Agenda item

The Director of Regeneration and Culture submitted a report, the purpose of this was to gain approval to allocate funding to develop and deliver transport and infrastructure improvements contained within the report.

 

The report required a decision as the proposals would impact upon the whole Borough, and utilise a cocktail of funding allocations secured by the Council.  Approval would ensure that the proposals are aligned with the Councils ambitions and objectives.

 

Middlesbrough Council is pass ported Local Transport Plan (LTP) funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) via Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to undertake maintenance and improvement works on the Councils transport network.

 

The final allocation is yet be provided by the DfT.  However, the indicative allocation is £1.057m Integrated Transport (new works) and £1.473m Highway Maintenance (£2.53m total) as per the last three years of allocation. This forms the basis of the proposed allocations.

 

Similarly, the Council has identified funding allocations linked to Housing developer transport impact mitigation in the form of S106 and calls on the capital receipt (where Council land is disposed). These figures are indicatively included within the programme)

 

Several schemes from 2020/21 have been identified at this point to require being undertaken in 2021/22 due to delays associated with COVID19. The values associated with them are indicative, and may fluctuate dependent upon progress and expenditure within the 2020/21 financial year.

 

The projects within the proposed programme have been identified from the Councils “Future Year scheme” list. This was a compiled table of all known requirements and suggestions received, which are ranked for their suitability against a set criteria. This then forms the priority basis.  This is however dependent upon external funding criteria, statutory obligations and other implications.

 

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

 

The Council also received specific allocations through competitive grant programmes and awards that are to deliver prescribed pieces of work, depending upon national / regional criteria. Any awards for such projects by-pass the scoring criteria (although this may be used to identify the most suitable candidates), and can be awarded / is accessible throughout the year.  The proposals within this report include all known awarded allocations at time of approval, but can be subject to change.  If so, approvals will be sought through the formal decision making process.

 

Full funding allocations used to identify the projects / programme were at appendix 2 of the report.

 

 

OPTIONS

Other potential decisions and why these have not been recommended

 

 

a)    Do nothing - this is not recommended as it will not allow the Council to allocate funding and make the necessary arrangements in advance of receipt of the allocations. The delivery of infrastructure improvements require prudent planning, and co-ordination, so approvals in a timely manner are pivotal to ensuring a successful delivery programme.

b)    Re-assessing the project proposals – this is not recommended, as they have been identified using a scoring matrix to ensure best allocation of resources. Any changes would deviate from this process, and add delays to progressing.

 

c)    Approve the proposals and deliver as programmed (Preferred Option). This will enable the Council sufficient time to plan and prepare the programme for 2021/22, and provide the best chances of successful delivery.

 

 

ORDERED

 

That Executive approves the allocation of funding to develop and deliver infrastructure improvements as outlined within the report.

 

REASONS

The decision was supported for the following reasons:

 

1)    This was being recommended as it will allow prudent allocation of funding to ensure that the Council is not only working toward its ambitions and objectives, but is 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”.

 

2)    The allocations that are being proposed are based on ensuring a balance between maintaining existing asset, and making improvements to the accessibility of the current network/alternate modes of transport enhancements. This balance is crucial in order to ensure the safety of the infrastructure, and to assist in encouraging sustainability of the network.