Agenda item

The Executive Member for Environment submitted a report for Executive consideration.

The purpose of the report was to gain approval to allocate funding to develop and deliver transport and infrastructure improvements as detailed within the report.

Middlesbrough Council received Local Transport Plan funding from the Department for Transport, via Tees Valley Combined Authority, to undertake maintenance and improvement works on the Councils transport network.

The current Council approved LTP allocation for 2024/25 is £1.377m, specified against Incentive Funding (new works) and £2.638m for Highways Maintenance. Appendix 2 detailed the planned works totalling £4.015m.

It was proposed that the Council approve the expenditure of the Local Transport Plan allocation for 2024/25, as outlined in Appendix 2. This would provide the Council time to identify the most prudent method of delivering a longer-term programme; ensuring that best value for money was achieved.

The projects within the proposed programme had been identified from the Council’s “Future Year scheme” list. This was a compiled table of all known requirements and suggestions received, which were matrix ranked for their suitability against a set criterion, forming a priority basis. However, this was also conditional upon external funding criteria, eligible uses, statutory obligations, and other implications.

The maintenance schemes were based on asset condition rating systems and allocation of resources work to address a “worst first” is used. This was rationalised based on public safety and asset longevity priorities (such as ensuring that structures were safe). This ensured that the Council was sequentially addressing the areas of the network in most need of resolving.

The Council also received specific allocations through competitive grant programmes and awards that were to deliver prescribed pieces of work, depending upon national / regional criteria. Any awards for such projects by-passed the matrix scoring criteria (although this may be used to identify the most suitable candidates) and could be awarded / was accessible throughout the financial year. The proposals within the report included all known awarded allocations at time of approval but could be subject to change.

If required, approvals would be sought through the formal decision-making process. A map of the scheme locations was contained in Appendix 1. The full funding allocations used to identify the projects / programmes was contained in Appendix 2.

Following a discussion about recommendation three in the report, it was agreed the words “and virements” be removed from that recommendation.

ORDERED that Executive:

1.     Approve the removal of the words “and virements” from recommendation three of the report.

2.     Approve the allocation of £4.015m of approved LTP grant funding to develop and deliver infrastructure improvements as outlined within the report.

3.     Approve the programme package as set out in Appendix 2.

4.     Should it be required to change the phasing of these programmes to delegate any programme amendments to new or prioritised projects and where such activity is permissible within the funding criteria, to the Director of Environment and Community Services and the Executive Member for Environment where appropriate.

OPTIONS

Re-assessing the project proposals – this was not recommended, as they had been identified using a robust scoring matrix and the prescribed funding criteria, to ensure best allocation of resources. Any changes would deviate from this process and add delays to the delivery programme.

REASONS

The recommendation would allow strategic allocation of funding to ensure that the Council was not only working toward its ambitions and objectives but was allocating resources to ensure statutory requirements placed upon the Council as the Highway Authority, “to ensure the safe and expeditious movement of people and goods on its network”.

The allocations that were being proposed were based on ensuring a balance between maintaining the existing assets and making improvements to the accessibility of the current network/alternate modes of transport enhancements. This balance was crucial to ensure the safety of the infrastructure, and to assist in encouraging sustainability and longevity of the network.