THAT:

(a)  the Director for Places and Communities (in consultation with the Chief Officer Finance and Commercial), be authorised to develop the detailed business case for investment in improvement in road conditions.

(b)  the detailed business case and associated programme of works shall be developed to enable works to commence from the spring of 2014; and

(c)  the Director for Places and Communities be authorised subject to the Chief Officer Finance and Commercial being satisfied that that the business case for investment represents value for money, to proceed with the delivery of the programme of works to improve the condition of roads in accordance with the key performance parameters established in the detailed business case;

Strategic modelling of the condition of the carriageway asset over its lifecycle identifies that the up-front investment in the order of an extra £20Million (this equates to £34Million approx. of capital highway maintenance works over 2 years, as opposed to the typical £7Million per annum that is typically invested in this area of work) in highway maintenance would deliver significant benefits.  This would create an environment where road condition can be sustained across all asset groups by on-going investment at current levels.

As a consequence the demand for reactive repairs in response to safety defects should be reduced. This in turn would reduce the risk to the travelling public, enhance public satisfaction with roads and support the local economy.

Further benefits are anticipated as this will reduce the demand on the Council’s revenue budgets through reducing the risk associated with fixing roads that are deemed to be out of repair and claims by third parties for damages.

That additional investment is not made and the Council continues to maintain Herefordshire’s roads in accordance with sound asset management practices but wholly within the maintenance allocations and grant funding made available by Central Government.