Contact: Richard Chinn, tel 02380 427000

1. Summary

1.1 This report outlines:

(i) progress with the 2002/03 Highway Maintenance Programme;

(ii) details of the 2003/04 Highway Maintenance budget; and

(iii) details of the 2003/04 Highway Maintenance Programme.

2. Background

2.1 As previously reported, the highway maintenance programme is funded from both revenue and capital allocations.

2.2 The revenue maintenance programme funds minor works such as pothole repairs, routine drainage work, including gully cleaning, signs and road markings, environmental maintenance of grass verges, trees and shrubs, weed control and highway emergencies. Minor bridge works and winter maintenance is also funded from revenue. Budget allocations are set at a level that ensures the safety of the highway network.

2.3 The capital maintenance programme funds planned maintenance, including special maintenance, resurfacing and surface dressing, and also provides for essential repairs to the structure of the highway.

3. Progress with the 2002/03 Highway Maintenance Programme

Revenue Maintenance Programme

3.1 The total allocation for Test Valley for 2002/03 is £800,000. Progress throughout the year has been in line with the spend profile and it is expected that the programme will be completed within time and budget constraints. A budget monitoring statement is included within Appendix 1.

Capital Maintenance Programme

3.2 The total allocation for Test Valley for 2002/03 is £854,000. The programme is nearing completion and, as with the Revenue Maintenance Programme, it is expected that it will be delivered as planned within time and budget constraints. A budget monitoring statement is included within Appendix 1.

3.3 A status report detailing progress of all special maintenance, resurfacing, surface dressing and externally funded (Government Office for the South East) drainage schemes is attached as Appendix 2.

4. Highway Maintenance Budget 2003/04

4.1 The Highway Maintenance budget for 2003/04, approved by the Executive Member for Environment, is £46,492,000. This sum comprises £18,768,000 revenue funding and £27,724,000 funding from the capital programme provision.

4.2 The revenue budget allocation has been maintained at a similar level to 2002/03.

4.3 The capital budget allocation has been increased substantially compared with 2002/03. Central Government funding achieved through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process has increased, and locally resourced capital funding has also been enhanced. It should be noted that maintenance funding allocated through the LTP process is directly related to the condition of Hampshire's road network, and future levels of funding are dependent on the County Council's ability to improve the overall condition of the network. This increased allocation for planned maintenance has provided the opportunity to target funding at the more vulnerable areas of the network, essentially urban footways and rural unclassified roads.

4.4 Urban footways have been targeted to maintain accessibility and improve standards in the heavily-used areas, reducing the potential for claims. The rural unclassified road network was severely damaged as a result of the flooding in 2000/01 and requires a sustained, enhanced level of funding to recover.

4.5 Despite this additional funding, the need has risen this year, based on Highways Assessment of Maintenance Priorities (HAMP) intervention levels. It is therefore envisaged that these increased levels of funding will need to be sustained to achieve both the aims of the Government, to halt the deterioration of the network by 2004 and eliminate the backlog by 2010, and the County Council's Public Service Agreement with Government which seeks to achieve the 2004 target one year earlier, by the end of 2003.

4.6 To reflect the condition of the footway network in Hampshire, user concerns and the deteriorating condition of rural unclassified lanes, an additional £3.5 million of funding has been specifically allocated by the County Council to these areas of need for 2003/04. Of this funding £2.5 million will be allocated to footway works and £1 million on maintenance of the rural unclassified network. This funding will help to reduce the maintenance backlog and is detailed in Appendix.3.

5. Highway Maintenance Programme 2003/04

Revenue Maintenance Programme

5.1 As described above, the revenue maintenance programme funds three main areas of highway maintenance: reactionary minor repair works on the road and footway network, minor traffic management improvements of signs and road markings and the environmental aspects of highway maintenance, including grass cutting, weed treatment and tree and shrub maintenance.

5.2 The total allocation for Test Valley for 2003/04 is £772,000. A breakdown of the budget is set out in Appendix 3.

5.3 Additional revenue budgets are held centrally for the performance elements of the County Council's term maintenance contract. The performance based work contained in the contract includes:

(i) gully emptying;

(ii) visibility splay grass cutting;

(iii) winter maintenance; and

(iv) ordinary bridge maintenance.

Capital Maintenance Programme

5.4 The total allocation for Test Valley for 2003/04 is £1,175,000, plus a proportion of the £3,500,000 county-wide additional funding. The funding allocation for the capital maintenance programme is based on the HAMP rating system and will reflect the agreed intervention levels. The HAMP rating intervention level directs funding to those maintenance schemes displaying a higher `maintenance need'. Therefore, the funding allocation within the borough for the 2003/04 capital maintenance programme differs from the 2002/03 allocation.

5.5 As stated above, planned structural maintenance repairs undertaken through the capital maintenance programme include surface dressing, special maintenance and resurfacing schemes. A provisional list of schemes under each of these headings for 2003/04 is attached as Appendix 4.

5.6 The capital maintenance programme also supports the centrally controlled areas of work, including major maintenance schemes and bridge maintenance.

Recommendation

That the report be noted.

7720/RC