21st Century Highways Management in Lincolnshire

The Journey to a Future Operating Model

SUMMARYThe financial crisis of 2007/8 ushered in a new age of austerity, adding to a spiralling backlog of highway maintenance needs. Severe weather at the start of the decade, changes to funding from central government and significant legislative reform in the sector has swiftly changed the landscape for local highway authorities.

Lincolnshire County Council has embraced innovation, collaboration and smart technology, using the challenges faced in the last 10 years to create a highways service fit for the 21st century. Asset Management using comprehensive data, balanced with local needs, has informed highway management leading to a truly Future Operating Model.

THE CHALLENGEThe past decade has been a period of dramatic change for highway authorities. After the financial crisis of 2007/2008, the “Age of Austerity” began, leading to reduced budgets for highly valued highways services.

In 2011 the Transport Minister announced an initiative to develop best practice in pothole repairs, leading to the HMEP Potholes Review. This aligned with the HMEP Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Guidance, endorsed by the UKRLG. A focus on asset management and lifecycle planning was the basis of an industry shift to sensible use of financial resource – “more for less”.

Adding to financial challenges, a period of drought damaged a large percentage of the County’s roads. Making matters worse, the severe winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11 created potholes in numbers the service was not built to cope with, meaning maintenance Policies were becoming unsustainable.

Historically, Lincolnshire's Highways service was split into ten areas, each acting almost like its own authority with its own budget. Whilst this was responsive in terms of engagement with Members and local priorities, it meant that a coherent asset management strategy and efficiencies through economies of scale were difficult. Consistency of design was something the Authority struggled with because whilst there were standard Policies, if a particular manager didn’t like a technique then it wouldn’t be practised in their area. There was also a disconnect between maintenance and the capital schemes funded by the service.

Incentivised funding of the Government's capital allocation led the Council to recognise the need to embrace best practice being developed nationally. The refresh of "Well Maintained Highways" meant a review of highways management was essential. Brexit, and the changing landscape this would bring, further highlighted the

need for a new way of doing things in order to flourish post-2020.THE FUTURE OPERATING MODELResponding to the need for change, the Council’s Infrastructure Commissioner was tasked by the newly appointed Executive Member with moving the service forward into the 21st century. The aim was to push Lincolnshire’s highways management beyond current best practice in terms of service efficiency, value for money and asset management.

Step one was to enforce countywide programming; a group was set up with representatives from across the service, along with contractors. By taking a countywide view of programmes, efficiencies and consistency in approach were realised. The potential highlighted by this group tied into Lincolnshire’s involvement with the Future Highways Research Group and discussions with Proving Services on the idea of a Value for Money review.

The result was the Future Operating Model (FOM) – a restructure tied to functional specifications and value for money reviews. Initially, functional definitions of all aspects of the highways service were created, which were later turned into functional specifications. These specifications formed the basis of management structure:

The structure was based on a countywide approach, with functions grouped into skilled teams, delivering work for the entire county. Local highways teams were also refocused to provide a front-line service and community engagement.

Design services and capital works were all included, ensuring that the overarching management of highways incorporated the complete picture from inception through to ongoing maintenance.

A series of value for money indicators were tied to each functional specification, signed off by both the commissioning and delivery management. Dashboards were produced which allowed monitoring of all indicators:

A baseline assessment was carried out in July of 2017, with the first waypoint to gauge improvement in January 2018.

During development of the FOM, the Council was also reviewing its Asset Management Plan alongside the refresh of "Well Maintained Highways", taking the opportunity to move to a risk-based approach. The FOM benefitted from insight into this review and was built to reflect the recommendations being included in the code.

There was a renewed focus on customer engagement, with the introduction of a web portal for the public to directly report faults to Local Highways teams, who would deal with customers whilst also feeding into Asset Management teams to add flexibility into programmes.

THE OBSTACLESOrganisational change is a challenge for all involved; changes within the FOM meant that job descriptions had to be reviewed causing stress and disruption. Managers had to guide staff carefully through significant transformation, with those embedded in the previous culture resistant new ideas.

The Alliance Contracts which began in 2010, covering highways, traffic signals and professional services were built around partnering and were considered to be forward thinking, but changes to the structure of the Employer's team meant that procedural changes had to be introduced. Likewise, the Policy review and the move to a risk-based approach meant that Service Information had to be reviewed. LCC was in the fortunate position that its relationship with its Contractors was strong, and they supported the journey.

Any public service faces obstacles in terms of perception. The Local Highways teams introduced in the FOM had a customer focus and the introduction of innovative new systems and technology such as the web portal and online fault reporting interface with the Confirm asset management system sought a way to make the link to the road user more direct than ever.

THE OUTCOMESMany of the planned outcomes of the Future Operating Model continue to be realised:

1.5% staffing saving.

Increased output from Asset Management teams of £15,000 per FTE.

Public engagement – enquiries through the web portal have increased whilst officer call back requests have halved from 0.6% to 0.3%

The NHT's CQC results demonstrate ongoing improvement in efficiency resulting in savings of £4,454,086 since the implementation of the FOM.

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Reductions in maintenance “backlog” and improvement in response to defects including more “right first time” pothole repairs.

Innovation in winter service including a move from pre-wet to treated salt, maintaining network coverage whilst saving £465,441 per year.

The Cyclic Maintenance team developed targeted drainage cleansing based on data, resulting in savings of £375,000 per year.

Streamlining of works ordering created savings of £400,000 per year by reducing reactive gangs.

Lincolnshire was one of the first two authorities to achieve "Band 3" in the DfT Self-Assessment, attaining level 3 on all questions by February 2018. Without this, Lincolnshire would have lost £4,843,000 of funding.

An innovation group with representatives from each function, contractors and Members was established. This led to trials of "foambase", "Europaver" to incorporate recycled material into edge damage repairs and use of products like "Sidewinder" to increase the efficiency of planned works.

The first waypoint identified improvements in the functional units of the structure. Operational Asset Management improved by 5% in terms of effectiveness and 8% in economy.

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Compared with other members of the Future Highways Research Club, Lincolnshire has made a striking improvement, moving ahead of the pack by 2018 to position that was previously considered unattainable.

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THE CORPORATE AIMS OF THE AUTHORITYIt was important that any changes to the management of the highways service were tied to the corporate and political aims of the authority. Engagement and communication with stakeholders was a key part of the journey, with regular workshops including Elected Members as a matter of course, allowing them to influence decisions and lead change based on the goals of the organisation.

Richard Davies, Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and I.T. was heavily involved in shaping the FOM, bringing a Political grounding to the project and making sure the residents of Lincolnshire were at the forefront of aspirations. Without this support and enthusiasm the highways service would not have started on its current journey or realised the positive outcomes a change in management can provide.

"The new approach to highways maintenance is already helping us to do more with less, ensuring local taxpayers get better value for money. In addition, the greater involvement of local councillors and the improved fault reporting system mean the service is much better placed to respond to the issues that matter to our residents. The FOM has been an important step forward and one we will look to build upon in the coming years."

LOCALLY DRIVEN IDEASWhilst many of the factors which led the FOM were driven by national changes, there was also a local influence on the project which was vital to meet the needs of residents.

The challenges of the previous structure, which restricted consistency, as well as the breakdowns of communication which limited innovation, efficiency and collaboration were a driver for significant change. During development of the FOM, Elected Members were involved so that there was a clear understanding of the goals and potential benefits, but also to allow local ideas to shape how the service could best meet public needs. Meanwhile, all changes to Policy go through a strict process to ensure that they are passed formally by cabinet.

Whilst Lincolnshire was an overall band 3 in the first round of incentivised funding, the self-assessment questionnaire identified areas which we were slightly weaker on and this was able to focus the management of the service to develop these ideas further in anticipation of the “next level”.

The NHT survey gave a valuable insight into public perception. Whilst not always directly related to performance, it was essential to understand what the public valued and drive better engagement, exploring different communication channels. The NHT survey is engrained within the service and forms an Alliance Performance Indicator, ensuring partners work together to add local value.

FUNDINGThe changes that the FOM introduced to the management of the highways service in Lincolnshire enable funding to be accessed in the following ways:

Permitting – Lincolnshire became a permitting authority to coincide with the introduction of the FOM. This was identified early in Value for Money assessments as a way of increasing the efficient running of the network. Minimising disruption caused by road works through proactive management and close co-operation with works promoters lessens the impact of activities on road users. This self-funding scheme increases the opportunities for economic growth by making the highways network more attractive for inward investment.

Incentivised Funding – Lincolnshire was one of the first two “Band 3” authorities and much effort went into aligning the management of the service not only with the 22 questions in the self-assessment, but the recommendations of the review of "Well Maintained Highways". Matthew Lugg, representing the HMEP, carried out a gap analysis on the recommendations (which tie closely to the self-assessment) and a representative from the client team was able to feed directly into Atkin’s review of the Code through the UKRLG Asset Management Board. This put the authority in a position to both inform and learn from developments nationwide. LCC has maintained its band 3 status, allowing access to the full allocation of incentivised funding. Without the FOM and related procedural and Policy changes, this banding would not have been attainable.

Capital increases – tangible results from operational asset management teams increased confidence from members who fought for extra funding for countywide programmes of work and investment in innovation and smart technology.

COLLABORATIONThe FOM has refocused the management of highways Policy and Strategy, enabling concise engagement with District Councils, neighbouring Authorities and regional groups such as the Midlands Highways Alliance.

Since the Latham Report, the industry has unlocked benefits from collaboration. Projects through the MHA's Medium Schemes Framework are born from collaboration and based on mutual trust and co-operation. The NEC3 Alliance contract links Highways, Traffic Signals and Professional Services. The benefits of this alliance were a driver for re-shaping the Employer's structure. Alliance partners contributed to the development of the FOM, bringing challenge and industry expertise.

“What is exceptional has been Lincolnshire’s willingness to step forward from the easy option of tinkering with the status quo. They have genuinely opened up to external challenge. The way they have embraced the opportunity to change and made effective use of their taken private sector partners has resulted in a service that is genuinely transformed. It stands out from the crowd in terms of being ‘future ready’. WSP are proud to be part of what has been achieved.”

– Charles Ferrar, Regional Director, WSP