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: Kirklees Council Bid Manager Name and position: Graham Mallory, Group Engineer Name and position of officer with day to day responsibility for delivering the proposed scheme. Contact telephone number: 01484 225607 Email address: graham.mallory@krklees.gov.uk Postal address: Streetscene Flint street Fartown Huddersfield HD1 6LG 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.kirklees.gov.uk/

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Kirklees Council Pothole Fund Application Form

Contents

The Application Form Section A Your Highway p3 Section B Potholes p4-7 Section C Asset Management p8 Section D Efficiencies p9-10 Section E Other p11 Section F Signed declaration p13 Appendices Appendix B Support Evidence for Section B p14-17 Appendix A Operational Manual for Highways Safety Inspections is attached with the email submission of this application

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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? 377 A2: What is the total number of street lighting columns under your authority’s responsibility? 51,972 A3: What is the total number of street lighting columns under your authority’s responsibility over 40 years old? 11,719 A4: What is the total length of footways under the responsibility of your authority (in miles)? 1,710m A5: What is the total length of off road cycleways under the responsibility of your authority (in miles)? 20m 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://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/news/onlinenews/newsdesk/fullstory.aspx?id=6074

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SECTION 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 B

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 B

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 B

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

We do co-ordinate effectively with works promoters on short and longer-term programmes (up to 12 months in advance) but in spite of best efforts are not yet able to obtain information for up to 4 years in advance.

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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 B

F. Has your authority developed a detailed highway inspection manual and have put appropriate training in place for your Highway Inspectors?

Yes No

See Appendix B

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

Yes No

See Appendix B

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 B

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 B

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

Yes No

See Appendix B

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

Yes No

See Appendix B

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. We have a team working on emergency potholes and other teams working through the area on the backlog. With increased funding we would be able to be more effective and productive by undertaking ward based repairs to make real local impact We have introduced working patterns that allows 7 day week working and night term working to minimise disruption to traffic through highway maintenance works. Material is stored in a hot box Specialist cold lay material in tubs is available for quick repair in emergency situations 4 vehicles adapted with bolt on cranes to unload vibrating plates etc will enable 1 man repair teams

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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: Streetrepairs.co.uk, fillthathole.org.uk (CTC), potholes.co.uk, FixMyStreet.com, Looking Local (My Council), email, letter, phone calls 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 Emergency Services Yes No If yes, please provide details as an annex as part of your bid. See response to B1: I in appendix B There are regular ward meetings with local Kirklees Councillors where issues and performance across the ward are discussed in detail. Briefings on maintenance initiatives are also taken to Local Area Committees which are an amalgamation of neighbouring wards We consult and seek feedback on our Winter Service with Police / Schools / neighbouring Local Authorites / Freight Transport Association / Emergency Services We have implemented a part night switch off of street lighting that was widely consulted on 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: http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/transport/transport_home.asp And within the LTP document My Journey http://www.wyltp.com/NR/rdonlyres/1CF40EA9-62D8-4611-964E-C6D1B663628E/0/20121003LTPFullStrategy.pdf Road safety programmes include Safe Routes to School schemes

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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? i) Kirklees Council has operated the “Yorkshire Common Permit Scheme” since June 2012. The permit scheme applies to registerable activities carried out on the strategically significant streets within the borough, i.e. reinstatement category 0, 1, 2 and traffic-sensitive streets. The permit scheme encourages collaborative working by providing that promoters working jointly do not pay permit fees. http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/transport/roads/permitScheme.aspx The results show that, since the introduction of the Permit Scheme, there has been a reduction in the overall number of works, a reduction in total duration of occupation, and a reduction in the average duration of all works. From July 2011 to June 2012, i.e. prior to the introduction of the Permit scheme, 3,377 works were undertaken. The total duration of these works was 17,961 days, at an average of 5.32 days each. After the introduction of the scheme, i.e. from July 2012 to June 2013, 2,975 works were undertaken. The total duration of these works reduced to 14,257 days, at an average of 4.79 days each. This gives a saving of 3,704 days across Kirklees over the first 12 months of the scheme. Allowing for the reduction in the number of works, the reduction in average duration of 0.53 days, when multiplied by the total number of works during the first year of operation, gives a total of 1,577 days of disruption saved across Kirklees during the reporting period. ii) Through the permit scheme, Kirklees is a member of the “Yorkshire Permit Operational Group”, comprising representatives from permit authorities and activity promoters, sharing experience and good practice in operating the scheme. At a recent meeting there was a presentation on Roadworks.org, to raise the profile of the website as a co-ordination tool. http://roadworks.org/ iii) A report of NRASWA notices/permit applications received is run daily and circulated to works co-ordinators and inspectors, who as well as looking for clashes also look for and promote opportunities for joint working. iv) Kirklees Council serves notices to works promoters through the EToN system for proposed Section 58 restrictions (where substantial roadworks are to be carried out); these notices are sent out at least three months in advance. S58 notices are put into force once the substantial roadworks are complete. v) Kirklees Council holds quarterly co-ordination meetings where all works promoters are invited to submit their forward plans and attend the meeting. At the meeting, works can be moved around to avoid clashes or scheduled to work collaboratively, and proposed Section 58 restrictions are discussed. vi) Council officers attend regular meetings with individual utility companies to discuss their advance programmes and to agree when the works could be carried out (e.g. school holiday periods) with minimal disruption and delay to road users. vii) Kirklees Council exports data from its local street works register to the Roadworks.org website, enabling works promoters to use the information upcoming works for planning and co-ordination. viii) Kirklees Council works with the utility companies and other 3rd parties to restrict street works on key routes during a period of 6 weeks around the Christmas period. This reduces disruption to businesses and road users at this critical time for local traders.

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ix) The performance of the utility companies and the highway authority is monitored for performance standard and parity between all parties. Last year Kirklees Council, as permit authority, received 6,028 permit applications and granted 4,145 (69%) of them. Within these applications there were 1,026 for the council’s own roadworks (of which 70% were granted) and 5,002 for utility street works (of which 68% were granted. These results show that, as works promoter, the council is working to the same standards as utility companies in notifying and obtaining permits for its works and, as a permit authority, is being consistent is its assessment and treatment of permit applications, with similar proportions of permit applications being granted. 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)

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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. http://connect.kirklees.public-i.tv/document/Agenda_Item_8___Cab_29_Mar.pdf

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

Business cases to support Capital Programmes taken for Cabinet approval include detailed analysis and predictions of PIs for road condition. The Service Plan reports performance Impact statements are produced to detail the consequences of reduction in revenue expenditure. The part night switch off of street lighting was widely consulted to demonstrate asset management benefits

Does your authority have an asset management register?

Yes No

We hold detailed databases of the road, structures, drainage, UTC and lighting asset. We are steadily gathering better information on our footways (including condition) with an extensive survey ordered for summer 2014.

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 The expertise to inform the right decisions is through Yotta and buy in to their web based Horizons package. Horizons Visualised Asset Management software takes your data and turns it into knowledge and ultimately, better decisions. An innovative approach allows all types of data to be integrated, visualised and utilised in analysis, letting you harness what was once disparate data and utilising it to inform decisions that deliver the best value for money meets the need of the road user.

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

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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. The West Yorkshire Procurement Group (WYPG) comprising officers from Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, was launched on 3rd February 2011 and was given the remit to carryout joint procurement and/or develop and implement good practices together to improve our efficiency and customer service. Working collaboratively and using the existing practices the whole procurement process has been streamlined. Each exercise is tailored to increase the likelihood of delivering maximum benefits, uses NEC conditions of contract, standard specifications and deal with sustainability, supply chain management, and employment & skills. The following WY Frameworks have been set up. 1.1 Purchase of Salt. (Expected savings 10%). 1.2 Planing and surfacing. (Expected savings 2.4%). 1.3 Surface dressing. (expected savings 2.5%). 1.4 Traffic signals Installation. Nil. 1.5 Traffic Signal Maintenance. (Expected savings 15% on award with 0.25% year on year

afterwards for up to 8 years). 1.6 Purchase of Materials. (Expected savings 2.5% a year) 1.7 Hire of Plant and Vehicles. (Expected savings 2.5% a year) It is projected that savings of a similar level will be achieved for 2014/15. The savings have resulted by aggregating volumes of work, goods and services, single procurement exercise for all 5 districts, instead of 5 separate exercises; Use of NEC conditions of contract, standard specification, replacing index linked annual inflation led increases with annual re rates, better programming and innovation. 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. Kirklees has been a leading part of the West Yorkshire Alliance (formerly known as West Yorkshire Procurement Group) since its formation in February 2011. (see reply for D1 above). The current arrangements are in the process of being formalised. As part of this process opportunities would be offered to all remaining 8 Yorkshire districts to join either as a full member, associate member or simply to use the Alliance on an ad hoq basis.

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The members of the alliance use other existing public sector frameworks such as Yor Civils, Yor Consult, Yorkshire Purchasing organisation etc. where these meet their requirements and offer value for money. Kirklees has been one of the lead members of the Yorkshire Alliance since its inception. Member of Yorkshire Highways Alliance with membership of: • North Yorkshire County Council • York City Council • East Riding of Yorkshire Council • Hull City Council • Leeds City Council • Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council • Kirklees Council • City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council • City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council • Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council • Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council • Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council • Sheffield City Council 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. The West Yorkshire Alliance is currently engaged with HMEP and YORhub with the aim of offering to share our work with others via the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme and YORhub. The West Yorkshire Alliance contracts are available to all Yorkshire and other public sector bodies. The frameworks have been used by Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham.

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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 Invest to save We have invested to save in the street lighting stock. The Council has identified £995k of capital grant funding within its capital plan to accelerate the programme of improvements to the street lighting network whilst development of longer term strategy for effective and efficient delivery of the street lighting service is undertaken. This funding will assist in reducing the risks associated with the increasing number of obsolete columns, help to offset future energy and maintenance costs increases as well as replacing low pressure sodium orange lights with the more popular energy efficient white light. Cross Boundary collaboration There is collaboration across South and West Yorkshire on Joint Contracts for: Annual and term maintenance Materials supply (eg winter salt) Road condition surveys There is further collaboration in sharing salt supplies during winter Refer to details in D1 efficiencies above Other (please specify): 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. Whilst the systems are in place to make us an exemplar Authority the need to reduce revenue expenditure has had a negative impact on the ability to undertake the works. Our performance is increasingly reactive and the resources for the maintenance of local unclassified roads in particular are nowhere near that indicated as necessary by life cycle planning. 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 [scheme name] I hereby submit this request for approval to DfT on behalf of [name of authority] and confirm that I have the necessary authority to do so. I confirm that [name of authority] will have all the necessary statutory powers in place to ensure the planned timescales in the application can be realised. Name:

Signed: See scan on next page

Position:

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Kirklees Council Pothole Fund Application Form Appendix B SECTION B – Potholes – Supporting evidence

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

http://www.wyita.gov.uk/Committees/LocalTransportPlanCommittee/140122/ The LTP highways maintenance grant is funded from monies administered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The above link is to the document seeking approval for the West Yorkshire LTP Implementation Plan for the period April 2014 to March 2017 (Item 07). Kirklees Council has a 5 year forward plan. As there are annual surveys of road condition a one year detailed programme of schemes is approved with a working document for future programmes held in draft form. This allows adjustment a s new condition data is collected and allows flexibility following severe / extreme weather or when there are additional pressures on the Network (eg Tour de France or reductions in revenue expenditure). We are working with Yotta Advanced Asset Management using life cycle planning to determine future programmes

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?

There has been a determined shift to include more patching / surface dressing in our works programmes which treat the ‘amber’ condition rather than ‘red’ roads. Our planned works team patches roads that can be surface dressed patching a year in advance of the surface dressing programme. By maintaining a database of previous surfacing schemes we can identify the optimum time to surface dress a road in conjunction with road condition survey data.

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.

Collaboration is through the West Yorkshire Alliance of Local Authorities that includes Kirklees Council, Leeds CC, Bradford MDC, Wakefield Council and Calderdale Council. The expertise in analysing road condition data to inform the right decisions is through Yotta and buy in to their web based Horizons package. Horizons Visualised Asset Management software takes your data and turns it into knowledge and ultimately, better decisions. An innovative approach allows all types of data to be integrated, visualised and utilised in analysis, letting you harness what was once disparate data and utilising it to inform decisions that deliver the best value for money meets the need of the road user.

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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?

We do co-ordinate with works promoters on short and longer-term programmes (up to 12 months in advance) but are not yet able to obtain information for up to 4 years in advance.

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?

We have implemented a number of conclusions recommended in this report, particularly those developed in the Potholes Review.

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

training in place for your Highway Inspectors?

The detail highway inspection is an attached to this submission. See appendix A Inspections are undertaken by a team of highway engineers with City and Guilds Highway Inspection qualifications

G. Does your authority use technology and systems for the effective identification and

management of potholes?

The Council is able to track reported potholes through to completion of works. This includes automatic generation of a works order and completion on the system when works are done. We repair around 30,000 potholes a year.

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 http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/transport/roads/roadMaintenance.aspx

The Councils website defines a pothole and gives information on the cause and the method of repair. There are several options for customers to report potholes including picking the location on a map.

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?

Satisfaction is measured through the Council’s own schedule of residents surveys and through via the Citizen’s e-panel. Satisfaction is measured regularly but currently not on an annual basis. In 2010 an in-depth programme of Customer Insight Research was carried out by the Highways Department. This combined both qualitative and quantitative measurements. The qualitative element revealed that the quality of pothole repairs is very important to local residents. It also revealed the criteria that residents use to assess repair quality.

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The 2011 Your Place Your Say survey confirmed the importance of well-maintained roads and pavements. When asked to choose from a list of local public services provided by Kirklees Council, 69% chose ‘road and pavement maintenance’ as being one of the five services most important to them and it was the second most frequently mentioned service after ‘household refuse collection’ (74%). While this demonstrates the importance of good roads and pavements to respondents, of more concern is that when asked which things in their local area most need improving, ‘well maintained roads and pavements’ was mentioned by 57% of respondents, almost 20 percentage points higher than the next most frequently mentioned aspects which were ‘a clean and tidy local environment’ (38%) and ‘a strong local economy with well-paid jobs’ (38%). The Council’s approach to consulting and engaging with residents has adapted to meet the challenging financial times ahead. The Council has launched a Time to Talk initiative which involves local residents, businesses, volunteers and employees in a discussion about the Council of the future. These discussions have continued to emphasise that road and pavement condition is a concern for residents.

J. Does your authority adopt permanent repairs as the first choice when repairing potholes? Yes From the specification for works:

APPENDIX 7/22 REPAIRS TO POTHOLES General Unless previously agreed with or directed by the Engineer: a. Saw cut the hole square b. All loose material shall be removed before filling the hole. c. All standing water shall be removed before filling the hole. d. The filling material shall be compacted to refusal to the agreement of the Engineer. e. The depth of inlayers shall be appropriate to the depth of the hole. f. The surface of the compacted material shall be level with that of the adjacent road. g. The use of instant road repair material or equivalent will be with the agreement or by the direction of the Engineer.

K. Has your authority adopted dimensional definitions for potholes based on best practice as part

of its maintenance policy? http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/transport/roads/roadMaintenance.aspx

The system for reporting potholes takes customers through a process that includes dimensions for the depth of the pothole using comparison with a marble / golf ball / tennis ball and football