Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

No declarations of interest were made with respect to any items on the agenda.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed Jonathan Evans to the Committee and advised Members that he had recently been appointed as Head of Highways Client and Contractual Management Services.

(To consider a report from John Monk, Head of Design Services, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on a report which proposes updates to the Street Lighting Policy, including options and a recommendation for lighting on new developments, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive Councillor for Highways Transport and IT between 25 April - 3 May 2022)

Consideration was given to a report from John Monk, Head of Design Services, which invited the Committee to consider and comment on a report which proposed updates to the Street Lighting Policy, including options and a recommendation for lighting on new developments, prior to a decision being taken by the Executive Councillor for Highways Transport and IT between 25 April - 3 May 2022.Members were given an overview of the Street Lighting Transformation Project, implemented in 2016/17, and the subsequent 2018 Scrutiny Review which considered the impact of part-night lighting. The funding made available for the Transformation project allowed approximately 42,000 lights to be converted to part-night operation, 18,000 to be converted to LED and approximately 850 to be switched off completely. A further update to the Policy was made in 2019, allowing precept-raising councils in Lincolnshire to fund the conversion of otherwise part-night lit lights to operate all night. The actions taken through the Street Lighting Transformation project and use of LED technology reduced annual energy consumption for street lighting by 14.3m kw/hour. This reduction, saved £2.58m per annum. The Committee were given an overview of the five options available and were reminded that, if permanent obstructions were included within the development design, all night lighting would automatically be required. Moreover, in all options where no street lighting was the outcome, it should be noted that a Speed Limit Order was likely to be required on adoption of the development road.

The Chairman invited Mr David Matthews to address the Committee as a concerned resident hoping to bring some matters to the Committee’s attention:

·       Mr Matthews suggested that the life cycle of 95 per cent of current street lights would not extend beyond three years after installation, therefore the Council may want to pursue a wholesale conversion to LED lights to promote long term viability and value for money.

·       Concerns were raised that the replacement of the ‘dusk dawn’ switch for part-night lights created unpredictable timings for street lighting. He feared that the lack of street lighting in the early hours of the morning would result in emergency service vehicles, particularly ambulances, struggling to locate residents.

·       He reminded the Committee that any deficiencies within the design of street lighting could result in a risk to public safety leading to investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and possible impacts to the Council’s insurance liability premiums.

The Chairman invited the Head of Design Services to respond to Mr Matthews’ comments:

·       Part-night light safety, technical and affordability issues were considered as part of a Scrutiny Review that took place in 2018. HSE had not raised any concerns in relation to safety due to the implementation of part-night lighting across local authorities that had adopted it. In addition, converting to part-night lighting reduced carbon emissions and saved several million-kilowatt hours.

·       It was explained that the issue preventing wholesale conversion to LED was up-front affordability and added that the Council were in the middle of a six-year programme to convert  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

(To receive a report from Jonathan Evans, Head of Highways Services, which sets out the performance of the highways service including the Major Highway Schemes Update, Lincolnshire Highways Performance Report and Transport Complaints Report)

Consideration was given to a report from Jonathan Evans, Head of Highways Client and Contractual Management Service, on the performance of the Highways Service including the Major Highway Schemes Update, Lincolnshire Highways Performance Report and Transport Complaints Report. Members were advised that the Alliance Partners managed to achieve their targets for Quarter 2 and improvement plans were in place to improve Reactive Works, Street Lighting Service Standard, Drainage Cleansing Maintenance and Contract Notifications for both Highways Works and Professional Services.In Quarter 3 of 2021/22, Lincolnshire Highways repaired 10833 faults and completed 11 miles of carriageway patching surfacing, 11 miles of footway resurfacing and reconstruction, cleansed 31,000 gullies and refreshed 80 miles of carriageway lining. Material prices, inflation, skills shortages, Covid 19 and supply chain disruption continued to disrupt service delivery. Inflation within Highways Works contracts resulted in an expected service cost increase of 16 per cent higher when compared to the previous year. New scheduling hubs in the North and South of the County were now in place. To tackle the inflation pressures on the contract, Lincolnshire Highways were looking to increase the volume of recycling within the contract. Recruitment for specialist roles within the engineering sector were proving difficult to attract and retain in the current climate particularly for Street Lighting and Drainage Engineers. The Traffic Signals Performance Indicators (PIs) remained at a high-level including emergency faults attended in in time at 97 per cent, standard faults attended in in time at 100 per cent and 46 requests for signals to be switched off for road works. The commissioning and operational fine-tuning of Holdingham Roundabout was also completed in Quarter 3. Members were given an overview of the National Highways and Transport (NHT) Public Satisfaction Survey Results with particular emphasis being given to the road condition being the lowest indication of public satisfaction. 0.64 per cent of contacts received entered the formal process for complaints representing a 25 per cent decrease in comparison to the previous quarter.

The Committee considered the report, and during the discussion the following comments were noted:-

·       Noting the £12.3m funding cut from the Department of Transport (DfT), Members asked when its impact was expected to be felt. The Head of Highways Client and Contractual Management Service explained that the funding regime referenced was likely to remain static for the forthcoming three years, however, for 22/23, the Council supplemented the funding gap within its budget. Going forward into future years, the gap in funding was yet unaddressed.

·       On the issue of Red Lion Square, Members asked if the disputed use of sets or tarmac had been resolved. The Head of Highways Client and Contractual Management Service offered to communicate with his colleagues to provide a complete response to the Committee.

·       Members asked, if a complaint was issued to a private bus service and then passed to the Council, was the detail of complaints available for their consideration. TheHead of Highways Client and Contractual Management Service explained that the detail of the complaints within  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

(To receive a report from Kiara Chatziioannou, Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Committee to comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity is focused where it can be of greatest benefit)

The Committee received a report from the Scrutiny Officer, which enabled the Committee to comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity was focussed where it could be of greatest benefit.

Members stated that they felt that they would benefit greatly from a briefing session on the Highways Contract that covers our intervention policy. The Scrutiny Officer acknowledged the request and endeavoured to explore its viability for the next Municipal Year.

RESOLVED

          That the work programme presented be agreed.