Agenda item

(To receive a report from Satish Shah, Network Manager South, which provides the Committee with an update on the review of measures being undertaken to improve the highways and transport service users' experience)

The Committee received a report which updated members on the review of measures being undertaken to improve the highways and transport service users' experience.

It was reported that following the latest County Council Elections, all councillors were briefed on the highways service on 24 and 25 May 2017.  Following these sessions, all presentation slides, staffing structures and a record of the discussion were sent to all councillors.  Members were advised that the current communications strategy had been in place since summer 2015.  It was continually reviewed to ensure that all stakeholders were being provided with accurate, up-to-date information in a timely fashion using the most effective and efficient methods.  Additionally, it was noted that each of the major projects had its own individual communication plan.

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was commented that the one to ones for councillors with highways officers were definitely worth taking up.  Members reported that when they attended parish council meetings and had issues raised with them, they were then able to meet with the highways officer and discuss all the issues at the same time.  It was noted that sometimes, only a phone call would be required.  It was reported that there had been a definite improvement since the last council.

·         Member input was very important, as it was their role in the community to raise these issues.

·         It was commented that it might be useful if the automatic response received when reporting a fault online could include some text on what the issue was.  Members were advised that more work was being carried out on this system and a revised version of LAGAN would be launched in a couple of months.  Members should see a huge improvement in this.

·         It was noted that there had been some issues uploading images to the online reporting system as they had been too big for the system to accept, and so the issue had to be reported to the highways CSC instead.

·         It was reported that some problems had been experienced trying to reschedule meetings with highways officers.

·         Officers reported that they routinely met with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT and the Communications Team.  It was also reported that there would be a member engagement session in November for each of the 4 local highway areas.  it was suggested that these sessions should be arranged for the end of October before the November meeting of the Committee.

·         It was commented that of the 70 councillors, there were around 30 who had not made it to a Highways induction session, which it was felt was disappointing, and highways was a very important area for members as a lot of queries would relate to this service.

·         Members commented that they had found the sessions to be very useful, and the system needed to be given a chance to settle down.

·         It was also commented that the authority often 'got the blame' for the way the statutory undertakers repaired the road or carried out works.  Members had a role to publicise how the system worked.

·         It was reported that parishes were prepared to get involved with taking on some services that the Council was no longer able to provide, but they needed to be able to set a contract and needed a map to know where they needed to cover.

·         It was acknowledged that some parish councils were more pro-active than others, and this would be looked at as part of the commissioning strategy.

·         One member commented that they had taken up the opportunity to meet their local highways officer and it had been an excellent meeting, and had mapped out everything that he had wanted the officer to investigate.  It was suggested whether it would be possible for officers to provide a rating of 1- 10 on how progress was moving with each query.  Officers commented that this was a good suggestion and would be looked into.

·         It was confirmed that councillors who covered unparished areas worked with local community groups.  It was suggested that as there was a good way of working with parishes, there was a need to find a way to roll this out to local community groups/residents groups etc. in non-parished areas.

·         One member commented that they had found the meetings with highways officers very good, and also found it particularly useful to e-mail all the queries to the officer beforehand.  It was also commented that this meeting had provided an opportunity to understand the way the highways department worked.

·         In relation to the online reporting system, it was felt that some members had been reluctant to use it, as the authority moved from a familiar system to a new system.  One member was encouraging residents to use either the website or CSC to report issues and if they did not get a response to contact her then.

·         It was commented that residents reporting through the CSC made both the officers and the member of the public accountable as queries could be tracked once they had been reported.

·         Members were advised that the Confirm reports would be available again from 1 September 2017 as work was being undertaken to compile the new boundaries and new councillor details.

·         It was commented that new members could benefit from having a link to the Police for highways issues, and members were advised that in the first instance, it was always best to go through the highways manager.  It was also suggested it could be helpful for members to find out who their community beat manager was.

·         It was queried whether there would be an opportunity for this committee to learn more about the Road Safety Partnership, however, members were advised that the work of the Road Safety Partnership was reported to the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee, but it may be possible to do something jointly.  It was agreed that the end of October member engagement sessions would include a presentation from the Road Safety Partnership.

·         It was commented that with issues like grass cutting there needed to be a way of engaging with parishes and the public.

·         It was important for councillors to be involved with highways works and communications, as well as ensuring that they had up to date contact details.

·         It was requested that the Committee received six monthly updates on Highways Communications.

·         Officers were thanked for their work as members agreed that this area had improved dramatically in recent months.

RESOLVED

1.    That the comments made by the committee in relation to the review be noted.

2.    That the Committee receive updates on updates on highways communication every six months.