Executive	30 September 2021
Report of the Director of Transport, Environment and Planning Portfolio of the Executive Member for Transport

Endorsement of York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership: Safer Roads Strategy

Summary

1. The successful delivery of a reduction in road safety incidents on the highway network across the city relies on the close cooperation between a number of partners. The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership is a longstanding grouping of the agencies/authorities who are committed to working together, sharing resources and expertise to provide a co-ordinated, evidenced-led approach to prevent deaths and injuries on our roads.

2. Road safety has a much wider impact than preventing injury. Improving road safety and the confidence of road users (including pedestrians) can also have significant benefits for active travel, improving wider physical and mental wellbeing, as well as improving community cohesion and environmental aspects.

3. This report recommends that the strategy, included in Annex A, which has been developed with the partners is endorsed and used as a framework for the delivery of road safety interventions in the city.  Note: The final document is subject to approval of all of the partner organisations meaning that there is the potential for final changes needing to be made prior to the preparation of a final version for publication which will be launched later in the year.

4. Changes were been made to the original draft document to address comments raised by the Executive Member in relation to the importance of active travel and the need to include emerging technologies such as eScooters and eBikes. Comments relating to the prioritisation of resources by partners to particular responsibility areas, such enforcement, will be progressed through the review of the governance processes.   

Recommendations

5. The Executive is asked to:

1) Endorse the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership: Safer Roads Strategy included in Annex A

Reason: To ensure the effective coordination and delivery of road safety measures and initiatives across the city.

2) Direct officers to review the proposed processes and governance arrangements to ensure the road safety concerns of local residents and Councillors are adequately addressed in the prioritisation of resources across the partners and delegate to the Corporate Director of Place (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) the authority to take such steps as are necessary to enter into the resulting agreement.. 

Reason: To ensure appropriate mechanisms are in place to allocate road safety resources to local priorities.

Background

6. The York & North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership has developed from the 95 Alive road safety partnership originally formed in 2004 which was a group of local authorities, emergency services and other agencies that work together throughout the county to reduce the number of people killed and injured on the roads.

7. The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership brings together the key agencies who all have a shared interest in and responsibility for making our roads safer. The partnership includes:

· North Yorkshire Police

· North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

· Yorkshire Ambulance Service

· City of York Council

· North Yorkshire County Council

· Highways England (Now National Highways)

· Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

8. Over the last year Officers have been working with partner organisations developing the Safer Roads Strategy which would replace the previous 95 Alive Safer Roads, Healthier Places Strategy which ran through to 2020.

9. It is proposed that the partnership will deliver a range of joint strategic interventions driven by the 4E’s of Education, Engagement, Engineering and Enforcement, to tackle high-risk priority areas and improve the safety of those most vulnerable road users. By embracing the globally recognised ‘Safe System’ approach to road safety improvement and to road safety management systems, the partnership will build towards the long-term Vision Zero ambition, where fewer people will be killed or seriously injured on our roads.

10. The five-year (2021-26) Safer Roads Strategy is a step towards the long-term vision of keeping all York and North Yorkshire roads users alive and safe.  Supporting this strategy is an Action Plan which details the activities of the partnership and how they will deliver against the strategic priorities over the coming years.

11. Over the last few years, under the previous 95 Alive Partnership Strategy and through the Council’s own road safety polies, the transport team have delivered many schemes and initiatives to reduce the number and impact of incidents across the city. Many of these items are delivered under the framework identified within the Safer Roads Strategy to ensure a consistent evidence based approach is taken across York and North Yorkshire area taking account of local priorities.

12. The Council funds a variety of revenue and capital interventions to address road safety issues ranging from cycle training through to highway engineering measures. The council allocates Local Transport Plan funding through the Transport Capital Programme to three main road safety areas: Local Safety Schemes (identified following a review of accident cluster sites), Speed Management (schemes identified through the Y&NY Road Safety Partnership Speed Management Protocol) and Danger Reduction (schemes/studies raised by local ward councillors and residents). It should be noted that many of the other transport projects progressed in the city to provide better infrastructure (such as the provision of cycle routes or upgrade of traffic signals) also enhance the safety of road users

13. Details of the capital spend on dedicated road safety schemes over the last 5 years is identified below:

Road Safety Schemes 2016/17 to 2020/21

Summary of Spend 2016/17 to 2020/21

Year	Local Safety Schemes	Danger Reduction	Speed Mgt	Total
	£1,000s	£1,000s	£1,000s	£1,000s
16/17	68	20	63	152
17/18	87	56	133	276
18/19	23	77	44	143
19/20	33	44	92	168
20/21	80	22	47	149
Total	291	219	378	889

14. Summary of Road Safety schemes delivered through the Transport Capital Programme over the last 5 years:

· Extension of existing 20mph limit on Thanet Road, including speed cushions and new speed tables at pedestrian crossings.

· Amendments to speed limit gateway on Heslington Lane, including conversion of zebra crossing to a parallel crossing for pedestrians & cyclists.

· New pedestrian refuges at York Road, Acomb and York Road, Strensall to improve safety for pedestrians.

· Review & amendments to the existing 20mph zone on Eason View.

· Improvements to junction layout and pedestrian crossing facilities at The Hollies, Stockton on the Forest) Danger Reduction.

· Amendments to mini-roundabouts at Green Lane, Rawcilffe, to address speeding issues.

· Improvements to the zebra crossing on Hull Road at Owston Avenue, including build-outs to reduce the width of the crossing.

· Review of existing village gateway treatments, and improvements to signing & lining to highlight changes in speed limits where required.

· Implementation of ‘buffer’ 40mph limits on approaches to three villages, and a review of the impact on traffic speeds.

· Ongoing programme of smaller-scale local safety schemes, including minor amendments at junctions, signing and lining improvements, and reviews of existing 20mph zones.

· Ongoing programme of smaller-scale danger reduction schemes to address minor safety issues. 

· Review of existing Vehicle Activated Signs, with renewal/ relocation of signs where required.  

15. A significant proportion of the remainder of the capital programme is focussed on pedestrian and cycle schemes to provide additional safe facilities to encourage active travel. In addition all transport schemes which affect the layout of the highway are assessed through a Road Safety Audit process to ensure the designs and layouts in operation are safe.

16. All fatal traffic accidents are reviewed jointly by the Police and Council Highways/Road Safety teams to determine whether there are any measures which could be undertaken to address the incident. All accident records are analysed on an annual basis to identify any cluster sites which are then assessed for highway works using Local Safety Scheme funding.

17. Vehicle Activated Signs (VAS) which highlight when vehicles are exceeding the speed limit are provided at sites across the city which have been identified and delivered in accordance with the Council’s VAS policy. The policy currently restricts the type of signs which can be used in the city to those which highlight when a vehicle is exceed a set limit. Following trials using signs which indicate the speed of vehicles a decision is due to be made by the Executive Member on whether the policy should be changed to also include these Speed Indicator Devices as options at sites identified using the policy.

18. The road safety team also provides a range of revenue funded activities:

· Balance bike training to pre-school children

· Pedestrian training to years 3 and 4 pupils

· Bikeablility level 1, 2 3

· Urban Cycle Training

· School Crossing Patrols at primary schools

· Be bright be seen cycle lights to secondary schools

· Cycle training for asylum seekers

· Cycle awareness training for advanced driving instructors

· Supporting the Safe Kids campaign run by the Institute of Advanced Motorists – AJ1 funded project

19. The Highways Asset Management Plan which provides the mechanism for prioritising resources to deliver a safe and serviceable highway networks includes consideration of areas of particular road safety concern such as areas which have a particular impact on cyclists and the condition of speed management measures.

20. The proposed York & North Yorkshire Safer Road Strategy Action Plans will be subject to regular review to ensure they continue to meet the priorities of the partners, Council and key stakeholders. Emerging issues such as technology changes with the introduction of escooters/ebikes and connected and automated vehicles will be considered as part of those reviews. It is also proposed to undertake a review of road safety issues within the city as part of the development of the Local Transport Plan to ensure that resources are allocated to areas that will have the greatest impact on the aim to reduce casualties and provide a safer environment for residents.

21. National government has announced that it expects to introduce changes to legislation in December which will enable Local Authorities to enforce certain moving traffic offences identified in part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004. These offences generally relate to the contravention of restrictions identified by road signs/markings such as banned turning movements, entry into box junctions, environmental weight limits etc. but does not include speed limits. Local Authorities who wish to undertake civil enforcement of these offences will need to apply to the Secretary of State for an order to be made. Further guidance is expected to be issued to Local Authorities shortly.

Consultation

22. The strategy has been developed in consultation with the partner organisations who have responsibility for road safety. The strategy provides an overarching framework for the delivery of road safety across the area. It is proposed to consult on the detailed approach to addressing road safety concerns in the city as part of the Local Transport Plan development.

Options

23. Members have three main options to consider

· Option 1 – Endorsement of the Safer Roads Strategy.

Endorsement of the Safer Roads Strategy as drafted

· Option 2 – Endorsement of the Safer Roads Strategy with comments

Endorsement of the Safer Roads Strategy as drafted with comments to be addressed in the final version subject to approval by the other partners. Delegate approval of the final version to the Director of Transport, Environment and Planning in consultation with the Executive Member for Transport.

· Option 3 – Rejection of the Safer Roads Strategy

Analysis

24. An effective strategy to address road safety concerns relies on all agencies with responsibility for the delivery of elements of road safety policy working together with a common goal. Each agency has a primary role with, for example, the Police enforcing moving traffic offences and the Council having responsibility for providing and regulating the highway network. Other elements of the strategy such as Education rely on the agencies working together to deliver the most effective outcome.

25. Option1 (Recommended) would confirm the strategy which has been prepared by the partners ensuring that the roles of the partners is more clearly understood and the overarching objectives are identified.

26. Option 2 could delay the implementation of the strategy to enable further refinement of the document to be undertaken to address local concerns with the potential for significant amendments needing the collective support from all of the partners prior to approval. Comments on the delivery of the local aspects of the strategy will be incorporated into the Local Transport Plan refresh.

27. Option 3 would remove the benefits of an overarching partnership strategy for delivering improved road safety across the area.

28. There are concerns that whilst the partnership effectively enables the partners to coordinate their individual powers and duties to address road safety issues collectively there are limited mechanisms to challenge and influence the priorities of individual partners to address particular priorities for local residents. It is recommended that officers should be review the governance arrangements to ensure this concern is addressed.

29. As part of this process the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner could be invited to a Council Scrutiny meeting to enable Councillors to more fully understand the current processes/priorities and raise particular areas of concern.

Council Plan

30. The Council Plan has Eight Key Outcomes:

· Well-paid jobs and an inclusive economy

· A greener and cleaner city

· Getting around sustainably

· Good health and wellbeing

· Safe communities and culture for all

· Creating homes and world-class infrastructure

· A better start for children and young people

· An open and effective council

31. The Safer Roads Strategy helps to create safer communities and an environment which encourages residents to travel more sustainably using active modes.

Implications

· Financial – There is no separate financial contribution to the Road Safety Partnership except for officer time and potentially works/initiatives which come out of the progressing the strategy such as speed management schemes. These are funded through existing Council revenue and Capital budgets.

· Human Resources (HR) - None

· One Planet Council / Equalities – The strategy ensures that any conflict between different transport modes is considered with particular focus on vulnerable road users. The strategy relates to all residents and visitors to the North Yorkshire and York area equally and does not impact any one group more than any other. The strategy recommends engagement with organisations that support people with protected characteristics to ensure that their needs are considered.    

· Legal - It is important to ensure robust governance arrangements are in place to enable effective decision making which takes into account the priorities and interests of all partners. 

The most recent agreement in relation to the partnership is a Memorandum of Understanding from 2014 which names the key partners as North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, North Yorkshire County Council, the Highways Agency and CYC.  This agreement provides for a Steering Group consisting of representatives from each of the key partners through which the strategy, action plan, delivery and performance of the partnership is governed.  There is also an Officers Working Group, again with representatives from each of the key partners, whose remit is to prepare the annual road safety action plan and report to the Steering Group.  The agreement also contains a dispute resolution clause which first escalates issues through a number of stages internally before submitting a dispute to an alternative dispute resolution process. 

The Steering Group and Officer Working Group structure seems to align with the proposals in the governance section set out within the Strategy. This would need to be set out in more detail in the proposed Partnership Service Level Agreement in order to address the concerns raised regarding the limited mechanisms to challenge and influence the priorities of partners to address particular priorities for local residents.

· Crime and Disorder: Enforcement responsibilities are defined by national legislation and progressed by the individual partners in accordance with the framework identified in the strategy.

· Information Technology (IT): There are no IT implications.

· Property: There are no Property implications.

· Other: There are no other implications

Risk Management

8.    The partnership approach and Safer Roads Strategy will help to reduce the risk of road safety incidents by ensuring that resources are prioritised following an evidence based assessment.

Contact Details

Author:	Chief Officer Responsible for the report:
Author’s name Tony Clarke Title: Head of Transport Dept Name: Directorate of Place Tel No. 01904 551641 Co-Author’s Name Title Dept Name Tel No.	Chief Officer’s name: James Gilchrist Title: Director of Transport, Planning and Environment
	Report Approved	ü	Date	16 September 2021
Specialist Implications Officer(s)  List information for all Financial:-                                        Legal:- Name: Patrick Looker                     Name Cathryn Moore Title: Finance Manager                  Title Legal Manager Tel No. 01904 551633                    Tel No. 01904 552487
Wards Affected:					All	ü
For further information please contact the author of the report

Background Papers:

Annexes

Annex A - Draft York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership: Safer Roads Strategy

List of Abbreviations Used in this Report