who will then notify the appropriate owner. Privately owned bus shelters (Adshel/Clearchannel) have a reference number on the shelter and this should be recorded and included in the report and passed to the highway network management team. Any broken glass must be notified to the council’s streetscene team for immediate removal by the appropriate bus shelter owner. Chemical spillages and clearances following road traffic accidents shall be dealt with by the emergency services under existing service level agreements with the highways inspector giving assistance where appropriate.

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3.5 – Investigatory Levels The investigatory levels for defects arising from safety inspections are shown in the following table:

Item

Defect

Investigatory Level

Carriageway

Pothole, Spalling Pothole, Spalling where pedestrians are expected to cross (Road junctions) Settled trench: with the flow of traffic Settled trench: 90o to the flow of traffic Depression Rutting Crowning Surface cracking Tree root damage Gap around ironwork Sunken/protruding/rocking ironwork Misaligned/loose/rocking channel blocks

≥40mm depth ( ≥300mm wide in any horizontal direction) ≥20mm depth ≥40mm depth ≥40mm depth ≥40mm depth ≥25mm depth ≥40mm difference in level ≥20mm wide ≥40mm difference in level ≥25mm (W) x 40mm (D) x 100mm (L) ≥25mm difference in level ≥40mm vertical movement

Pedestrian crossing (this includes all uncontrolled designated crossing points)

Trip/Pothole

≥20mm depth

Footway

Trip, Pothole Rocking paving flag/block Open joint Settled trench: any direction Crowning Depression Tree root damage

≥20mm depth ≥20mm vertical movement ≥25mm (W) x 20mm (D) ≥20mm depth ≥20mm difference in level ≥20mm depth

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Footway

Misaligned/ loose/rocking edging Gap around ironwork Sunken/protruding/rocking ironwork

≥20mm difference in level ≥20mm vertical movement ≥25mm (W) x 20mm (D) x 100mm (L)

Kerbing

Misaligned/loose/rocking (adjacent to footway) Misaligned/loose/rocking (not adjacent to footway) Missing, badly eroded

≥20mm horizontally and/or 20mm vertically ≥50mm horizontally and/or 40mm vertically Yes risk assessed

Verges (in urban areas)

Verge damage caused by unauthorised vehicular parking/overriding Sunken/protruding/rocking ironwork Obstruction, restricted sightlines

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Verges (in rural areas)

Severe overriding adjacent to and parallel with the carriageway edge Verge damage caused by unauthorised vehicular parking/overriding Sunken/protruding/rocking ironwork Obstruction, restricted sightlines

≥100mm depth Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Ironworks

Gaps within framework (other than designed by manufacturer) Level differences within framework Rocking covers and grates Missing covers and grates Cracked / broken covers and grates Worn / polished covers and grates

≥20mm wide Depends on location Depends on location Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Flooding

Standing water likely to cause a hazard Substantial discharge of water across carriageway

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

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Substantial discharge of water across footway Water running into property

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Drainage

Blocked gully (silted above outlet) Blocked grips, highway ditches Collapsed / blocked / settled items or systems

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Road markings

Faded or worn markings (particularly Stop, Give Way, continuous centre and edge lines)

≥30% loss of markings or where a considered risk/hazard is seen to exist

Road studs

Missing Displaced item on c/way Void left in c/way

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed ≥40mm depth ( ≥300mm wide in any horizontal direction)

Traffic signs and bollards

Item obscured by hedges, trees, vegetation, other signs Sign illegible, faded, defaced by graffiti, vandalised Signs slipped or erected too low

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed <2.1m over footways <2.4m over cycleways <5.1m over carriageways

Safety fencing, parapet walls, pedestrian guardrail, handrails, boundary fences and walls

Item damaged or misaligned causing a hazard Unstable item or section Missing panels, sections of safety fencing, handrails, walling

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Trees, hedges, shrubs and noxious weeds

Dead or unstable tree or branch in danger of falling onto highway Broken or fallen branches, overgrown

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

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trees, hedges or shrubs obstructing carriageway, footway or cycleway Old tree stumps creating obstruction in verges or footways Overgrown foliage, tree branches obscuring traffic signs, street lighting or sightlines Overhanging foliage/tree branches leading to loss of height clearance over carriageway, footway or cycleway Trees damaged by a third party Noxious weeds identified

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed <2.1m over footways <2.4m over cycleways <5.1m over carriageways Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Embankments, Cuttings and Retaining Walls

Unstable embankment, cutting or retaining wall

Yes risk assessed

Highway General

Spillages/debris/mud on highway likely to cause a hazard Overhead wires damaged or unstable Street furniture missing or damaged likely to cause a hazard Sub-standard signing, coning, guarding and temporary surface ramping at roadworks sites Damaged/dislodged traffic calming humps Illegal signs, obstructions in the highway Scaffolding likely to cause a hazard Skips likely to cause a hazard Unprotected building materials on the highway

Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed Yes risk assessed

Other dangers to the public

Anything else considered dangerous

Yes risk assessed

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With regard to defects specified in the above table, particularly those covered under the “Highway General” heading, many are the responsibility of other individuals or organisations and not the highway authority. However, the Council do have a duty of care to highway users and highways inspectors will make every effort to identify the third party responsible for the defect and draw their attention to both the defect and their responsibilities. If the third party is known and unwilling or unable to rectify the problem, any costs incurred by the Council in remedial action shall be recharged to them accordingly Any defect identified where the third party responsible is unknown shall be recorded and action taken to make the defect safe. Follow-up investigations shall then be undertaken to identify the responsible party.

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3.6 – Defect Categories and Response Times Safety inspections are designed to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the highway network or the wider community. These defects are sub-divided into two categories: Category 1: those that require prompt attention because they represent an immediate or imminent hazard or because there is a risk of short-term structural deterioration. Category 2: all other defects. Determining whether defects should be treated as Category 1 or Category 2 and the nature and speed of response will depend, amongst other things, upon the assessed risk posed by:

• the depth, surface area or other degree of deficiency of the defect or obstruction • the volume, characteristics and speed of vehicular traffic and the volume and

characteristics of pedestrian traffic • the location of the defect relative to highway features such as junctions and bends • the location of the defect relative to the movement of users, especially vulnerable users,

such as in traffic lanes or wheel tracks • the nature of interaction with other defects • forecast weather conditions, especially potential for freezing of surface water

Category 1 defects Category 1 defects are to be made safe or repaired within 24 hours from the time that the authority first becomes aware of the defect. If it is not possible to correct or make safe the defect at the time of the inspection, repairs of a permanent or temporary nature should be carried out as soon as possible and in any case within a period of 24 hours. Following temporary repair of a Category 1 defect the highways inspector will risk assess the repair and place an order for a permanent repair to be completed within a five or 20 working day period. Some defects are potentially so dangerous that immediate action is required. These are defects which, due to their nature and location, represent a very serious risk to the public, i.e. exposed electrical wiring, flooding, major spillages, collapsed or missing covers or gratings in carriageways or footways. These types of defects must not be left unattended until adequate barriers, warning signs or cones have been put out to warn the public of the hazard. Response times for remedial action of Category 1 defects are: Priority 1(A): those that require a 24 hour response because they represent an immediate

hazard Where defects are made safe using temporary signing or repair, appropriate interim inspections should be carried out to ensure the integrity of the temporary repair is maintained until a permanent repair can be carried out. If a Category 1 defect is identified within a larger defective area only that part of the area which meets the criteria for Category 1 defects shall be treated as such. The remainder of the area will be treated as a Category 2 defect except where this is impractical to do so. Some Category 1 defect repairs may be due to the activities of public utility companies, which are governed by the requirements of NRSWA. If the reinstatement is still within its guarantee period and is outside its specified tolerances due to settlement, crowning, plucking out or other 46

reasons and within Category 1 criteria, any costs incurred in making safe and/or repair must be recovered from the utility company and not charged to the highway authority. All costs must be charged in accordance with the Street Works (Recovery of Costs) (England) Regulations 2002. This is to be arranged by reporting all such defects to the Street Works Officer in the Highway Network Management section. Under Section 81 NRSWA, any Category 1(A) utility ironwork defects, i.e. missing covers, will be reported by the highways inspector direct to the appropriate utility company to be made safe immediately. The utility company will acknowledge receipt and confirm actions to be taken to make safe the apparatus to the satisfaction of the highway authority. Failure of this procedure in any way by the utility company will result in the highway authority acting in default and making safe the location on a rechargeable basis (see Appendix C). Category 2 defects All defects identified in safety inspections which are not categorised as Category 1 are automatically classified as Category 2. Category 2 defects may have safety implications, although of a far lesser significance than Category 1 defects, but are more likely to have serviceability or sustainability implications. These defects are not required to be urgently rectified and those identified for remedial works shall have their repairs carried out within the designated response times. Category 2 defects are categorised according to the priority five working day or 20 working day. Risks identified must take into account the possibility of further deterioration before the next scheduled inspection and if this is likely then the priority of response should be increased or an intermediate special inspection programmed. Response times for remedial action of Category 2 defects are as follows: Priority 2(A): make safe and/or permanent repair within five working days Priority 2(B): permanent repair within 20 working days The comments relating to public utility reinstatements/apparatus and adherence to the time limits for their repair apply equally to Category 2 defects as to Category 1 defects. All Category 2 defects recorded in town centre areas will have a Priority 2(A) response time.

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Defect Contact Details The types of defects listed below should be reported to the appropriate council department or utility company:

Defective Street Lights / Day Burners/ Units obscured by foliage

• reported to the Street Lighting section Defective Illuminated Signs and Bollards / Units obscured by foliage

• reported to the Street Lighting section

Defective Traffic Signals (permanent) / Units obscured by foliage • reported to the Street Lighting section

Graffiti to Highway Property

• reported to streetscene team for further action Defective Utility Works (e.g. sunken trench) or Temporary Traffic Management

• reported to appropriate Utility Company Defective Utility Apparatus (e.g. defective/missing cover)

• reported directly to appropriate Utility Company Defective Bridge Parapets, Retaining Walls

• reported to the Structural Engineer, Highway Network Management

Unauthorised Footway or Carriageway Works or Illegal Crossings

• reported to Highway Network management team who will investigate further

Obstructions on the highway • if responsible party cannot be quickly located then it is reported to the highways

network team who will investigate further Excessive Litter, Detritus or Fly-Tipping on the Highway

• generally reported to streetscene for further action

Hypodermic needles and syringes on the Highway • reported to streetscene

Dangerous trees, branches, foliage on council land

• reported to streetscene Noxious weeds, overgrown shrubs and vegetation on council land

• reported to streetscene

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Appendix B1G

Our highway management system, Symology Insight, prompts the highway inspectors to carryout safety inspections to at least the frequencies contained in ‘Well-maintained Highways Code of Practice for Maintenance Management’, when they upload their PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) each day. All of the highway inspectors use their PDAs when carrying out their safety, utility and adhoc inspections. Any defect reports are down loaded on to our Symology Insight system giving the size of the defect and required treatment times based on a dynamic risk assessment at each particular location. Orders are then placed with our in house DLO for the works to be completed within the required timescales which have been determined by the road hierarchy, traffic flows and position in the highway. Any reports from the public are also collated at the start of the day and investigated during the course of the days inspections. We do have pre planned routes contained in the PDA’s for all safety inspections but with the rural main road inspections the inspector will travel with the dedicated patching gang. Potholes are located and repairs carried out immediately with all of the detail recorded on the inspectors PDA. Initially the highways inspectors were tied up for long periods but as many of the routes are patrolled monthly we are now finding that the amount of patching has fallen to a more manageable level; demonstrating that the system is improving condition. In the last 12 months 20% of all reported potholes have been repaired within 24 hours. There is a dedicated email address and telephone number available for the public to report highway defects and the Councils call centre have direct links with the highway inspectors to report dangerous defects. Attached is a copy of the report which the inspector generates on his PDA.

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Appendix B1H

Darlington Borough Council has a dedicated ‘pothole’ web page within its Transport Folder on the DBC web site. Its web address is:- http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/potholes.htm The web page also indicates the number of potholes which have been repaired each month with 9490 repairs carried out in the last 12 months.

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Appendix B1I

Public satisfaction is measured annually though the National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey and is used to monitor our progress. See attached separated PDF document.

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Appendix B1J

The majority of repairs are identifies through our rigorous system of safety inspections and a permanent repairs approach is taken wherever possible. Safety inspections are designed to identify all defects likely to create danger or serious inconvenience to users of the highway network or the wider community. These defects are sub-divided into two categories: Category 1: those that require prompt attention because they represent an immediate or imminent hazard or because there is a risk of short-term structural deterioration. Category 2: all other defects. Determining whether defects should be treated as Category 1 or Category 2 and the nature and speed of response will depend, amongst other things, upon the assessed risk posed by:

• the depth, surface area or other degree of deficiency of the defect or obstruction • the volume, characteristics and speed of vehicular traffic and the volume and

characteristics of pedestrian traffic • the location of the defect relative to highway features such as junctions and bends • the location of the defect relative to the movement of users, especially vulnerable users,

such as in traffic lanes or wheel tracks • the nature of interaction with other defects • forecast weather conditions, especially potential for freezing of surface water

Category 1 defects Category 1 defects are to be made safe or repaired within 24 hours from the time that the authority first becomes aware of the defect. If it is not possible to correct or make safe the defect at the time of the inspection, repairs of a permanent or temporary nature should be carried out as soon as possible and in any case within a period of 24 hours. Following temporary repair of a Category 1 defect the highways inspector will risk assess the repair and place an order for a permanent repair to be completed within a five or 20 working day period. Some defects are potentially so dangerous that immediate action is required. These are defects which, due to their nature and location, represent a very serious risk to the public, i.e. exposed electrical wiring, flooding, major spillages, collapsed or missing covers or gratings in carriageways or footways. These types of defects must not be left unattended until adequate barriers, warning signs or cones have been put out to warn the public of the hazard. Response times for remedial action of Category 1 defects are: Priority 1(A): those that require a 24 hour response because they represent an immediate

hazard Where defects are made safe using temporary signing or repair, appropriate interim inspections should be carried out to ensure the integrity of the temporary repair is maintained until a permanent repair can be carried out. If a Category 1 defect is identified within a larger defective area only that part of the area which meets the criteria for Category 1 defects shall be treated as such. The remainder of the area will be treated as a Category 2 defect except where this is impractical to do so.

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Some Category 1 defect repairs may be due to the activities of public utility companies, which are governed by the requirements of NRSWA. If the reinstatement is still within its guarantee period and is outside its specified tolerances due to settlement, crowning, plucking out or other reasons and within Category 1 criteria, any costs incurred in making safe and/or repair must be recovered from the utility company and not charged to the highway authority. All costs must be charged in accordance with the Street Works (Recovery of Costs) (England) Regulations 2002. This is to be arranged by reporting all such defects to the Street Works Officer in the Highway Network Management section. Under Section 81 NRSWA, any Category 1(A) utility ironwork defects, i.e. missing covers, will be reported by the highways inspector direct to the appropriate utility company to be made safe immediately. The utility company will acknowledge receipt and confirm actions to be taken to make safe the apparatus to the satisfaction of the highway authority. Failure of this procedure in any way by the utility company will result in the highway authority acting in default and making safe the location on a rechargeable basis (see Appendix C). Category 2 Defects All defects identified in safety inspections which are not categorised as Category 1 are automatically classified as Category 2. Category 2 defects may have safety implications, although of a far lesser significance than Category 1 defects, but are more likely to have serviceability or sustainability implications. These defects are not required to be urgently rectified and those identified for remedial works shall have their repairs carried out within the designated response times. Category 2 defects are categorised according to the priority five working day or 20 working day. Risks identified must take into account the possibility of further deterioration before the next scheduled inspection and if this is likely then the priority of response should be increased or an intermediate special inspection programmed. Response times for remedial action of Category 2 defects are as follows: Priority 2(A): make safe and/or permanent repair within five working days Priority 2(B): permanent repair within 20 working days The comments relating to public utility reinstatements/apparatus and adherence to the time limits for their repair apply equally to Category 2 defects as to Category 1 defects. All Category 2 defects recorded in town centre areas will have a Priority 2(A) response time. We use various methods of patching to maintain the network but the majority of work is completed with a specialist patching/hand lay gang who are equipped with a hot box and all their plant, tools and materials on one vehicle. The gang are highly skilled and work closely with the highway inspectors so that all patching works are carried out to the required standards and guidelines as set out in the ADEPT report ‘Potholes and Repair Techniques for Local Authorities’. For emergency patching, when hot materials are not available, cold materials are used. Although some do fail due to the poor conditions they were laid in, we are finding that many are not in need of a hot repair at a later date. Many of these are patches where the pothole had

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vertical edges and was therefore just cleaned of debris and water before applying the bond coat. In addition to the conventional patching techniques we are in the process of carrying out a second trial of the Jet Patcher system. This system was used approximately four years ago but was expensive at the time. However we have found that many of the patches, which remain visible, are still in a good condition and providing the process is cost effective we may use it on our rural network in the future.

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Appendix B1K

Dimensional definitions for potholes are shown on the ‘potholes’ web page (appendix B1H) and contained in the Highways Safety Inspection Manual (appendix B1F). In addition defect categories and response times are located in Appendix B1J Darlington has based their intervention levels on the Audit Commission guidance for potholes at 40mm in carriageways and 20mm in footways (see attached). Applying these intervention levels, and having a robust recordable method of safety inspections, has resulted in the Council having a repudiation rate of 93% for third party highways claims in the last 12 months.

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Appendix B2

The Authority does have a specialist patching / hand lay gang which carries out all of the patching work within the Borough. The patching gang are a self-contained unit with a hot box and carrying all of the tools and materials it requires for the day’s work. The operatives are highly skilled with a large amount of experience but they still have to attend ‘tool box’ talks with regard to safety and quality. The talks incorporate the standards outlined in the ADEPT report ‘Potholes and Repair Techniques for Local Authorities’ and any specific standards required for the particular materials they are using. Any specialist material has to be HAPAS (Highway Authorities Product Approval Scheme) approved and it is essential that their specific processes are followed to ensure a durable repair. The gang in itself is not innovative but the way it works with the highway inspectors is. The highways inspectors have pre planned routes for all safety inspections but with the rural main road inspections the inspector will travel with the dedicated patching gang. Potholes are located and repairs carried out immediately with all of the detail recorded on the inspectors PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Initially the highways inspectors were tied up for long periods but as many of the routes are patrolled monthly we are now finding that the amount of patching has fallen to a more manageable level. This method ensures that the potholes are repaired as soon as possible without the need to place orders with our own DLO. As a result the potholes are caught early and not allowed to develop further. This process came from a Lean Methodology review. All defects are recorded on our Symology Insight system to allow the authority to defend itself against third party claims. In addition this information helps to identify sections of road and footway where clusters of potholes are occurring, where it may be more cost effective to carryout resurfacing works

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Appendix B3

The majority of potholes identified for repair are through our system of routine safety and adhoc inspections (see appendix B2) carried out by our highways inspectors. Reports from the public are usually received via the Councils call centre or via the dedicated email address. All the methods of reporting potholes are available on the Councils Pothole web page which can be found at:- http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/potholes.htm Reports can also be received directly from Councillors and this is usually done directly to the highway inspector who looks after their area or one of highways maintenance mangers. We always recommend reporting through the dedicated email or call centre rather than an individual to ensure that the report can be picked up and auctioned as soon as possible. If the call centre establish that the pothole could be dangerous then they will report it by email to the highway inspector and follow it up with a telephone call to alert the inspector. In the last 12 months we have repaired 9490 potholes which were reported by these methods.

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Appendix B4

Consultation is carried out with all of the stakeholders as part of larger maintenance schemes such as Carlbury Slip where there have been meetings with residents and businesses affected by the works. A dedicated web page has been set up to enable all stakeholders to be up to date with progress with the works. This can be found at:- http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/A67+High+Coniscliffe+Piercebridge+landslip/Carlbury+Slip+Questions+and+Answers.htm All maintenance works that requires a road closure and diversion is discussed with the emergency services through the Police and safe routes discussed and agreed. All properties which front any maintenance schemes are letter dropped to inform them of the type of works we are carrying out and the duration of the works. The letter also includes a contact name and number of the engineer/technician who are managing the works. There are a number of residents groups throughout the Borough who meet regularly and their comments are usually passed to the maintenance team via the local ward member. These groups can also be informed if we are carrying out works in their area. There are a number of web pages which give information on our proposed maintenance schemes for the year ahead and we do post a list of all works on the highway for the week ahead. This is being updated to a map version this week and you will have the capability to search for your area or ward to see what is going on and who is carrying out the works. Use full links are:- http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/Roadworks.htm http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/Streetworks/SearchAddress.htm http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/A67+High+Coniscliffe+Piercebridge+landslip/A67+Repairs+to+Start+Following+Successful+Bid.htm http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Transport/Highways.htm It is difficult to consult with stakeholders regarding highway maintenance works as we have a duty to carry out the repairs in a cost effective manner and this is generally evidence lead. Therefore the consultation we undertake is more about information giving and listening to concerns that can be incorporated. We do however monitor customer satisfaction through the NHT survey on a yearly basis and do provide as much information as we can through letter drops and web pages.

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Appendix B5

Our local transport plan has policies for sustainable transport, with walking encouraged:- LTP3 http://www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/documents/_Place/HighwaysDesignProjects/Transport/Third%20Local%20Transport%20Plan.pdf The LSTF Local Motion project has a focus on walking through the Community Audits which are specifically designed to identify barriers to walking. Each audit report sets out an action plan to maintain, manage, and improve the walking environment (in line with our LTP priorities). The Plans include physical infrastructure works (maintaining footways and steps, dropped kerbs, crossing points, new link paths etc.) as well as other activities such as volunteer led walks, maps and information, local litter picks etc. This is being delivered with Groundwork. LSTF http://www.darlington.gov.uk/dar_public/documents/_Place/HighwaysDesignProjects/Transport/applicationform%20-%20FINAL.pdf In Addition we do have a Rights of Way Improvement Plan which can be found at:- http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Environment/RoW/ROWIP.htm We have digitised the full footpath network to give us accurate footway lengths and have recently completed a FNS survey (Footway Network Survey) of all of the footways in the Borough. The condition data is cross referenced with the highway inspector reports which enable the production of an accurate programme of footway works, targeting areas which require treatments that are carried out at the right time. Areas of high footfall, i.e. town centre and other shopping areas, are inspected on a monthly basis and the highways inspectors can use their discretion regarding carrying out repairs at a lesser intervention level. This usually happens where the inspector feels that the defect will have deteriorated to or passed the intervention level by the next inspection, or is located in a particularly concentrated footfall location such as outside a shop entrance. This approach can also be taken in other higher risk areas such as close to hospitals, doctors surgeries, care homes or sports arenas. We have introduced dropped kerbs and raised platforms on our busiest bus routes to assist people with mobility issues, parents with pushchairs etc, as part of the DfT funded Tees Valley Bus Network Improvement project. We support pedestrian training in all of our primary schools with approximately 3,000 children a year trained to negotiate potential hazards on the way to school. In addition we have 40 school crossing patrollers and actively encourage walking and cycling through our Mega Motion project in schools.

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Appendix B6

The area covered by Darlington BC is relatively compact and this allows us to have good control over NRSWA activities. So along with quarterly NEHAUC coordination meetings for the wider region we work closely with statutory undertakers and their contractors (See Appendix B1D). The majority of work passes through ETON without any cause for alarm. We do have the system set up to ‘pair’ roads so that when works are to be carried out on a main road an embargo is put on an adjacent main road which would normally be used as a diversion. In addition, when the work is likely to affect one of the main roads in the town we meet and discuss the work with the statutory undertaker and contractor. This allows us to not only coordinate with any other work in the town but to also agree the method of working to reduce the impact to all types of traffic, on any particular highway, to an absolute minimum. In addition to the information contained within the ETON system we do have a Network Management Plan which contains all of the traffic sensitivity information and possible diversion routes which can be used in emergencies and during work on the adjacent strategic Highway Agency routes. We manage notices day to day with a small team and highway inspectors will visit sites to discuss any location specific traffic management as required.

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Appendix B7

Inspection Regime As part of the electronic systems used to monitor road openings, random inspections are generated and automatically loaded to the highway inspectors PDAs prompting them to carryout various utility inspections in their areas. This includes a prompt for all reinstatements which are coming to the end of their two or three year warranty period. In addition the highway inspectors carryout adhoc inspections as they travel around their areas. If the highways inspectors suspect that reinstatements may become defective, but have not seen the works taking place, ‘coring’ can be taken to verify the reinstatement thicknesses and compaction. Any defects are noted on the PDA’s and automatically recorded and sent to the public utility responsible for the works. All of the Highway Inspectors are trained to City and Guilds level for reinstatement of the highway up to Supervisor level and registered as such on the Street Works Qualification Register. The training course enables them to identify defects in the highway and their possible causes. Performance Benchmarking The attached report is compiled and forwarded to Roger Culpin at Durham County Council for use at the North East HAUC quarterly meeting. Any report can then be discussed with the Public Utility representatives and possible good and poor practice identified.

New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991

Sample Inspections - Performance Data

Highway Authority : Darlington Borough Council

Reporting Period: Jan- Mar 2014

UtilityTotal No.

No. Failed

Abortive Visits

Fail %

Total No.

No. Failed

Abortive Visits

Fail %

Total No.

No. Failed

Abortive Visits

Fail %

Total No.

No. Failed

Abortive Visits

Fail %

Total No.

No. Failed

Abortive Visits

Fail %

BT 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NGN 5 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NWL 36 0 0 0 42 0 0 0 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 100

NEDL 0 0 0 19 1 0 5 29 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0

VM 4 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TCCategory A Category B Category C TB

North of England Highway Authoritiesand Utilities Committee

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Meetings Joint quarterly meetings are held with Durham County Council for coordination purposes. In addition we have a joint meeting with the other North East Highway Authorities and Public Utility Undertakers to discuss general operational, noticing and ETON issues. If there is a trend within Public Utilities companies for various defects across the area then this can be discussed with them and measures taken to improve the situation. If the problem is more localised then it is discussed directly with the Public Utility Undertaker at a local level. There are ongoing dialogues on all road works and good working relationships exist to ensure the reinstatements are delivered on right first time approach, otherwise the utility will incur charges.

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Appendix C1A

Darlington Borough Council collaborated with the rest of the Tees Valley Authorities (Stockton Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council) in the preparation of asset management policy and strategy. We are now checking and making minor adjustments to the document to make it more focussed on Darlington Borough Council before the document added to the web pages. Below is the executive summary 1. Executive Summary

The Darlington Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) is the framework for an integrated asset management approach to the Borough’s transport assets. The County Surveyors’ Society (CSS) document “Framework for Highway Asset Management” provides the following definition of the process as applied to transport networks: “Asset management is a strategic approach that identifies the optimal allocation of resources for the management, operation, preservation and enhancement of the highway infrastructure to meet the needs of current and future customers.” The Transport Asset Management Plan is a strategic document that is intended to develop and improve the way that the highway management and maintenance functions are carried out within the Borough. It will allow the authority to take a longer-term approach to highway management and allow for the optimal allocation of resources based on customer needs and demands. For the purposes of this document the assets have been broken down into a number of relevant groupings, the main groups being shown below.

Asset Length or Quantity

Estimated Value

Carriageways 527 km £543,436,000 Footways & Cycleways 1,237,000 sm £85,153,000 Structures 299 no £39,933,000 Street Lighting 13371 units £14,760,000 Traffic Signals and Telematics 202 units £9,352,000

Total £692,634,000 Table 1.1 – Asset Groups It is intended that the implementation of the plan will involve the active participation of all the key stakeholders within the borough of Darlington including; staff, management, council members, other interested bodies and perhaps most importantly the people of Darlington. The Tees Valley authorities have set up an Asset Management working group charged with the production of this document along with the implementation of the improvement actions identified as part of this process. The group comprised of council officers, with early assistance of an external consultant, to drive forward the asset management process within the council.

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It is the Council’s intention to develop the plan over a number of years to enable systems to be established which will manage all transportation assets on a long-term basis, using whole life costing within a framework of statutory requirements, customer expectations and sustainable funding.

The key drivers for the adoption of asset management for transport networks include:

• Linkage with the Council’s Local Transport Plan (LTP).

As stated in LTP3, maintaining the transport asset is vital to keeping the transport network predictable, efficient and reliable. The transport asset has a high value and the budget to maintain it is relatively small. Funding needs to be focussed on schemes evidenced from condition data and identifying low cost solutions wherever possible. Managing the highway network is also key to ensuring that Darlington implements its statutory duty under the Network Management Act. Section 3 of this Plan details how the TAMP will help the Council meet its LTP objectives.

• The Prudential Code

It is likely that future borrowing under this Code will have to be supported by sound asset management information.

• Whole Government Accounts and Asset Valuation

The progressive introduction of Whole Government Accounts will place an onus upon local authorities to value their transport assets. The CSS has produced the “Guidance Document for Highway Infrastructure Valuation” to help drive this process. Asset management will help Darlington Borough Council produce the key inputs to enable valuation in accordance with this guidance.

The TAMP will increasingly become the tool the authority will use to ensure effective targeting of budgets.

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Appendix C1B

Asset management information is used to identify areas of the network which are deteriorating to a point where action is required as a matter of urgency. This was the case with the street lighting column stock where over 25% were over 40 years old. A detailed programme of replacement work was put forward and increased finance provided over a number of years to address the backlog of replacement work. In addition the opportunity was taken to replace the lanterns with more efficient units which were trimmed and dimmed where possible, to make savings on the electricity budget. The condition of the carriageways is also monitored closely and this identifies area’s which are starting to deteriorate. This information can be used to divert funds to the areas with most need where budgets are limited. Below is a report to Cabinet regarding Additional Highway Funding and providing an update on condition and proposed actions.

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CABINET 3 JUNE 2014

ITEM NO. .......................

ADDITIONAL HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE FUNDING

Responsible Cabinet Member - Councillor David Lyonette, Transport Portfolio Responsible Director - Ian Williams, Director of Economic Growth

SUMMARY REPORT Purpose of the Report 1. The purpose of this report is:

(a) To release additional grant funding allocated by the Department for Transport to help in

the repair of damage to the local road network caused by severe weather in 2013/14.

(b) To retrospectively approve the submission of a bid into the £168 million pothole fund to repair local roads and release funding if successful.

Summary 2. The Government announced in March 2014 that it was making £140 million available to

local highway authorities in England to help repair damage to local authority road networks caused by recent severe weather in 2013/14.

3. £36.5 million was used to increase the transport element of the Severe Weather Recovery Scheme to £70 million, to help authorities who have suffered severe flood damage to local road networks due to the extreme wet and windy weather between 29 October 2013 and 28

February 2014. Darlington was not eligible for any of this funding. However, the remaining balance of £103.5 million was made available for local authorities in England, on a formula basis, to help with repairs to the road network caused by general deterioration due to the wet weather.

4. Darlington Borough Council has been allocated £178,442 funding in addition to funding

already allocated for local highways maintenance. The funding comprises of £65,483 Capital and £112,959 Revenue.

5. It is proposed that the additional funding released by the Department for Transport will be

used for both reactive and preventative treatments on ‘C’ class and unclassified roads to address the declining trend in condition.

6. On 24 April 2014 the Department for Transport announced a £168 million Pothole fund, with

Councils having to complete a bid by 22 May 2014. Delegated Authority is available to the Director of Neighbourhood Services and Resources to approve the submission of bids where there is not sufficient time to seek Cabinet approval. Delegated authority was sought to submit a bid and this report seeks retrospective endorsement from Cabinet for the bid submission.

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7. If the bid is successful it is proposed that any additional funding will be used for both

reactive and preventative treatments on all roads but targeted treatment on ‘C’ class and unclassified roads to address the declining trend in condition.

8. The timetable for the decision on the bid is not known. Subject to a successful bid

Members are asked to agree to release any funding obtained to spend on highway maintenance improvements identified within and meeting the fund criteria. This is to enable the Council to respond quickly (if successful) and comply with the bid criteria; delivering works in periods of the year that are conducive with the repair techniques and programmes.

Recommendation 9. It is recommended that:-

(a) Members agree to release the Capital grant funding of £65,483 for the severe weather

in 2013/14, to supplement the delivery of a programme of maintenance throughout the Borough’s road network.

(b) Members retrospectively approve the submission of a bid into the Department for Transport pothole fund for additional maintenance funding.

(c) Subject to a successful bid Members agree to release the funding obtained and prioritise the funding on reactive and preventative treatments on all roads but with specific targeted treatment on ‘C’ class and unclassified roads to address the declining trend in condition.

Reasons 10. The recommendations are supported by the following reasons:-

(a) To deliver additional highway maintenance to address the impact of severe weather.

(b) To seek additional funding for highway condition improvements.

(c) To enable the Council to respond quickly and comply with the bid criteria; delivering

works in periods of the year that are conducive with the repair techniques and programmes.

Ian Williams, Director of Economic Growth Background Papers No background papers were used in the preparation of this report DW : Extension 6618 LC

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S17 Crime and Disorder There are no specific impacts. Health and Well Being A well maintained highway can have positive

impacts on those persons using the highway and prevent injuries arising from a poorly maintained network.

Carbon Impact No direct impacts Diversity A well maintained highway can have positive

impacts on those persons using the highway with mobility impairments and can prevent injuries arising from a poorly maintained network.

Wards Affected All wards are affected equally. Groups Affected All groups are affected equally. Budget and Policy Framework This report does not represent a change to the

Policy Framework. The additional funding does not impact upon the current MTFP.

Key Decision This is not a key decision Urgent Decision This is not an urgent decision One Darlington: Perfectly Placed

Good transport is an essential ingredient to Economic Growth as outlined in the Department for Transports strategic direction “Transport an Engine for Growth”. Well maintained highways are essential to make our economy stronger and our lives easier, which aligns with the priorities in One Darlington Perfectly Placed.

Efficiency The additional funding will be targeted at both reactive and preventive solutions. The preventative solutions will provide cost effective techniques to prolong life of the roads and prevent further deterioration, avoiding reactive repairs that can be more expensive and impact on road users.

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MAIN REPORT

Information and Analysis 11. The severe weather over recent years has had a detrimental impact on the highway

network both locally and nationally, which has been recognised by the Department of Transport. In response they have:- (a) released additional highway maintenance funding to all local authorities for 2013/14

damage (b) released a national pothole fund for local authorities to apply in 2014/15.

Additional Highway Maintenance Funding 12. The maintenance of the highway network relies significantly on funding from the

Department for Transport via the Local Transport Plan (LTP). The Council has refocused priorities for spend, with maintenance as the top priority. The priorities for funding are:- (a) Maintenance of existing assets; (b) Improved Management of the network (c) Improvement Schemes

13. The Council is responsible for the management of highways assets which include: (a) 574km of carriageway and 616 km of footway, including the highway drainage system. (b) 12560 street lighting columns and 1679 illuminated signs (c) 65 Number Traffic Signal installations. (d) 4483m of safety barrier (e) 92 bridges and 160 retaining walls (f) 303km of public rights of way with associated bridges.

14. The estimated values of the highway assets are in the region of £694 million with all

councils required to submit highway condition data to Government. All of these assets require ongoing investment and maintenance. The Council undertakes rigorous asset management planning with a comprehensive survey; testing and inspection regime used to ensure good asset and condition information is in place that provides an evidence based approach to spend prioritisation. It is not possible to address all maintenance requirements therefore spend is prioritised on areas of most need.

15. There is a historic infrastructure maintenance backlog nationally and Darlington’s submission to Government shows a maintenance backlog of £74.2M, which includes all assets for example, structures and street lighting. The severe weather conditions over recent years have not helped locally or nationally, with the Department for Transport also releasing additional funding in previous years.

16. The Government announced in March 2014 that it was making £140 million available to

local highway authorities in England to help repair damage to local authority road networks caused by recent severe weather. £36.5 million was used to increase the transport element of the Severe Weather Recovery Scheme to £70 million to help authorities who have suffered severe flood damage to local road networks due to the extreme wet and windy weather between 29 October 2013 and 28 February 2014. Darlington was not eligible for any of this fund.

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17. The remaining balance of £103.5 million was made available for local authorities in England, on a formula basis, to help with repairs to the road network caused by general deterioration due to the wet weather. Darlington Borough Council has been awarded £178,442 funding which is in addition to funding already allocated for local highways maintenance. The funding comprises of £65,483 Capital and £112,959 Revenue funding.

18. The recent release of funding following this year’s severe weather is after the event and after the Council have had to react to the impact of the weather. It will not solve the highway maintenance backlog that exists nationally nor within Darlington, but any additional funding is welcomed.

19. The Council must react to damage and deterioration as it occurs to keep the travelling public safe and as such has reacted within year and spent additional funding on reactive maintenance to repair potholes and damage immediately. This has been managed in-year through reduction of planned scheme works to cover additional spend on reactive work. In the last year the Council has repaired 9,470 pot holes across the Borough. It is far more effective to spend funding on preventative maintenance rather than reactive but the severe weather has significantly accelerated deterioration of road surfaces and the Council have had to respond.

20. Over recent years the severe weather has impacted on all areas of maintenance, not just

road surfaces. Grass verges have been saturated, resulting in any vehicle overrun causing significant damage; drainage systems have required additional cleaning and repair; there have been partial bridge collapses at Brafferton and retaining wall failures. All of these circumstances have had to be addressed.

21. There has been a combination of extreme cold and extremely wet conditions since 2009

with both ice and water having a major impact on road surfaces and structures:

(a) Ice:- water freezing in porous surfaces expands and forces the surface to break up. (b) Water:- water being forced into porous surfaces by tyre pressure weakens the surface

and causes failure.

22. The road condition data shown at Appendix 1 shows that until 2009/10, which was the first year of severe cold temperatures; road condition was being significantly improved year on year. Since then the condition of A and B class roads has continued to be improved. However, the condition of C class and unclassified roads has declined.

23. This can be attributed to a combination of factors; severe weather, reductions in Local Transport Plan budgets and the need to prioritise the budgets amongst all highway assets. For example, in-year damage repairs to structures, programmes of street lighting replacement.

24. It is proposed that the additional funding released by the Department for Transport will be

used for both reactive and preventative treatments on ‘C’ class and unclassified roads to address the declining trend in condition.

Pothole Fund to Repair local Roads 25. On 24 April 2014 the Department for Transport announced a £168 million Pothole fund, with

Councils having to complete a bid by 22 May 2014. Delegated Authority is available to the Director of Neighbourhood Services and Resources to approve the submission of bids where there is not sufficient time to seek Cabinet approval. Delegated authority was sought to submit a bid and this report seeks retrospective endorsement from Cabinet for the bid submission.

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26. The application is based on an assessment of existing practice and committing to a Pothole

Pledge as a condition of the funding. This effectively is a commitment setting out the number of potholes the Council will have repaired by March 2015. As previously, stated in the report the Council must react to damage and deterioration as it occurs to keep the travelling public safe. Therefore, the pothole pledge is something the Council is already committed to.

27. If the bid is successful it is proposed that any additional funding will be used for both

reactive and preventative treatments on all roads but targeted treatment on ‘C’ class and unclassified roads to address the declining trend in condition.

28. The timetable for the decision on the bid is not known. Subject to a successful bid

Members are asked to agree to release any funding obtained to spend on highway maintenance improvements identified within and meeting the fund criteria. This is to enable the Council to respond quickly (if successful) and comply with the bid criteria; delivering works in periods of the year that are conducive with the repair techniques and programmes.

Financial Implications 29. The funding received and the funding obtained from the bid (if successful) will provide

additional resources to supplement existing programmes to manage asset condition within the Borough.

Legal Implications 30. The programmes of reactive and preventative treatments will be delivered through existing

delivery mechanisms and frameworks.

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Road Condition Data Appendix 1 The highway network is consists of:- Road Classification Length (km) % of total Network length A Roads 57.2 11 B Roads 29.3 5 C Roads 109 20 Unclassified Roads 350.4 64 Roads are categorised into three broad condition categories. These are based on national standards:- GREEN: Generally good condition AMBER: Plan investigation soon RED: Plan maintenance soon ‘A’ Class Roads

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‘B’ Class Roads

‘C’ Class Roads

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Unclassified Roads

Note: Roads in the unclassified category are classified as Green or Red with no Amber category

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Appendix C1C

The Council has a comprehensive highways management system called Symology Insight. We have detailed asset information on carriageways, footways, street lighting, bridges, and some street furniture. This includes measured lengths and widths of carriageway and footway and positional data of all street lighting with detail on each of the street lighting elements. The system also contains detailed condition data for each of the elements which are used to produce programmes of work, such as the column replacement programme, which was identified by analysing the age data that has been loaded in to the system.

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Carriageway GRC GRC Footway GRCRoad R199B Footway Width Calculated Rate Rate Width Calculated Rate

Classification Length Hierarchy Length Area HAMFIG GRC Value HAMFIG GRC Value Area HAMFIG GRC Value

Enter own data Default value

Default value Enter own data Default

value(Km) (Km) (m) (m2) (£/m²) (£,000s) (£/m) (£,000s) (m) (m2) (£/m²) (£,000s)

M (all) 1A Urban - 160.91 - 715.13 - - 251.69 -

A Urban 20.70 I Urban 18.90 9.8 202,860 136.04 27,597 604.60 12,515 2.9 54,810 82.35 4,513

A Rural 36.50 I Rural 8.5 310,250 107.73 33,423 457.98 16,716 - 74.84 -

B Urban 12.90 2 Urban 88.50 10.2 131,580 126.86 16,692 554.47 7,153 2.1 185,850 75.65 14,060

B Rural 16.40 2 Rural 6.8 111,520 100.16 11,170 255.15 4,184 - 68.70 -

C Urban 33.20 3 Urban 335.80 7.8 258,960 104.70 27,113 482.58 16,022 1.9 638,020 67.44 43,025

C Rural 75.80 3 Rural 6.40 5.7 432,060 79.92 34,530 217.98 16,523 1.7 10,880 61.24 666

U/C Urban 313.90 4 Urban 131.10 5.1 1,600,890 96.69 154,790 352.39 110,615 1.8 235,980 64.75 15,279

U/C Rural 36.50 4 Rural 16.60 3.7 135,050 74.87 10,111 166.08 6,062 1.6 26,560 61.02 1,621

TOTALS 545.90 597.30 3,183,170 315,426 189,790 1,152,100 79,164

Regional factors SUMMARYNorthern Region 94.675 Inflation - 1st Quarter 2010 to 1st Q 2013 1.136150Yorkshire and Humberside Region 95.725East Midlands Region 94.675East Anglia Region 94.125South East Region (excl Greater London) 107.775 Region 94.675Pick your region

Outer London boroughs 116.598 £,000sInner London boroughs 124.502Central London boroughs 131.419 Carriageway GRC (including linear items) 543,436

South West Region 98.325West Midlands Region 95.425 Footway GRC 85,153North West Region 93.900Wales generally 97.325 Land 0

Cardiff 98.300Scotland generally 102.000 Actual Inventory

Scottish Isles 135.700Edinburgh city 105.800 Actual Inventory

CARRIAGEWAY FOOTWAY CARRIAGEWAY

Choose Footway Data Category

Northern Region

Regional Factorselect Region

FOOTWAYLinear Items

Choose Carriageway Data Category

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Appendix C1D

Life cycle planning has been used most successfully in gaining additional funding for street lighting column replacement work where we have taken the opportunity to replace lanterns and control gear at the same time. It has been easy to demonstrate that with an asset which has a life of 40 years it is necessary to replace a minimum of 2.5% of your lighting stock per year. As we had a backlog of approx. 4000 columns out of a stock of 13500 we have been fortunate to receive additional funding of £700k which will replace approximately 5% of the lighting column stock. As the replacement works have been conducted at the end of the 40 year life of the column this has minimised the whole life cost of the units. The additional funding has enabled us to replace the lanterns with more efficient units and control gear which allows savings in electricity costs by trimming and dimming the use of efficient lighting units. It is important that any maintenance is carried out at the right time and we have increasingly looked at the condition data to identify carriageways and footways which are in need of preventative maintenance. Maximising the amount of budget you can use on surface treatments, at the right time, minimises the amount of costly reconstruction which is required in the future. By taking this approach we feel that any additional funding will help reduce the maintenance backlog.

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Appendix C2

Please find attached below the Councils L – Pack submission for WGA including the completed CIPFA questionnaire. We have a measured inventory data set and up to date condition data that enables us to be confident in the valuation of the asset.

2012

2013

Highway Asset Types: (Level 1 categories defined in Table 4.1 "Classification of highway assets", para 4.2.3, pgs 24 to 26, of the transport Code)

Actual inventory Sample inventory Estimated values Combination

Depreciation DRC estimate

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000Carriageway 543,436 0 0 0 - 45,333 498,103 Footways + cycletracks 85,153 0 0 0 - 4,235 80,918 Structures1 39,933 - 15,022 24,911 Lighting1 14,760 - 7,184 7,576 Traffic management1 9,352 - 2,471 6,881 Street furniture1 1,262 1,262 Land 0 0 0 752,797 NA NATotal 693,896 0 0 752,797 - 74,245 619,651

Gross Replacement Cost

(GRC) estimate

Depreciation DRC estimate

£'000 £'000 £'000Carriageway 543,651 Actual inventory - 49,105 494,546 Footways + cycletracks 108,514 Actual inventory - 5,196 103,318 Structures1 40,704 Actual inventory - - Lighting1 12,357 Actual inventory - 5,028 7,329 Traffic management1 6,481 Actual inventory - - Street furniture1 - - - Total 711,707 - 59,329 605,193

GRC less Depreciation (DRC)

Highway Asset Types: (Level 1 categories defined in Table 4.1 "Classification of highway assets", para 4.2.3, pgs 24 to 26, of the transport Code)

Underlying calculation basis (select from drop-

down list)

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Additional Information - Highways Infrastructure

Highways Infrastructure Assets

Web-links:

DATA REQUIRED: GRC, DRC & lands data estimates

Section 1: DRC Disclosure for PPE Note

Gross Cost Opening Balance Additions Disposals Revaluations Impairments GRC£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Carriageway 0Footways + cycletracks 0Structures 0Lighting 0Traffic management 0Street furniture 0

Total 0 0 0 0 0 0

Depreciation Opening Balance In Year Charge Disposals Revaluations Depreciation DRC Estimate£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Carriageway 0 0Footways + cycletracks 0 0Structures 0 0Lighting 0 0Traffic management 0 0Street furniture 0 0

Total 0 0 0 0 0 0

Section 2: Estimate of DRC using CIPFA Model

Highway Asset Types: (Level 1 categories defined in Table 4.1 "Classification of highway assets", para 4.2.3, pgs 24 to 26, of the transport Code)

Actual inventory Sample inventory Estimated values Combination

Depreciation DRC estimate

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 %Carriageway 543,436 0 0 0 - 45,333 498,103 85 %Footways + cycletracks 85,153 0 0 0 - 4,235 80,918 70 %Structures1 39,933 - 15,022 24,911 70 %Lighting1 14,760 - 7,184 7,576 70 %Traffic management1 9,352 - 2,471 6,881 40 %Street furniture1 1,262 1,262 10 %Land 0 0 0 752,797 NA NA 80 %Total 693,896 0 0 752,797 - 74,245 619,651

Rounding Validation check:

CIPFA Questionnaire

Answer 1 to 51. The tools to support the implementation of the Code are helpful and appropriate. 4

2. All those who ‘need to know’ at this authority are aware of the Code and its requirements and implications, including senior management, finance practitioners and asset management/engineering practitioners. 4

3. The financial and technical practitioners are clear about their roles and work together to produce the required information. 4

4. This authority is actively working with other authorities in a regional group (or similar) to support and benchmark our work on asset valuation and implementing the Code. 4

5. This authority will be able to fully implement the Code to the published timescales including completing a second dry run in 2012-13 and full implementation in 2013-14. 4

6. This authority has sufficient, appropriate and robust inventory data to implement the Code on the following assets:• Carriageways 4• Footways & Cycletracks 4• Structures 3• Lighting 4• Traffic Management 4• Land 3

7. For the areas in question 6 where appropriate inventory data is not yet available, this authority is confident that plans are in place to gather this data and it will be available to fully implement the Code to the published timescales. 3

8. This authority has sufficient, appropriate and robust condition or age data (as appropriate)to implement the Code on the following assets:• Carriageways 4• Footways & Cycletracks 3• Structures 3• Lighting 4• Traffic Management 4

9. For the areas in question 8 where appropriate condition or age data is not yet available, this authority is confident that plans are in place to gather this data and it will be available to fully implement the Code to the published timescales. 3

10. This authority has a fully developed and implemented TAMP/ HAMP. 3

All estimates should be calculated on the basis set out in the CIPFA Code of Practice on Transport Infrastructure Assets - Guidance to Support Asset Management, Financial Management and Reporting (published

GRC less Depreciation (DRC)

IMPORTANT: Figures must be rounded to thousands (£'000s), and the 2012-13 figures in PP&E that feed into the Balance Sheet should still be Historic Cost in the L Pack and Statement of Accounts. Columns D,

http://www.cipfa.org.uk/pt/infrastructure/support.cfmWGA timetable paper and guidance (HM Treasury): http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/wga_guidance_index.htm

Allocate the Gross Replacement Cost estimate (GRC) value to the appropriate calculation basis used

This is for information purposes only, and is to capture the progress being made by local authorities on revaluing their Highways Infrastructure Assets for Gross Replacement Cost (GRC) and Depreciated

None at this point in time.

Refer to the L Pack guidance and the WGA timetable paper "Accounting for Highways Infrastructure Assets in the Local Authority Sector on a Depreciated Replacement Costs Basis: Interim Accounting

The original timetable required a full dry run audit review of GRC data in the 2011-12 Return. However, given the resources and cost involved in auditing the data in this era of substantially tighter public spending, this

Code and information on it's development (CIPFA): http://www.cipfa.org.uk/pt/infrastructure/index.cfmSupporting materials and spreadsheet calculation templates (CIPFA):

The HAMFIG supporting material does not cover the calualtion for Section 1 (DRC Disclosure for PPE Note) for this financial year (2012-13)

Estimated percentage of

work completed

Please provide an explanation of the plans and progress on the valuation work , including any comments you have in respect of the above. (Please keep within the space provided):Carriageway, footways + cycletracks, lighting and traffic management have been valued using the CIPFA default rates as indicated on the attached spreadsheets. Carriageways lengths

used are from R199B and amended to include additional lengths for dual carriageways. Widths for C/ways and F/ways are taken from our inventory data which covers a large percentage of the network for these items. The street lighting and traffic management inventory is well populated and we do have further condition data which needs processing to produce an accurate depreciation figure. This is the first time we have been able to produce a Structures DRC estimate using the Atkins spreadsheet, certain element assumptions were made with regrad to

materials composistion which we will try to adress in via our routine inspections. Only the Bridge stock has been evauluated, retaining walls / culverts need to be completed. The total area f hi h i k b t th lit b t l d b i k Th h t d th b d th i / f t b d l lit

Ok

11. Are there any further issues arising from the Code or where more detailed guidance or exemplification would be helpful?

Please respond to the questions in respect of the CIPFA Code of Practice on Transport Infrastructure Assets and supporting materials below, using a scale of 1 to 5 as follows:1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neither agree nor disagree; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree

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Appendix D1

Highways and Transport Funding Reductions - Since 2010/11 Darlington Borough Council is actively engaged with securing efficiencies for highway maintenance. This is set against a backdrop of significant financial reductions in both Capital and Revenue in response to the economic downturn and austerity measures. Capital The CAPITAL funding from the Department for Transports Local Transport Plan (LTP) to fund improvements and maintenance on highways up until 2010/11 was around £3m per year and came in two blocks, which were roughly equally split between the integrated block and the maintenance block. In 2011/12 the integrated block was cut by 55% (£850k reduction). This resulted in an agreed prioritisation strategy for funding:-

• Maintain – continue to tackle the decline in asset condition • Manage – small scale improvements to better improve the management of the network –

“sweat the existing assets” then ;

• Improve - where necessary and critical. On average LTP capital down from £3m pa to £2.4m pa -20% reduction. Revenue Since 2010/11 a total £780k savings/efficiencies have been made on a budget of £4,757k. This equates to 16%. This has taken the form of :

• £381k staff savings. • £361k service efficiencies.

Savings and efficiencies are set against a background of:-

• Increases in “surfacing material” of over 14% in recent years associated with oil price fluctuations.

• This year’s Highways submission to Government on Whole of Government Accounting WAG shows a maintenance backlog of £74.2 million

With a declining asset, energy costs increasing and surfacing costs increasing efficiencies are being used as a strategy to avoid additional pressure and budget increases that are unaffordable. Thereby striving to deliver efficiencies is the only option to enable the Council to deliver the same or more with the same budgets. The ethos adopted by Darlington is that delivery budgets need to be protected as far as reasonably possible and as much delivered as possible to stem the decline in the asset. Therefore, efficiencies are delivered by a combination of measures and techniques as recommended and advised by HMEP:-

• Restructures based on ‘Lean Methodolgy” to create streamlined business units for Highway Asset Management and maintenance delivery. Approximately £150k saved (10% of revenue budget)

• Procurement savings through frameworks. (Benchmarking of sample jobs has shown on some schemes using the specialist surfacing framework has saved between 30 and 35%)

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• Invest to save on Street Lighting assets (£27k saved per annum on electricity plus an additional £12k per annum expected this year)

• Condition surveys carried out through the Tyne and Tees Valley authorities Contract made savings of around 50 % on previous rates.

The asset management systems in place are used to prioritise areas of spend for highway maintenance based on evidence. There are increasing competing demands for resources within highway assets. For example, the Council need to commit higher proportions of resources to bridges and street lighting than they have done in the past, to address significant maintenance issues. Within a finite amount of resources this means potentially reductions in spend on other assets. During 14/15 the Council is focussed on securing efficiencies from the North East Highway Alliance (outlined in Appendix D2) and also savings from Street Lighting Invest to Save business cases. This year we anticipate a minimum saving of avoiding street lighting energy inflation of 5% which equates to around £40k. The additional winter damage funding released by DFT will be used as a reactive fund to repair damage and also treat areas proactively to potentially save future deterioration and costs. In 2013/14 the cost of repairing potholes increased by over £100k as a result of recent years adverse weather. Specific targeted measures are being focussed to try and prevent further deterioration during 2014/15 and avoid reactive spend in the order of potentially £100k. Since Darlington Borough Council became a unitary authority in 1997 significant progress has been made through efficiency and improved asset management. This has resulted in:-

• Principal roads where maintenance should be considered in 2006 was at 10.4% by 2013 it has been reduced to 3.3%.

• B roads where maintenance should be considered in 2006 was at 23.1% by 2013 it has been reduced to 6.2%.

• C roads where maintenance should be considered in 2006 was at 38.8% by 2013 it has been reduced to 15.8%.

• Insurance claims – recently went a full 12 month period with no claims paid for highway compensation claims.

• Current third party repudiation rates stand at 93%

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Appendix D2

Darlington Borough Council utilises a number of initiatives to achieve economies of scale. Some examples are as follows:-

1. Frameworks 2. North East Highways Alliance 3. Joint Services

Frameworks Darlington and the North East authorities have developed the following frameworks that are designed to secure economies of scale and reduce procurement inefficiency. Specialist Surfacing Contract Lead Authority Darlington Borough Council. Participating Authorities Stockton Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Hartlepool

Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council, York City Council

Condition Data Surveys Lead Authority Newcastle City Council Participating Authorities Gateshead Borough Council, North Tyneside Council, South

Tyneside Council, Sunderland City Council, Darlington Borough Council, Stockton Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council

Traffic Signal Maintenance Lead Authority Middlesbrough Council Participating Authorities Darlington Borough Council, Stockton Borough Council,

Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council Salt Provision (WM) Lead Authority Stockton Borough Council Participating Authorities Darlington Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council,

Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council Winter Maintenance Forecast and Bureau Service Lead Authority Durham County Council Participating Authorities Darlington Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council,

Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council Building Material Supplies Lead Authority Middlesbrough Council Participating Authorities Darlington Borough Council, Stockton Borough Council,

Hartlepool Borough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Council Supply of Electricity Lead Authority North East Purchasing Organisation Participating Authorities North East Authorities

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An example of the use of the frameworks is:- Darlington lead on the Specialist Surfacing framework for the Tees Valley and York City Council and each year procure the surface dressing and micro asphalt programmes. To date York City, Stockton, and Hartlepool have made use of the contract and works have been let together through the procurement portal. This ensures continuity for the contractor, reduced procurement processes within the authority and for the contractor and economies of scale in terms of the increased quantity. The North East Highway Alliance (NEHA) All 12 North East Authorities are members of NEHA:-

• Darlington Borough Council • Durham County Council • Gateshead Council • Hartlepool Borough Council • Middlesbrough Council • Newcastle City Council • North Tyneside Council • Northumberland County Council • Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council • South Tyneside Council • Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council • Sunderland City Council

The formation of this Alliance has been taken through reports to the Association of North East Councils (ANEC) which has secured endorsement from Council Leaders and Chief Executives. The Alliance is receiving HMEP support and the Local Highway Authorities Collaborative Alliance Toolkit by Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme (HMEP) has been used as a reference. The principles of the alliance are to have an improved focus on efficiencies by working together, joint procurement, sharing best practice and cross boundary working. There is a commitment from all the member local authorities to form the highway alliance whilst recognising that there would be flexibility with involvement in initiatives. The initial projects in the alliance are:-

• Collaborative purchasing – surfacing materials (Lead: Northumberland County Council)

• Collaborative purchasing – LED street lights (Lead officer – John Reed, Durham County Council)

• Agree an approach to cross Authority working including developing a catalogue of services that can be called off from each North East Council under a Mutual Assistance Agreement (Lead: Durham County Council)

• Knowledge sharing forum (Lead: Newcastle City Council) • Apprenticeship programmes and placements (Lead: Gateshead City Council)

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Collaborative purchasing – surfacing materials It is anticipated that the single collaborative contract will be in place by 2014/15 for use by the majority of North East Council’s by 2016/17. The proportion of surfacing material procured through the contract is estimated to reach 80% by 2016/17. Collaborative purchasing – LED street lights Framework set-up and operational. The four successful bidders on the framework are:

· Urbis Schreder · Maclean Electrical Ltd · Smith Bros · Thorn Lighting

Durham procurement strategy is to undertake a mini-competition every 12 months to take advantage of improvements in technology and reductions in prices. Councils are free to use individually. However, the alliance is promoting a strategy to aggregate buying power around the same specification with other Councils to further maximise procurement savings i.e. an annual buying round. Approach to cross authority working and development of a catalogue of services that can be called on from each north east council under a Mutual Assistance Agreement Template for catalogue developed and population underway. Knowledge sharing forum The governments “Knowledge Hub” is being used for our sharing programme. The Knowledge Hub is the public sector's professional social network which helps people in local government connect and share online in a secure environment. The NEHA have recently set-up a group to start a repository and exchange process based on making connections with peers, sharing and discuss information that's relevant to the NEHA programme. Initial work on knowledge sharing activities has been based around three areas:-

• Fees and Charges • Contact Details • Computer Software

The Knowledge hub is expected to be used to share best practice, lean methodology, efficiency initiatives. Apprenticeship programmes and placements Work is being undertaken to look at the issues with apprenticeships to develop common schemes and requirements to help address the workforce profile and the national issues of young person unemployment (or NEETs) Future Projects for NEHA A number of additional projects and initiatives are being considered:-

• Flood prevention and coastal protection • Structures: shared services and or (sharing resources)

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Project briefs are being developed for the above areas of work and that these are agreed as future projects for the NEHA. Joint Services Darlington has arrangements in place for the maintenance of traffic signals through a Service Level Agreement with Middlesbrough Borough Council. The joint service provides traffic signal maintenance for all of the Tees Valley Authorities :-

• Darlington Borough Council • Hartlepool Borough Council • Middlesbrough Council • Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council • Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

There is also a service level agreement between Middlesbrough and Newcastle, who provide joint services for the other North East Authorities. This agreement between the two joint services provides resilience and specialism sharing capability. Other joint services exist for Flood and Water Management functions and public transport but these are not directly associated with Highway Maintenance efficiency.

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Appendix D3

Darlington Borough Council uses a number of methods to share its efficiency experience and/or case studies with other local highway authorities:- The North East Highway Alliance The answer to this question is covered in the response to D2. The North East Highway Alliance is one of the main vehicles for sharing experience and case studies. The governments “Knowledge Hub” is being used for our sharing programme. The Knowledge Hub is the public sector's professional social network which helps people in local government connect and share online in a secure environment. The NEHA have recently set-up a group to start a repository and exchange process based on making connections with peers, sharing and discuss information that's relevant to the NEHA programme. Technical Advisers Group North East (TAGNE) The Technical Advisers Group North East (TAGNE) is another vehicle for sharing experience and case studies ( http://www.lgtag.com/ ) The Local Government Technical Advisers Group is a professional association incorporated in 1995. It was formed from the Association of Metropolitan District Engineers (AMDE), the Association of London Borough Engineers and Surveyors (ALBES) and the Association of Chief Technical Officers (ACTO) in District authorities in areas where local government responsibilities are divided between Counties and Districts. It serves all levels of local government covering the whole range of local authority technical services. TAG's main aim is to represent members' interests, by responding to European and UK Government initiatives and consultations, by promoting initiatives aimed at influencing Government policy and through the development of best practices. TAG also provides coordinated and comprehensive advice and support to technical professionals employed by local authorities directly or indirectly to manage and advise on their services. TAG continues to be at the forefront of establishing and disseminating best practice and works closely with other bodies to ensure opportunities are maximised. To achieve these aims, TAG works through its network of Regions, Technical Committees, Topic Groups and individual contacts to provide a hugely diverse and representative network of professional officers. Tees Valley Unlimited (TV Local Enterprise Partnership) The Transport and Infrastructure Group forms part of the Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) governance structure, which includes the Tees Valley Authorities ( Darlington Borough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council). The Transport and Infrastructure Group (TIG) consists of the officers responsible for highway authority functions. The group was chaired by Darlington Borough Council during 2013/14. The group look at strategic transport issues and also efficiency.

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There are a number of sub groups that most relevant to this bid being the Tees Valley Highway Maintenance Engineers who meet as a good practice network to share best practise. As part of this group there are representatives from Middlesbrough Laboratories who will share best practice on new materials and techniques. The Transport and Infrastructure group also undertakes task and finish activity. A recent example being a feasibility study on a Tees Valley Street Lighting Service. This resulted in a range of solutions being delivered within the Tees Valley including a new contract available to the Tees Valley authorities procured through Middlesbrough Borough Council. The Darlington Council Assistant Director who is responsible for highway authority functions is the Tees Valley representative on the NEHA and also has quarterly meetings with York Council and North Yorkshire Council to share best practice and efficiency models.

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Appendix E1

The column replacement work includes invest to save elements as we are taking the opportunity to replace inefficient control gear and lanterns at the same time to make savings on electricity charges. This has resulted in savings of £27k saved per annum on electricity plus an additional £12k per annum expected this year. We are currently preparing a business case for a programme of lantern replacement work with LED units in addition to the replacement of units carried out as part of the column replacement work. Examples of cross boundary working to make savings is contained in Appendix D2.

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Appendix E2

There are a number of reasons why Darlington Borough Council can be considered as an exemplar authority:-

• Our system of highway safety inspections and our approach to repairing rural defects. See Appendix B2.

• The use of our highways management system, Symology Insight, for all aspects of highways maintenance including inventory and condition data, safety inspections and ordering systems and records. Full ICT integration from Street to back-office.

• The wide use of Frameworks. See Appendix D2.

• Cross boundary working on procurement and knowledge sharing through various groups. See Appendix D2.

• The level of training for our highway inspectors and commitment which has resulted in a repudiation rate of 93% for third party claims. See Appendix B1F.

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