To receive a report about the implementation of the Action Plan to rectify irregularities in relation to certain historic Traffic Regulation Orders and to monitor its effectiveness.

The Committee received a report that provided an update on progress and decision making in respect of the Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) rectification process.  The report explained that at Council on 15 October 2024 a summary of issues that related to certain TROs had been reported which meant that there were restrictions on the Highway that could not be enforced.  A rectification process had been agreed (Minutes 19 and 20 refer) that involved advertising new, permanent TROs to address the issues that had been identified.  As part of the Council reports, an Action Plan had been agreed, giving the Audit & Governance Committee delegated authority to receive reports about the implementation of the Plan and to monitor its effectiveness. The Council had also delegated authority to the Audit & Governance Committee to decide when to close the Restitution Scheme, which was not being recommended at this time for the reasons explained in the report.  The original Action Plan and an updated Action Plan showing progress with the current RAG status were attached to the report at Appendices 1 and 2 respectively, and the report gave details of metrics around the claims received through the Restitution Scheme, the total number of which was lower than originally anticipated.

In line with the Action Plan, in November 2024 the Council had commissioned a review of structures, processes and working practices across those teams involved in the preparation and execution of Traffic Regulation Orders.  The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) had been appointed to carry out the review and spent December 2024 reviewing relevant material, interviewing key staff and understanding current processes and had reported back to officers in January 2025, making recommendations to make governance, teams and processes robust for the future.  A copy of the APSE review report was attached at Appendix 3 to the report along with a management response to the recommendations at Appendix 4.

Additionally, a detailed review of the restrictions and measurements to be included in the new draft TROs had been completed, considering the issues identified in the October 2024 report to Council.  A thorough review of each of the TRO Articles had been completed and a commentary on their status was included at paragraph 3.13 of the report.  Enforcement was restarting after the making of each TRO and a two-week period of warning notices were being issued, as applicable. As part of the rectification scheme, officers were also identifying areas where signing and lining relating to the restrictions required improvement. These works would be undertaken following statutory consultation, subject to a decision to make the TRO and before enforcement activity commenced.  It was reported at the meeting that, due to some delays on finalising the wording for TROs 4 and 7 since the report had been written, it was now anticipated that these TROs would be made in May 2025 rather than April 2025 as stated in the report.

The report provided an update on a new ‘Digital TRO’ project which had been initiated. This project sought to implement a map-based TRO management system that would not only improve the availability, ease of reference and consistency of Highway TROs, but would provide a significant risk mitigation against future TRO inaccuracies.  The starting point for this new system was expected to be the creation of three themed Boroughwide TROs, covering all waiting restrictions, moving traffic restrictions and speed limits respectively, with comprehensive overarching TRO Articles applying to each.  This was a substantial project, which would take around 18 months to introduce.

The report stated that the Council had many existing ways in which staff could speak up if they were aware of errors, poor practice or improvements that could be made, but recognised more could be done to publicise these channels. A ‘Speaking Up’ campaign had been launched providing greater information about the channels through which concerns could be raised. The campaign fully addressed the relevant recommendations recently set out by the Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life in the report ‘Recognising and Responding to Early Warning Signs in Public Sector Bodies’ which was designed to support public leaders to reflect on how they could equip staff to identify and resolve problems or issues that might get in the way of delivering the core purpose of an organisation.

It was noted that the APSE report raised issues about the work and remit of the Traffic Management Sub-Committee and the management response did not currently address these recommendations.  Members of the Committee stated that they thought that the Sub-Committee’s consideration of local issues was appropriate and noted that it had been established that the TRO issues were not due to anything that the Sub-Committee could have prevented.

Resolved:   

(1)           That the progress made by officers to address the issues reported to Council on 15 October 2024 and the ongoing actions be noted and thanks be recorded to the officers involved;

(2)           That the Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services update the management response to the APSE report to address the recommendations regarding the Traffic Management Sub-Committee;

(3)           That, at its next meeting, the Committee consider setting a deadline for closing the formal Restitution Scheme and the Committee’s monitoring of the Action Plan.