Content

Salford City Council -
Record of Decision
 
I, Councillor Mike McCusker,
Lead Member for Planning, Transport & Sustainable Development,
in exercise of the powers contained within the City
Council Constitution, do hereby
–
 
Approve the
2026/27 CRSTS Highways Core Programme.
 
The
Reasons are:
To enable the delivery of the
projects detailed within the programme in the 2025/26 financial
year
 
Options considered and
rejected were: N/A
 
Assessment of Risk:
Failure to spend Capital
Allocations on initiatives in line with Government guidelines may
impact on future settlement levels, both for the City Council and
for GMCA as a whole.
 
The source of funding
is: 2026/27 CRSTS Highways
Core
 
Legal Advice
obtained:
Tony Hatton, Principal Solicitor –
12/02/2026
Under Part V of the Highways
Act 1980 (“the Act”), the Council acting in its
capacity as the highway authority, shall have general and express
powers in relation to any highway maintainable at public expense by
them, any work for the improvement of the highway other than the
work of lighting which is expressly provided for under Section 97
of the Act.
 
Under s41(1) the Act the
authority who are for the time being the highway authority for a
highway maintainable at the public expense are under a duty subject
to subsections (2) and (4) to maintain the highway. Subsection (2)
and (4) do not apply to the proposals contained within this
report.
 
Under s329 of the Act
‘maintenance’ includes repair.
In that regard, there are no
legal implications as the Council, as highway authority, is acting
within its powers. However, failure to maintain the highway may
have adverse implications. The proposals in the report for the
programmes, once finalised scheme details within each of the
specified categories of work have been submitted, will strengthen
the Council’s position in defending 3rd party
highway/tripping claims. Whilst it is legally accepted that it is
not possible to maintain the highway completely free of all
defects, section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 provides a possible
defence to a claim if it can adequately show that there was a
sufficiently robust regime in place to inspect and maintain the
highway provided it is adequately carried out and the Council had
no prior knowledge of the defect before an alleged incident. The
proposed schemes will also improve road safety, pedestrian/public
safety, and encourage the further use of safer cycle
routes.
 
In relation to any proposed
Traffic Regulation Orders, these should not give rise to any legal
implications provided the works are carried out in accordance with
the appropriate statutory requirements set out in the Road Traffic
Regulation Act 1984.
 
The proposed dropped crossings
can be introduced without delay because no Traffic Regulation Order
is required for these. To ensure all users have the ability to
safely access and use dropped crossing facilities that the Council
has installed, the Council has powers subject to exemptions under
the Traffic Management Act 2004 to fine and remove vehicles that
are parked at dropped crossings within any special enforcement
area. However, the Council must ensure that the public are aware of
the new restrictions before starting enforcement.
 
When commissioning contracts
for the procurement of goods, services or works the City Council
must comply with the requirements of public procurement legislation
and its own Contractual Standing Orders (CSO’s), Financial
Regulations, and duties of Best and Social Value.
 
Depending on the value of the
works to be undertaken under the various schemes as part of the
CRSTS Consolidated Highways Maintenance Programme as set out in the
body of the report and detailed in the Appendix, the Council may
appoint contractors under relevant lots of the SCC Technical and
Highways Works Framework in line with the procedures specified.
Other routes to market such as alternative frameworks or a
standalone contract procurement process may also be considered,
depending on the most appropriate in the circumstances, and
CSO’s public procurement legislation should be followed in
those circumstances.
 
Should the value of any such
individual project exceed £150,000, a separate report will
need to be presented to Procurement Board for approval.
 
Financial Advice
obtained: Ian Cowburn, Senior Accountant
– 16/02/2026
The proposed programme of
expenditure identified within this report will be met from the
CRSTS Highways Consolidated Highways capital allocation
2026/27.
 
All expenditure should be
closely monitored to ensure that these schemes are delivered within
the allocated resources.
 
Please note these are
preliminary figures and subject to further approvals.
 
Procurement Advice
obtained: Heather Stanton, Category
Manager – 11/02/2026
There are various routes to
market available for the aforementioned schemes, specifically
SCC’s Technical and Highways Works framework. The smaller
schemes (less than £150K) can be directly awarded to the
appointed provider under Lot 1 Minor Civils of the framework, where
appropriate, and for larger schemes (over £150K) a further
competition can be conducted.
 
Where works are deemed
unsuitable to be procured via the Technical and Highways Works
framework the procurement team will work closely with the
commissioning team to determine the most appropriate route to
market.
 
With regards the
Council’s budget challenges the service group will consider
efficiencies, savings opportunities and enhanced contract
management KPI’s as part of this procurement
activity.
 
HR Advice
obtained: N/A
 
Climate Change Advice
obtained: N/A – The assessment of
climate change implications will be carried out on a
project-by-project basis.
 
The
following documents have been used to assist the decision
process:
Lead Member Report
 
Contact
Officer:       Stephen Hands                      
Email:                         
Stephen.hands@salford.gov.uk
 
-       
This decision is not subject to consideration by
another Lead Member.
 
-       
The appropriate scrutiny panel to call-in the
decision is the Growth & Prosperity Scrutiny Panel. 
 
 

Signed: Councillor McCusker                        
Dated: 11th March 2026
Lead
Member for Planning, Transport & Sustainable
Development
 

 
This decision was published on 13th March 2026.
 
This decision will come into force at
4.00 p.m. on 20th March 2026, unless it is called-in in accordance with the
decision-making process rules.