Response 231141912

Back to Response listing

Questions

1. Should utility companies be required to produce quality plans for proposed road works?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The provision of quality plans would be expected to encourage those undertaking works to take more responsibility for their works. The introduction of quality plans, in conjunction with other policy proposals, would hopefully drive quality. However, any process/plan that is developed will require to be well engineered to ensure that obligations are met and that risk of non-compliance is minimised. This may require to be a factor which is considered when deciding on the extent of the enhanced enforcement regime for the SRWC should this come to fruition.

2. Should there be a single guarantee period offered on utility reinstatements of 6 years regardless of the depth of excavation?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The extent of long-term damage has long been a concern for roads authorities in Scotland. The SRWC believes that a single guarantee period would improve consistency, planning and management of road work and Scotland’s roads as an asset. The single extended guarantee period would also promote quality.

3. If introduced, should the impact of quality plans be reviewed after a suitable period (perhaps 6 years), and the necessity of the latent defect process be assessed?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
Review of such plans is crucial to their development and relevancy. The plans would require accommodating both new and emerging technologies and innovation as well as considering any potential changes to legislation.

4. Should we clarify that the scope for a code of practice on reinstatement (currently the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Roads) includes all activity relating to the execution of road works e.g. signing lighting guarding, excavation, reinstatement, and guarantee period?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The SROR requires to evolve with the industry, providing clear instruction and providing reference. Inclusion of these areas will result in a document that can be referenced for the full cycle of road works.

5(a). Should start actual starts, works completed, works cleared, and works closed notices be notified within 2 hours, or within 2 hours of the start of the next business day if outwith office hours?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
In the current climate there is a thirst for knowledge and information and there has also been significant recent developments in technology. The forgoing has increased demand for up to date timely and accurate information. The proposed change will improve the asset that is the Scottish Road Works Register for all.

5(b). Should the validity period for notices placed onto the Scottish Road Works Register in relation to planned works be reduced, the proposal being that they be set at 4 days or 2 days depending on the traffic sensitivity of the road?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
A reduction in validity period will go some way to improving co-ordination of road works. Such a change will also improve information supply for the travelling public reducing ambiguity and confusion. However, the reduction may initially present organisational issues for those who are undertaking co-ordination, but with advancements in technology, there is scope to make changes and embrace any change.

Any new legislation should make provision to draft regulations to further reduce validity periods as new technology is introduced.

6. Should the provision of plant information to the Scottish Road Works Register should be made mandatory?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
There is already a facility for provision of plant information available on the Scottish Road Works Register (SRWR) called the Community Apparatus Data Vault, data supply is currently voluntary.

Making the use of the Data Vault mandatory will enhance the SRWR as a national asset. It will also provide a reliable “one stop shop” for plant information both in normal service hours and out of hours emergency works. It is therefore possible that having one complete record in the form of the Data Vault in an accessible location will eventually reduce the burden on plant owners to store and make available information using their own means, as they do presently.

7(a). Should the obligation on the Scottish Road Works Commissioner to make the Scottish Road Works Register available for inspection be repealed?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The right to inspection has been used only a handful of times since the inception of the SRWC office , this may be because existing legislation, in the form of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, provides appropriate avenues for those wishing register information to approach the SRWC. In addition, the SRWC is committed to providing data to all as “open data” and this requirement was included as a deliverable in the recently awarded SRWR contract.

7(b). Should the duty to make the Scottish Road Works Register available for inspection be replaced with a duty on the Scottish Road Works Commissioner to actively publish information relating to the location of planned and actual road works?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The publication of data is a matter that the SRWC is already committed to.

Open data from the SRWR is expected to be available from April 2018.

8. Should “the Safety at Street Works and Road Works A Code of Practice” apply equally to roads authority and utility road work sites?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The SRWC believes that there should be parity across both utilities and roads authorities in Scotland, in the interests of safety of all parties. This provision already exists in England and Wales.

9. Should utility and roads authority workers be required to be qualified in the “Signing Lighting and Guarding” of a site, and also in the “Location and Avoidance of Underground Apparatus”?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
In terms of training and good practice, this would be a positive move. However, consideration may be required in terms of monitoring and consequences for failure.

10. Should the minimum legal requirement for at least ‘one’ operative to be qualified be increased to ensure that more operatives at each road work site hold formal qualifications for the particular work they are undertaking?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
In terms of quality and good practice, this would be a positive move.

Additional qualified members of staff should, in turn, drive up standards and quality.

11. Do you agree with our policy proposals to revise and improve the enforcement of road works in Scotland by the Scottish Road Works Commissioner?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The role of the SRWC would be strengthened by such a policy change. Currently the powers of the SRWC are quite narrowly drawn and the level at which he can formally intervene is relatively high. Strengthening and widening these powers would improve the co-operation between parties, and the co-ordination and quality of road works.

12. Do you agree with our policy proposals to reform the use of Fixed Penalty Notices for the enforcement of road works in Scotland?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The current scope of the FPN regime is such that it appears, on the surface, to be regarded by some as a “cost of business”. Fines are often passed on to contractors and there is no significant punitive measure for the utility.

Reform of the process in keeping with other proposed changes will result in a more robust process in Scotland. This coupled with the possibility of an escalation procedure to the SRWC, the Scottish Ministers or to the Scottish Courts, may encourage more local authorities to regulate works as well as encourage those who are carrying out works to consider quality and accuracy with more importance.

13. Do you agree with our policy proposals to enhance the role of the Scottish Road Works Commissioner?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
The proposed enhancements to the role of the SRWC would increase the supervision on compliance from the independent body. This is expected to result in improved consistency and promote quality. In addition, it would provide a level of parity between road works authorities and utility companies.

14. Should there be flexibility to prescribe the restricted period following substantial works through secondary legislation?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
Providing flexibility around the period of restriction, by introducing the ability to prescribe time periods within secondary legislation will allow changes to be processed quicker and allow for the possibility of different scenarios. It has become clear that a singular approach does not fit all situations.

The ability to prescribe such scenarios will result in the protection of the roads authority asset appropriately as well as provide for better co-ordination on the part of road works.

15. Should we clarify that a roads authority is included within those to be notified under Section 114 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
Although inclusion of the roads authority in notification procedures is routinely undertaken via the SRWR, this matter should be attended to for completeness.

16. Should roads authorities be one of the parties that must be notified under statute to help formalise the use of early and late start consents?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
Although inclusion of the roads authority in notification procedures is routinely undertaken via the SRWR, this matter should be attended to for completeness.

17. Should Section 132 of NRSWA be repealed?”

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
It is the SRWC’s recollection that Section 132 was deemed as unworkable, having been reviewed by stakeholders from the RAUC(S) community. Therefore, repealing this would seem acceptable provided that changes / any substitution could be linked to quality improvements in order to drive up standards.

18. Should noticing requirements for roads authorities and utility companies be exactly the same in order to facilitate coordination and cooperation?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
Parity across the sector has been requested for a number of years and this would certainly bring uniformity in terms of noticing, however it would also bring the added benefit of a move towards completeness of the SRWR, in terms of works being undertaken, this in turn would facilitate better works planning and minimise oversights of road occupation.

19. Should Section 61 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 be revoked with savings provisions for existing agreements?

Please select one item
Yes
No
Please explain your answer to this question:
This would provide clarity and formalise current practice across Scotland.

Impacts

20. Are there any likely impacts the proposals contained within this consultation may have on particular groups of people, with reference to the ‘protected characteristics’ listed above?

Please be as specific as possible.
The proposals appear to be inclusive and the SRWC does not see any obvious issues.

21. Do you think the proposals contained within this consultation may have any additional implications on the safety of children and young people?

If yes, what would these implications be? Please be as specific as possible.
The improvement proposed have impacts on safety, transparency, consistency, communication and co-operation, all areas which can have a positive impact on the wider public.

22. Do you think the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to increase or reduce the costs and burdens placed on any sector?

Please be as specific as possible.
More onerous change to the current scenario will inevitably have a cost, however the policy proposals tend towards improvement through quality and provide the opportunity for savings to be made for an organisation by “getting it right first time”.

Considering the proposals as a whole for Scotland, there is scope to improve safety, improve network management and improve asset management at what could potentially be minimal additional cost.

23. Are there any likely impacts the proposals contained in this consultation may have upon the privacy of individuals?

Please be as specific as possible.
The SRWC does not see any obvious issues or challenges in this area.

24. Are there any likely impacts the proposals contained in this consultation may have upon the environment?

Please be as specific as possible.
The proposals appear to have an overarching theme of positive benefits.

About You

Are you responding as an individual or an organisation?

Please select one item
(Required)
Individual
Organisation

What is your organisation?

Scottish Road Works Commissioner