17 January 2014
Information revealed by Green County Councillors in Essex shows that of the 447 Local Highways Panels schemes agreed, funded and signed off by the Cabinet Member in the year 2012/13 only 29% were actually delivered by the start of 2014.
Green Group leader James Abbott submitted a written question to the December Full Council meeting at County hall:
'Highways Panels - Performance Monitoring:
There is concern about the delivery performance on local improvement schemes recommended by the Highways Panels. Of all the LHP schemes recommended to the Cabinet Member in 2012/13, and which he approved in that year, what percentage have actually been delivered to date, (1) across the county and (2) by each LHP area ?’
The Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr. Rodney Bass, refused to answer the question and described it as not relevant and onerous to produce the requested information.
The information was subsequently quickly provided by officers of the council (please see attached).
The full breakdown is:
Schemes agreed, funded and signed off in 2012/13 for the 12 Panels in Essex - 447 (1)
Of those
- cancelled 6%
- delivered 29%
- expected to be delivered in 2013/14 59%
- expected to be delivered in 2014/15 6%
The better performing districts were Braintree and Maldon where in both 44% of schemes had been delivered by the start of 2014. The worst was Colchester with a completion rate of just 15% by the start of 2014.
Cllr. James Abbott, Green Group Leader said
"These figures prove what many people involved in this process had suspected - that the delivery performance on the agreed Local Highways Panels schemes is poor to date.
We would also question the likelihood of 59% of schemes being delivered in the next few months as ECC is projecting.
In October, without consultation, the Cabinet Member "re-profiled" the Panel budgets, reducing the £8 million funding to just £2.65 million in the current financial year 2013/14.
It is now very clear that this was done because the council was failing to deliver the agreed projects from last year. The Cabinet Member effectively stopped the process in its tracks, withdrawing funding and greatly reducing the ability of the Panels to agree further schemes because the ones from last year were still stuck in the queue.
These are schemes which local communities and parish councils have asked for to make their local roads and paths safer. Cllr. Bass and colleagues have failed to ensure delivery and have also rejected suggestions as to how to improve the situation - the Greens have suggested using some of the budget to recruit more staff to help clear the backlog.
The slashing of highways staff at ECC over several years means that the council does not have the capacity to get the schemes designed and delivered on time. We don't blame the officers. We blame the Conservative administration for mismanagement."
Notes
(1)
Under the Cabinet Member Terms of Reference for the Highways Panels, schemes agreed, funded and signed off in Year 1 are to be delivered in Year 2.
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