Agenda item

Highways Service COVID-19 Response

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Keith Iddon, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport; Phil Durnell, Director of Highways and Transport; John Davies, Head of Service Highways; Ridwan Musa, Highways Service Manager - Operations; and Marcus Leigh, Highways Service Manager - Infrastructure to the meeting.

 

Committee members were presented with an update on how the Highways Service had responded to the impact of Covid-19.

 

The lockdown had caused significant disruption to all elements of the Highways Service during which the Highways operations were only delivering emergency responses. All other elements of the service had to adapt to an immediate new way of working and there had been a professional and positive attitude from staff.

 

At the start of the lockdown highways officers were unable to visit any sites but teams identified as key workers were allowed site visits within one week.

 

It was pointed out to members that flooding had not stopped during the Covid-19 crisis. The Flood Risk Management Team work immediately adapted to working remotely. The team was able to work with partners using conference calls.

 

With regards to Parking Services, from the start of lockdown there was an initial reduction in enforcement and only primary routes were covered. As lockdown eased enforcement had increased. By the end of July the service would be back to pre-lockdown levels. The Government guidance in terms of providing free parking for NHS staff, health and social care workers and NHS volunteers was still being followed.

 

In terms of the Highways Safety Inspections Team, at the beginning of lockdown there had also been an initial reduction in service, with the team concentrating on dangerous defects. Normal levels of inspection were now being achieved.

 

Regarding Highways Regulation, there had been a large drop off in demand from utility services in the first week of lockdown. This quickly increased as utility works were classified as essential. Utility firms took advantage of reduced traffic at problematic sites. Normal levels of demand on the service were being managed with remote working.

 

The Road Safety Engineering Team had adapted well to working from home and had operated normally throughout. The team was now involved in the restart initiative.

 

The workload of the Road Safety Education Team had stopped as schools had closed. The team was redeployed to Covid-19 duties. The workload of the Schools Crossing Patrol Service had also stopped due to the closure of schools.

The Traffic Signals Team had continued to work normally throughout the pandemic remotely. The Traffic Monitoring Team had monitored traffic flows throughout lockdown and was supporting the Travel Restart initiatives.

 

The Highways Service Operations Team had a three phased return to work plan to get back to the new normal. As part of Phase 1, as soon as lockdown was announced the primary concern was to make all the sites safe and send all the operatives home to ensure the Government's guidance was being followed. The biggest challenge was the availability of masks and social distancing. A small number of the Operations Team returned to work on a rota basis for emergency works only and there was single person vehicle usage.

 

In Phase 2 the Operations Team had to comply with the Government's updated guidance. More of the team's smaller teams returned to work and there were staggered start and finish times. Grass cutting functions resumed.

 

More updated Government guidance was complied with in Phase 3. All teams returned to work and all revenue and capital schemes resumed. Space was provided for contractors where they could set up their own welfare pods. All training had commenced again, although with limited numbers. The team had assisted with the reopening of Household Waste Recycling Centres.

 

The Highways Service Operations Team was still facing continuous challenges during the Coronavirus crisis.

 

A number of issues were raised by members and the following was noted

 

·  There had been some benefits to working practices during the crisis. Staggered start times had worked well. This was also a benefit to the network as people were not travelling at the same time and were not all on the road at the same time.

·  In terms of activity levels, all the teams were now back up and running.

·  Members were informed that there had been a reduction in the reporting of defects and customer enquiries in the first couple of months of lockdown but these numbers were almost back to normal levels as people were now using the reporting system and Customer Access.

·  Regarding free parking for NHS staff and care workers in the future, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport would look into this.

 

Resolved: The Internal Scrutiny Committee thanked the Highways Service Team for its response to the Covid-19 crisis and noted the update provided.

 

Supporting documents: