Agenda item

(a)       That approval of the updated HAMP Improvement Plan be recommended;

(b)       That the reallocation of funding across the Highway Asset Group as dictated by the risk based approach detailed in the report be recommended; and

(c)        That the Committee recommend that a further report be presented to Cabinet for approval with the details of the individual annual asset allocations each year following the risk workshop.  

Prior to consideration of the report, the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) provided Members with a detailed update about the review that had been undertaken within the service.  He explained that three senior managers had been appointed and would take up their posts from 1 July 2015.  He gave a commitment that he would send all Members the contact details of the managers and would provide details of the services that each manager was responsible for.  He introduced Barry Wilkinson who was one of the newly appointed Service Managers.   

                        Councillor Clive Carver expressed his frustration that details of senior managers who no longer worked for the Council were displayed on the website and it was therefore difficult to know who to contact if they needed to raise an issue.  Councillor Cindy Hinds echoed the concerns.  The Deputy Leader reiterated the assurance provided by the Chief Officer that full contact details would be made available to Members as soon as possible after the completion of the restructure.  He also reminded Members that they could raise any concerns with himself, the Chief Officer or the Service Manager.  The Chief Officer also referred to the Contact Centre in Alltami and reminded Members that he had extended an invitation for them to visit once the restructure had been completed.

                        Councillors Joe Johnson and Ann Minshull expressed their support for the work undertaken by the Area supervisors for their wards and this was echoed by the Chair and Councillor Chris Dolphin. 

Following a comment from the Chair about the directory on the Council’s telephones, the Deputy Leader agreed to contact IT to discuss the problem. 

Councillor Paul Shotton indicated that the Area supervisor for his area regularly attended meetings of Connah’s Quay Town Council to discuss issues of concern.  The Chief Officer indicated that all Area supervisors should attend Town and Community Council meetings for their areas as this formed part of their contract. 

The Chief Officer introduced a report to update the Committee on the progress made on the Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP).  The report also sought a recommendation for the targeted allocation of both revenue and capital funding to the most appropriate asset on the network, utilising the principles of the HAMP to guide the outcome.                            

                        He detailed the background to the report and explained that the highway network was the highest valued infrastructure asset owned by the Council with the carriageway and footways asset alone being valued in excess of £1 billion.  The HAMP, which was approved by the Council’s Executive in 2012, set out how the Council responded to its statutory duty to maintain the highway.  It also set out how asset management principles would be applied to the management of the individual assets that made up the highway network in Flintshire.  Appendix 1 showed the HAMP Improvement Plan milestones and the Annual Status and Options report 2013/14 were reported in Appendix 2.  In 2012 the Authority had been able to secure funding of £8.4m from Welsh Government (WG) to address the longstanding maintenance backlog and carry out significant highways improvements on the network. 

                        The introduction of a new Streetscene and Transportation Portfolio had resulted in a number of services being combined with the original Streetscene service and capital and revenue funding of £1,589,000 was now available for maintenance and infrastructure improvement schemes each year.  Details of the funding was provided at paragraph 3.03 and the provisional allocation of the budget was reported at paragraph 3.06, subject to the outcome of the risk workshop to be held in June 2015.  The condition of the highway network would continue to deteriorate each year and the investment would be insufficient to address the decline.  There would also not be any WG capital funding streams available for highway maintenance works this year and it was therefore important to ensure that funds were allocated and targeted to those assets with the greatest need; it was proposed that a risk assessment would be undertaken to identify those needs.  The Chief Officer also reported that five highway subsidence schemes had been identified and these would also be risk assessed and funding allocated to the scheme with the greatest need.  The schemes had been prioritised and were reported in their rank order in paragraph 3.08.  These schemes would also be risk assessed and funding allocated to the scheme with the greatest need. 

                        Councillor Paul Shotton thanked the Chief Officer for the report.  He highlighted paragraph 2.10 where it was reported that the latest externally verified condition surveys had again shown that the conditions of the classified road network in Flintshire were the best maintained in Wales.  He queried whether it was anticipated that more surface dressing works than resurfacing would be undertaken.  He also sought clarification on innovations in road maintenance and whether recycled aggregates would be used in the future.  The Chief Officer responded that it was important to ensure that repairs that were carried out correctly so that they only needed to be undertaken once.  He added that, due to lack of funding, there may be the need to carry out more surface dressing rather than resurfacing works.  On the issue of recycled aggregates, there was a reluctance to use these products because of the risks involved due to skid resistance levels.  The Chief Officer spoke of alternative products but due to possible high levels of failure, it was more cost effective to revert to methods and products that could be trusted. 

                        In response to a question from Councillor Brian Lloyd about materials used, the Chief Officer explained that the life of a repair, such as filling in a pothole, would depend on the quality of the product.  Councillor Haydn Bateman asked whether repairs were carried out manually and the Chief Officer responded that small repairs were undertaken by hand but machinery was used for larger repairs.                                

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That approval of the updated HAMP Improvement Plan be recommended;

(b)       That the reallocation of funding across the Highway Asset Group as dictated by the risk based approach detailed in the report be recommended; and

(c)        That the Committee recommend that a further report be presented to Cabinet for approval with the details of the individual annual asset allocations each year following the risk workshop.