Agenda item - Highways Winter Service Plan 2013-14

Report of the Executive Director of Environment, Development & Housing (copy attached).

That the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee approves the Brighton & Hove City Council HighwaysWinter Service Plan 2013-14 as attached at Appendix 1 to this report.

28.1       The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Environment, Development & Housing that presented the Highways Winter Service Plan 2013-14 which was the result of an annual review by the highways team in partnership with other council sections, East and West Sussex authorities, the Highway Agency, the Sussex Resilience Forum and other transport operators. The Highways Code of Practice recommended that local authorities should formally approve, adopt and publish a Plan annually.

28.2       Councillor Simson noted the three different figures provided in the report regarding grit bin provision and asked for clarification.

28.3       The Head of Highway Operations stated that there were a total of 435 bins inclusive of those provided for other services and 422 exclusive public highway bins.

28.4       Councillor Sykes noted the information provided on use weather forecasting tools and asked if the authority co-ordinated their work with other sectors.

28.5       The Head of Highway Operations clarified that the authority had a joint contractor with East Sussex County Council and used one of the major three providers for winter weather system information. The Head of Highway Operations added that the weather systems in Brighton and Hove were quite unique which made it difficult to predict variations from location to location hence the need for a specific winter forecast for Brighton and Hove rather than a non-specific regional service.

28.6       Councillor Robins commended the excellent service provided by the Highways team which in his view did not often receive the recognition it deserved.

28.7       Councillor Simson stated that the Highways team had a very difficult service to operate that was carried out very well. Councillor Simson added that she had witnessed a positive impact in her ward for the first time this year that demonstrated the research and analysis work conducted. Councillor Simson supplemented that as city representatives, Members should encourage residents to help as much as possible during periods of extreme weather.

28.8       Councillor Theobald praised the work of the Highways team and asked if the Frequently Asked Questions section within the report could be made publically available to the public.

28.9       Councillor Hawtree commended the excellent service provided particularly as volatility of weather systems had increased recently and were often hard to predict.

28.10  Councillor Davey repeated the praise relayed by other Members of the committee and praised the information provided on the website which was very useful.

28.11  RESOLVED- That the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee approves the Brighton & Hove City Council HighwaysWinter Service Plan 2013-14 as attached at Appendix 1 to the report.