National Roads Maintenance Review - Phase 2 Report

4 Phase 1 Recommendations and Options

4.1 Methodology

This section sets out how the Review has been taken forward to culminate in this Phase 2 report and proposed actions. Figure 1 shows an overview of the process that was used to take forward the Review.

Figure 1 - Process used to take forward this Review

From the start of the Review, the steering group considered the following four key areas:

• how standards and asset management techniques influence the maintenance of assets including all roads, footways, lighting and structures;
• what opportunities exist for technology and productivity innovation, and whether there are strategic mechanisms to address potential barriers to innovation;
• where resourcing of maintenance could be improved, including consideration of current and possible new approaches to sharing services and collaboration between authorities; and
• the economic, social and environmental impacts of deteriorating roads, footways etc. The wider economic impact is covered in Section 2 of this report.

Four working groups were established to look at each of these areas. Drawing on supportive, verifiable evidence, the groups were asked to identify operational changes, in the form of options that would benefit the sector. The groups were also asked to outline what mechanisms may be required to facilitate these changes.

In particular, they assessed the current baseline conditions and highlighted examples of best practice in delivery and innovative approaches. This was to ensure Scotland's roads maintenance community can rise to the challenges of severe financial pressures, deteriorating road quality, rising road usage and growing road user expectations.

Seven emerging themes were also developed from the evidence, alongside the options. These themes were discussed in detail in the Phase 1 report.

A stakeholder event took place on 23 June 2011 to share the emerging findings (in effect, the seven themes) of Phase 1 of the Review with the wider community. This was to ensure the Review and option development were shaped and informed by the views of all involved. Further details of the event are contained in the Phase 1 report.

The recommendations were developed after the event and were endorsed by the steering group with the publication of the Phase 1 report. Many of the recommendations directly address issues raised in the Audit Scotland report.

The themes and their associated recommendations are given below:

Theme 1 - Effective Asset Management

• Recommendation 1 - Action should focus on identifying the impediments to implementation and how these can be reduced.
• Recommendation 2 - Action should be taken to foster wider use of Lean techniques^[16] by all road authorities. Those authorities already applying Lean techniques at an operational level should consider applying them strategically, to identify where structural changes may be of benefit. Best Practice should be shared with all roads authorities to encourage those not yet applying Lean techniques to do so.

Theme 2 - Prioritisation

• Recommendation 3 - Action should focus on rapid implementation of Road Asset Management Plans (RAMPs) and effective prioritisation methodologies, adapted to suit local authority need..
• Recommendation 4 - Action should focus on developing an approach that assists in prioritisation between different types of road.

Theme 3 - Benchmarking and Monitoring

• Recommendation 5 - Action should focus on (a) identifying what are the right KPIs for the sector and (b) how to introduce more effective monitoring as a means of leading to improved outcomes.

Theme 4 - Delivery models

• Recommendation 6 - Action should be taken to examine which of the various delivery models offer the best returns in local circumstances, including any legislative barriers to implementation.

Theme 5 - Incentivising Innovation

• Recommendation 7 - Action should look to assess how more effective risk-transfer can be introduced.
• Recommendation 8 - Action should focus on how to significantly rationalise the standards, appraisals and approvals processes in Scotland for new products and techniques.

Theme 6 - Enabling faster change

• Recommendation 9 - Action should be taken by the sector to encourage collaborative engagement which achieves regional outcomes, improves performance and reduces costs.

Theme 7 - Communication

• Recommendation 10 - Action should be taken to implement an external communications strategy to (a) convey the full extent of the backlog, (b) determine acceptable steady state service levels and (c) convey the importance of road maintenance to ensuring sustainable economic growth.
• Recommendation 11 - Action should be taken to strengthen internal links on research and development, and communication with stakeholders.

Each of the recommendations developed in Phase 1 are addressed by at least one of the proposed developments in the strategic framework discussed in Section 3 of this report.

In addition, some of the recommendations are also addressed by the enhancements in the strategic framework.

Full details are given in Appendix B.

4.2 Option selection

At the end of their initial investigations the working groups had established 85 options that would benefit the sector.

During a detailed review it became clear to the steering group that some options were already being implemented. Other options would not meet the objectives of the Review, were outside the agreed scope or were duplicates or subsets of another option.

An initial sifting of options to affirm their relevance and potential effectiveness reduced their number to 45. Following further discussions, the steering group consolidated the total number of options to 30. The options not taken forward are listed in Appendix C.

The 30 options considered further in this report have been given the following status by the officer-led steering group pending political approval:

• Implement - 9 options. These are suitable for wider and immediate implementation, as evidence suggests they are proven improvements or will deliver immediate benefits at little additional cost.
• Additional research to be undertaken - 16 options. These were deemed to merit further research, as the wider professional opinion from the working and steering groups is that they have potential for delivering significant benefits. The need for additional research arises because the options are insufficiently defined or there is insufficient evidence to support their implementation at present.
• Further economic assessment required - 5 options. An interim, high-level economic evaluation has already been carried out which has confirmed that net economic and financial benefits have been realised from a number of case studies. To ensure these are appropriately scalable to a wider Scottish context, further economic appraisal may be required.

These options are discussed in more detail in Section 5. Action plans will be developed by the working groups to set out how each option could be taken forward.