Agenda item

(1)       The report related to the introduction of a lane rental scheme in Kent in order to apply charges to those carrying out works on the highway network, within specific strategic locations.  The KLRS had been out for formal Consultation between 25 June and 17 September and the results showed a positive support for the Scheme and the overall objectives.

(2)       The Secretary of State for Transport had the power to provide a Council with the legal Order to introduce the Regulations that brought a lane rental scheme into effect.  Transport for London commenced a scheme in June 2012 and KCC had been invited to consider an application for a scheme also.  The Highways and Transportation Annual Plan for 2012/13 included an action listed under item 2.1 to “Agree Lane Rental pilot scheme with DfT for Kent’s most critical roads (to commence in Summer 2013)”.

(3)       KCC had designed a Kent Lane Rental Scheme (KLRS) and had carried out an extensive consultation with key stakeholders who would be affected by the Scheme (interested parties).  The Scheme was well-designed and well-targeted, focusing on the most critical parts of the highway network. It was intended to encourage those undertaking works to carry out their works in a less disruptive manner.  The Scheme complimented the existing Kent Permit Scheme and would further decrease the impact of roadworks on the travelling public in Kent.

(4)       The revenue received from a lane rental scheme would be used to cover the full operating costs of the scheme.  The Council’s Local Transport Plan had an objective to “Keep Kent Moving” and a Kent Lane Rental Scheme was considered an essential tool to not only deliver the objective, but to also maintain and support the Councils legal duty to “secure the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network”.

(5)    The Consultation resulted in over 200 comments received from 30 different interested parties.  Overall, the KLRS received strong support from the interested parties, including the promoters of affected works, as a well-designed and purposeful Scheme.  As a result of the Consultation changes were applied to the Scheme design. An Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) was conducted on the KLRS and determined that the Scheme had potential positive impacts, but no potential adverse impacts.

(6)       As part of the application, a full cost-to-benefit analysis had been carried out to show the potential positive impact for the introduction of a lane rental scheme into Kent, for both local residents and businesses.  The base case net present value (NPV) was £8.29m (2010 prices) for the first year of operation, with a benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of 10.4. The scheme costs included a set up fixed cost as well as an annual running cost. On that basis the BCR demonstrated a robust return for the introduction of the KLRS.

(7)       The current projected timescale to make an application for the KLRS and bring it into operation was based on submitting the application in October 2012. A decision on the KLRS should be obtained in December 2012 and a twelve week mandatory notice period to affected promoters of works would start in February 2013. During the notice period, it was intended to operate the Scheme, without charge, to test the operation and resolve any potential issues preventing success.  The operation of the Scheme would require an additional 7 new employees, across 4 new functions, within the Roadworks and Enforcement service area. The cost of the new staff would be fully funded from the income derived from the Scheme.

Consultation Results update covering paragraphs 4.3 to 4.6 of the report

(8)       The Consultation process resulted in 760 individual comments from 42 different organisations, comprising Promoters, Local Councils within Kent and many different user and transport representatives.  There was a lot of support for the Scheme, including the design and approach taken by KCC in its development; together with a number of areas of clarification within the Scope and for the operation of the Scheme. It must be noted that the Promoter comments received (representing 85% of the total comments) were very similar in nature due to the influence of an industry generated response by the National Joint Utilities Group. As expected from this group of Consultees, these comments indicated a general reluctance towards Lane Rental Schemes, however there was a positivity towards the approach taken by KCC and an interest to work with KCC in order to identify the opportunities and capabilities of the KLRS. None of the comments received from Consultation would result in a need to change the fundamental Scope of the KLRS or the need to enter into a second Consultation.

(9)       The Kent Lane Rental Scheme had been designed with cooperation and support from affected Stakeholders, including those who would be carrying out the affected works.  KCC was now ready to submit an application to the Secretary of State for Transport to introduce the KLRS and bring it into effect at the earliest opportunity. 

(10)     RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member be recommended to approve the application to introduce the Kent Lane Rental Scheme with the aim to bringing a scheme into effect within 2013.