Agenda item

(a)  That the allocation of the additional funding as set out below be approved to enable the highway maintenance team to undertake the works as required.

·  £221,000 from Community Investment Fund (CIF) underspend in 2017/18.

·  £110,000 revenue and £110,000 capital from the Cabinet budget in the 2018/19 Community Investment Fund.

·  £61,000 from the 2017/18 underspend in the highways budget.

·  Government grant of £91,000.

(b)  That as the extra funding was partially comprised of CIF funding, the Cabinet expressed the wish that a generous approach be taken toward parking areas and roads in residential areas that may not be adopted e.g. the Westfield Estate in Colnbrook and Broad Oak in Farnham.

(c)  That samples of the pothole repair locations and other resurfacing work locations be published for public access onto the Council’s website.

The Cabinet considered a report that sought approval to make available additional funding to repair potholes and to undertake additional planned maintenance resurfacing works on the highway network following the recent severe weather.

After an unprecedented period of cold and wet weather, it was estimated that an additional £500k may be required to fix the potholes and carry out necessary repairs.  Members expressed disappointment that there was very limited extra Government funding for Slough as the system for allocating funding effectively penalised local authorities that had invested in road maintenance historically.  The Leader proposed that a mixture of the Community Investment Fund (CIF) underspend from 2017/18 and some of the Cabinet allocation from 2018/19 be used to supplement the £91,000 Government grant and underspend on last years highways budget.  To reflect the need to deliver community benefit from the use of CIF funding, the Cabinet requested that a more flexible approach than usual be taken to make repairs to some unadopted roads in particularly poor condition such as the Westfield Estate in Colnbrook and Broad Oak in Farnham.

The Cabinet agreed the importance of ensuring that roads were maintained to a good standard and the funding profile for the additional £500k was agreed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the allocation of the additional funding as set out below be approved to enable the highway maintenance team to undertake the works as required.

·  £221,000 from Community Investment Fund (CIF) underspend in 2017/18.

·  £110,000 revenue and £110,000 capital from the Cabinet budget in the 2018/19 Community Investment Fund.

·  £61,000 from the 2017/18 underspend in the highways budget.

·  Government grant of £91,000.

(b)  That as the extra funding was partially comprised of CIF funding, the Cabinet expressed the wish that a generous approach be taken toward parking areas and roads in residential areas that may not be adopted e.g. the Westfield Estate in Colnbrook and Broad Oak in Farnham.

(c)  That samples of the pothole repair locations and other resurfacing work locations be published for public access onto the Council’s website.