The committee expressed their support for Surrey County Council's new road safety strategy and 20 mph speed limit policy, while also expressing concern over whether the current levels of funding would be sufficient to meet the likely demand. The committee asked for this to be reviewed once the outcome of the public consultation was known. Councillor Buddhi Weerasinghe volunteered to join the Greener Futures Reference Group. The committee agreed to hold an informal visit to Ringway's depot to discuss the performance of the highways contract before deciding whether to hold a public scrutiny session.

Highways

The committee received a performance report from Surrey's Environment, Transport & Infrastructure directorate.

Road Safety

The committee focused on the increase in potholes in 2023. The Director of Highways and Transport, Lucy Monie, attributed this to the weather conditions, noting that the number of potholes reported so far in 2024 is much lower than the same period in 2023. There was further discussion about the two-year guarantee on pothole repairs, and the level of compensation claims for damage caused by potholes. The committee requested a written response regarding the number of claims that had been paid out, and asked that the website be updated to clarify the process for making a claim.

The committee also reviewed the performance of tree maintenance works, and the increase in the number of outstanding tree defects. The Assistant Director of Highways Operations and Infrastructure, Richard Bolton, explained that this was due to an increase in the number of inspections taking place, and that the service was working to clear the backlog. The committee also requested that the gully cleaning programme be published.

Parking

The committee reviewed the performance of the new parking enforcement contract with NSL. The committee heard that the target deployment rate for parking enforcement officers was being met, and that Surrey now issues more penalty charge notices than were previously issued by the district and borough councils. There was also discussion on the backlog of work to paint new parking lines, which the committee heard would be cleared by the end of March.

Active Travel

The committee discussed whether the target of installing 5 km of new pedestrian and cycle routes per annum was sufficiently ambitious. Paul Millin, the Strategic Transport Group Manager, said that this would be considered as part of the Local Transport Plan 4 Delivery Plan, which will include new active travel metrics.

Customer Service

The committee expressed concern over the performance of the customer service team, which is consistently failing to meet its target response times for inquiries and complaints. Katie Stewart, the Executive Director for Environment, Infrastructure and Growth, acknowledged these concerns, and explained that the service was undertaking a significant amount of work to improve the customer experience, and that a new highways online reporting tool would be introduced later in 2024.

Waste Management

The committee heard that less than 1% of waste collected in Surrey is now being sent to landfill, owing to the Council's investment in a new shredder. There was further discussion about the target to reduce residual household waste per household by 50% by 2042, which the committee heard would require radical measures such as three or four weekly collections.

Flood Risk Management

The committee heard that the number of properties flooded in the last six months of 2023 was significantly lower than the first six months of the year, although more than 200 properties are thought to have flooded in January 2024 following Storm Henk. The committee requested a review of the performance indicators used to measure the effectiveness of the service.

Advertising and Sponsorship Policy

The committee received a report from the Greener Futures Reference Group on a motion that was referred to it by the council in 2022, which proposed that the council ban advertisements for fossil fuels, flights, petrol and diesel vehicles. The reference group did not endorse the recommendations of the officers who had considered the motion, and recommended that the matter be referred back to the Cabinet for further consideration.

Minerals and Waste Local Plan

The committee received an update on the progress of the Minerals and Waste Local Plan. Caroline Smith, the Planning Group Manager, explained that the process had been delayed, and that a new timetable had been agreed which would see the public consultation taking place in June 2025. The committee expressed concern over the ongoing difficulties in identifying suitable sites for waste management, and asked officers to explore alternative options such as increasing capacity at existing sites. The committee heard that 30% of the waste collected in Surrey is currently being sent to Kent for processing, and urged officers to ensure that sufficient capacity is provided within Surrey to manage the waste that is generated within the county. The committee commended the project management approach that had been adopted, and asked officers to continue to keep the committee updated on progress.