All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance www.highwaysmaintenance.org Managing a valuable asset: improving local road condition 14 October 2013 Contents Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 3 Current state of roads 4 Case for investment in local road network 8 How to achieve better outcomes 9 Recommendations 15 References 16 All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance | Managing a Valuable Asset: Improving Local Road Condition | October 2013 1 Foreword This report is the result of several discussions between members of our Group and various experts, industry representatives and local politicians. The refrain is always “something must be done”, but no one seems to be able to agree on what must be done! I hope that this report, which would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors, will be useful in providing a way forward to a solution and in generating political and public support for action. Christopher Chope OBE Mp Highway Maintenance All Party Parliamentary Group Chairman Thank you to the sponsors of this report, the Asphalt Industry Alliance www.asphaltuk.org and the Institute of Highway Engineers www.theihe.org 2 All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance | Managing a Valuable Asset: Improving Local Road Condition | October 2013 Acknowledgements We are grateful to all the following for their contributions to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance. Appg Highway Maintenance Brooks Newmark MP APPG meeting Members and guests Neil Parish MP non-parliamentary guests David Amess MP Andrew Percy MP Roger Elphick Chartered Institution of Earl Attlee Lord Roberts of Conwy Highways and Transportation Sir Paul Beresford MP *Andrew Rosindell MP Cllr Ravi Govindia *Gordon Birtwistle MP Andy Sawford MP Wandsworth Council *Tom Blenkinsop MP Virendra Sharma MP Nigel Jackson * Sir Peter Bottomley MP *Viscount Simon Mineral Products Association * Lord Brabazon of Tara *Angela Smith MP Cllr John Jones *Lord Bradshaw Lord Snape Blackpool City Council Lord Brookman *Graham Stringer MP Mike Linley *Fiona Bruce MP Sir Andrew Stunell OBE MP Total Bitumen Ronnie Campbell MP Martin Vickers MP Alan Mackenzie * Asphalt Industry Alliance Christopher Chope OBE MP *Joan Walley MP Oliver Colvile MP *Robert Walter MP Cllr Andrew Morgan Rhonnda-Cynon-Taff Council Rosie Cooper MP *Heather Wheeler MP Graham Pontin David Crausby MP * John Woodcock MP Association for Consultancy * Lord Davies of Coity and Engineering *Lord Davies of Oldham APPG meeting speakers Malcolm Simms Jim Dobbin MP Mineral Products Association Norman Baker MP Brian Donohoe MP Parliamentary Under Secretary John Smart Michael Ellis MP for Transport: May 2010 – to date Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation Louise Ellman MP Cllr Andrew Carter *Bill Esterson MP Leeds City Council Cllr Andrew Smith Westminster City Council *Lord Evans of Parkside Brian Hicks Dr Garry Sterritt Robert Flello MP Ensign Highways Transport for London *Sir Roger Gale MP Steve Kent Bill Taylor * ADEPT Lord Glentoran Highways Term Maintenance Mike Llewelyn-Jones James Gray MP Association Association for Consultancy *Andrew Gwynne MP and Engineering Simon van der Byl * Mineral Products Association John Hemming MP Matthew Lugg OBE *Lord Howie of Troon HMEP Justin Ward Chartered Institution of *Chris Kelly MP Mike Penning MP Highways and Transportation John Leech MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport: David Weeks Stephen Lloyd MP May 2010 – September 2012 Hanson *Paul Maynard MP Dana Skelley Andrew Williams Sir Alan Meale MP Transport for London Refined Bitumen Association * Nigel Mills MP Trevor Wallis Brent Wilson *Tessa Munt MP London Borough of Hounslow Nynas * Denotes Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance. All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance | Managing a Valuable Asset: Improving Local Road Condition | October 2013 3 Introduction The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Highway Maintenance fosters understanding and awareness of the fundamental importance of the highway network, and the safety, environmental, economic, and social cases for a properly maintained sustainable network in the UK. The APPG is publishing this report because it considers This APPG report does not seek to replicate these that urgent action is needed to counteract the obvious studies, nor to pre-empt the DfT guidance. deterioration of the local roads, that are vital to The several existing reports have strong and everyone’s daily existence and which account for more well-constructed insights and policy than 95 per cent of the country’s network. recommendations. Some are being acted on Having heard numerous expert presentations at its effectively but overall there is not widespread meetings, the Group has a good understanding of implementation among local authorities. how this situation has arisen and what can be done to When taken together with evidence presented to rectify it. Responsibility for a safe and efficient local this APPG at its own meetings, and considered with road network lies with councils, whose service is funded empirical findings in other Organisation for Economic both centrally and locally. While highway maintenance Co-operation & Development (OECD) states, it becomes funding supports all aspects of road maintenance, clear that further action must be taken quickly. including structures, street lighting, cleaning, signage, Otherwise, the expense of not doing so will continue footways and more, this report focuses specifically on to rise as roads require more serious structural repair the condition of the road itself. work or, worse, complete replacement or even closure. A number of studies and reports have been The Group is conscious of the current financial published recently which document the economic climate and recognises that funding is a key issue. and social importance of highways maintenance and One thing on which all of these reports agree is that the concerning degree to which England’s local road “prevention is the best cure”. The sooner that roads network has fallen into disrepair. Two of the most reach a “satisfactory steady state”, making planned, important are: preventative maintenance possible over the long • The Audit Commission’s Going the Distance: term, the better. This type of maintenance is clearly Achieving better value for money in road far more cost effective and provides better value for maintenance (2011), which emphasised the extent money for the taxpayer and greater economic, social to which ”worst first” maintenance strategies and environmental benefits for us all. are inefficient, and provided a clear set of As recommended in the Audit Commission’s Going recommendations in its final report. the Distance report (2011), this will require both more • The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme funding and more secure funding for periodic and (HMEP)’s Prevention and a Better Cure: Potholes structural maintenance, along with more efficient use Review (2012) and its follow-up report (2013). of funding through asset management principles. This led the Department for Transport (DfT) to decide to publish detailed guidance on the economic benefits of highway maintenance, which is scheduled to appear in January 2014. 4 All Party Parliamentary Group on Highway Maintenance | Managing a Valuable Asset: Improving Local Road Condition | October 2013 Current state of roads The Institution of Civil Engineers described the physical state of the road network as “a cause for concern” in its 2013 State of the Nation report. It said that around one third of roads under local authority responsibility are in urgent need of attention or expected soon to be. The local road network is in a state of decline, requiring an estimated investment of approximately £10.5 billion across England and Wales to rectify. Yet, road maintenance is under-funded by an average £6.2m per authority per year in England (outside London).1 The local and regional road network is the most Causes of the current state valuable asset for all local authorities throughout Britain, and the trend of investment or disinvestment Road surfaces deteriorate during use and due to in asset condition is a fundamental lever for the state weathering. The UK climate is varied and is now of future prosperity. experiencing greater extremes of weather such as persistently high monthly rainfall, longer periods of However, estimates based on trends are themselves heavy snow or frost and severe flooding in summer incomplete. In a 2012 “think piece” for the RAC months, all of which accelerate deterioration in Foundation, former director David Bayliss OBE road condition. pointed out that “changes in the way road conditions are measured … mean that it is very difficult to track Highways need regular routine and periodic long-term road condition trends.”2 At the time of maintenance to perform at expected levels. Failure writing, the DfT’s Road Condition Index has been to undertake routine maintenance has been proved temporarily withdrawn due to an error, making to lead to more rapid decline of a road surface, as comparison even more difficult. cracks can allow water to penetrate the road (which can freeze in winter and exacerbate the original An AA poll in 2008 showed that two thirds of UK deterioration through expansion, now commonly motorists believed that road surface conditions had known as the “freeze thaw effect”). Heavy traffic or declined over the previous 10 years. Of the most flooding then has a greater effect on these weakened experienced drivers, 90% agreed there had been structures and can harm the lower layers of the road, no improvement in road quality over the same time leading to the need for more expensive serious repair frame.3 The 2013 ALARM Survey states that “one in or reconstruction. Small and temporary or emergency five local authority roads across England is reported to interventions – such as filling a pothole – can also be in poor condition – defined as the road having less quickly fail in these conditions. than five years’ remaining life”.4 1 Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) (2013). Annual Local Authority Maintenance Survey (ALARM) 2013, p.