'We want North Yorkshire to be a thriving county which adapts to a changing world and remains a special place for everyone to live, work and visit.' - Our vision statement.
"…how the transport services and infrastructure provided by the County Council and partners aim to contribute towards our shared Vision and the NYCC Council Plan priorities." - Excerpt from the North Yorkshire Local Transport Plan 2016-2045.
The North Yorkshire Highways and Transportation service recognises the importance that an effective transport network plays in delivering the overall council vision. It underpins the delivery of council services, enables residents and visitors to access both work and leisure destinations along with essential services such as health, social care and education and provides a key supporting role in the council’s economic growth ambitions.
The Department of Transport’s Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme recommends that a highways authority adopt an asset management approach to the delivery of the highways service. The principles of the programme are investment in highway maintenance to demonstrate value for money over the life of the asset and to meet increasing public demands and expectations.
As part of our policies and procedures we already have an asset management framework in place. Supported by this framework, we will, through continuous improvement, ensure that the highways service meets the current and future challenges that North Yorkshire faces and delivers the key highways priorities of the council’s vision.
Developing a modern integrated transport network
A modern, integrated transport network is essential if North Yorkshire is to be a place with a strong economy and a commitment to sustainable growth. An asset management framework supports this through an understanding not only of individual asset performance but of how they interact to produce a whole network infrastructure.
Our asset management approach will track the performance of both assets and asset groups giving us a wider view of the highway network. This view will allow us to optimise the delivery of our highway services to better fit the long term vision of the council. The aim is to provide a strategic, sustainable and safe network which enables our citizens to fulfil their ambitions and aspirations.
Efficient delivery of services
In times of financial pressures, it is essential that we deliver our highways services in an efficient and cost effective manner. An asset management framework is widely accepted as a means to delivering an efficient highways service through long term planning of asset maintenance. This ensures that a highways service is delivered within achievable budgets.
We will continue to drive the use of asset management to keep the delivery of the highways management service as efficient as possible. Key to this is an emphasis on the implementation and monitoring of our long term planned maintenance programme and a robust risk based approach to maintaining the transport network.
A council that puts the customer at the heart of services
The highways network impacts the lives of residents and visitors alike both directly and indirectly. Ensuring that we meet the expectations of our customers every day is a key part of the highways service. The information based approach of an asset management framework lends itself to a more open and two-way conversation with customers.
The highways service will continue to work alongside its partners to deliver a network fit to support the needs of our customers. Through our asset management system we will continue to improve access to information about the way we plan, fund and deliver the service and implement efficient methods of reporting and tracking issues.
Analyse our performance
It is our approach to analyse our performance, use this to become better at what we do, and share with our stakeholders how we are doing. The data and information available from an asset management framework can be used to measure, benchmark and ultimately identify areas for continuous improvement in the delivery of the service.
The highways service has a mature and robust performance management framework with significant reference to highways asset information. We will continue to use and improve this at a strategic and operational level to monitor the performance of the service against the key council policies and statutory requirements. Records of the performance of our highways assets will continue to be available to all stakeholders.
Manage, maintain and improve
The overall aim of the highways service fully supports the key vision within the council plan. Implementation of this aim ultimately delivers a safe, well managed and maintained highway infrastructure to North Yorkshire meeting the legal and statutory requirements placed upon us.
We will continue to implement our asset management framework as a way of ensuring that the delivery of the service is subject to challenge and continuous improvement; and is fit for the future needs of the county.
The highways infrastructure asset management policy sits at the head of the asset management framework. The delivery of the framework will be through the strategy and the individual asset management plans and will adhere to industry guidance on asset management and the new well managed highway infrastructure code of practice.
Formal adoption
This document was adopted by ourselves at a meeting on the 24th July 2019.
Highways and Transportation