Agenda item

The Panel will consider a presentation on Highway Safety

Contacts:

Graham West, Service Director - Highways and Streetscene

Mark Scarr, Head of Highways

The Panel received a presentation in relation to Highways Safety presented by Mark Scarr, Head of Highways. It was highlighted that:

·       The Council had statutory responsibilities set out by the 1988 Road Traffic Act which included:

o   The monitoring of all collisions reported to the police.

o   Analysing and investigating circumstance and contributory factors.

o   Developing yearly programmes of work and interventions.

o   Undertaking road safety audits.

o   Developing education and training packages.

·       Revenue funding was available from the Council to address road safety concerns on a priority basis

·       This was the first year of a five-year City Regional Sustainable Settlement of £900k per year, with an additional Council Capital borrowing of £250k per year and Highway Safety revenue funding of £577k per year.

·       The total capital and revenue was £1.7 million per year.

·       An additional bid had been put forward to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority for the outcome of the speed limit review.

·       Data presented showed an increase in incidents for 2021 across West Yorkshire but there were no indications why.

·       Data showed there had been a dip in 2020 but this was during the COVID -19 Pandemic when fewer cars were on the roads.

·       Kirklees Serious Injuries (KSI’s) matched in comparison to West Yorkshire in relation to all severities but were higher in relation to motor vehicles but lower in relation to children up to the age of 16.

·       The Vision Zero ambition was to eliminate road deaths and serious injuries (KSI’s) to zero by 2040 and improve road safety for everyone using a safe systems approach.

·       The five pillars to a safe system approach were:

o   Safe vehicles

o   Safe speeds

o   Safe roads

o   Safe behaviours

o   Post collision learning and care.

·       Kirklees was just one of the internal road safety stakeholders involved in the Kirklees Road Safety Partnership.

The Panel highlighted the trends and benchmarking and suggested it would be helpful to be presented with the numbers. The Panel also shared their concerns regarding the ‘vision zero’ highlighting that the largest cause of accidents was driver behaviour. The Panel questioned how individual choices and behaviours could be changed and that more emphasis was needed in relation to enforcement, the actions being taken by the Council and making sure that this was a priority of the Police.

Mark Scarr, Head of Highways responded to agree that individual’s behaviour was an important aspect and should be supported, influenced, and encouraged through partnerships. In relation to funding for school crossing patrols, Mark Scarr advised that funding was available but there had been issues with recruitment.

Graham West Service Director, Highways and Streetscene further advised that a review of each location would need to take place to check it met the criteria and to identify the type of crossing required.

The Panel highlighted the Community Partnership Strategy and the limited information relating to road safety and suggested it would be useful to understand in more detail what the Community Partnership Board did and its priorities.

Graham West responded to advise that road safety was a partnership and although there had been a reduction in road policing, regular meetings took place with the Chief Officer, as well as local communities, to share the Councils ambitions on how to improve road safety.

Graham West responded to the concerns regarding Vision Zero and advised that the ambition was challenging but that the Council would continue to promote, persuade and influence driver behaviours. Graham agreed that enforcement was key and that speed cameras would be deployed in a more proactive approach rather than a reactive approach. The Panel acknowledged the deployment of speed cameras and asked if more information in relation to their deployment could be shared.

Graham West responded to a concern raised by the Panel regarding White Lee Road and Norristhorpe Lane and agreed to contact the relevant Ward Councillors directly regarding the issues.

Graham West responded to a question from the Panel regarding the 900k regional settlement and the impact of the investment and advised that it was important to prioritise the resource to make sure the right interventions and areas were targeted, to ensure improvement.

The Panel asked a question in relation to the role poor-quality road surfaces and the re-instatement by Statutory Undertakers played in relation to accidents and asked if it could be monitored to understand if this was a contributing factor. The Panel also wanted to know if the number of fixed penalty notices that had been issued for poor re-instatement.

Graham West responded to advise that all work was focused on road safety and suggested that an update be given to a future meeting of the Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel to expand on the number of openings, fixed penalty notices and what work had been done in relation to street work.

In respect of the issue of good quality road lines, Mark Scarr agreed that better lining contributed to safer roads and standards would rise across the borough.

RESOLVED: The Panel noted theHighway Safety Presentation and recommended that:

1.    Figures in relation to trends and benchmarking be shared with the Panel.

2.    More emphasis be placed on enforcement and actions taken by the Council.

3.    Partnership working with the Police and others continued and be developed to ensure road safety was prioritised and enforcement taken.

4.    Information be shared with the Panel in relation to the Community Partnership Board and its purpose.

5.    The Council continued to promote, persuade and influence driver behaviours.

6.    Information be shared with the Panel regarding the deployment of Speed Cameras.

7.    Consideration be given to funding schools to provide their own in-house Crossing Patrol Service.

8.    Consideration be given to making school routes safer and more attractive.

9.    Consideration be given to extending the ring way.

10.Consideration be given to extending Modeshift training to level 3.

11.A conversation takes place between Officers and the relevant Ward Councillors in relation to concerns regarding White Lee Road and Norristhorpe Lane.

12.Officers to present to a future Economy and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel to expand on a number of openings, fixed penalty notices and what work had been done in relation to street work to provide confidence to the Panel.