Staffordshire County Council want to work with local councils to ensure small highways amenities and rights of way continue to work well as important local assets, despite unprecedented pressures on council budgets.

Highways and rights of way are two of those areas where the county council have less money to spend and can no longer fund the traditional Lengthsman, or Neighbourhood Highway Teams, or carry out regular maintenance on all rights of way.

With over 6,000km of highways and 4,500km of rights of way, the council need to find new ways to work together with parish councils and the local community to ensure that the budget available delivers the greatest possible benefit.

This website is designed to illustrate the range of highways and rights of way tasks that parish councils can manage to keep local areas looking good and working well.

Ensuring people can safely access and enjoy Staffordshire’s 4,500km of rights of way, and 6,000km of highways, safely continues to be important to local people and the county council.

While nationally there is less money from the government, there is more demand for the support the county council provide, especially from the growing, ageing population.  It has to balance what it can spend on maintaining small highways amenities and rights of way against the need to spend more on the care and support of the most vulnerable people in Staffordshire’s communities.

Staffordshire County Council needs to focus more on its statutory duties and ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent in a way that makes the most difference to most people.  Therefore there is far less to spend on small highways amenities and rights of way.

So local councils and the community need to think of different ways of working together to keep highways amenities and rights of way safe, accessible and looking good.

The county council maintains over 6,000km of  roads across the country with a focus on making sure that it is safe for use and keeping Staffordshire’s residents, visitors and businesses on the move, i.e. safe and serviceable. This includes: repairs (including potholes), basic grass cutting (to maintain visibility and safety), basic weed spraying, gritting on the roads in winter, maintaining street lighting,  arranging and co-ordinating roadworks and managing highways drains.

The council acknowledge that some of these activities are not undertaken as quickly or as extensively as many communities would like; however, every effort is made to ensure limited resources are used in the most effective way possible More on their statutory responsibilities.

The duty for keeping the public rights of way open and accessible for the public to use is divided between the county council, as the highways authority, and the landowner/ occupier of the land.

For example, the county council is responsible for asserting and protecting the public’s right to use and enjoy any public right of way, whilst the landowners and occupiers are responsible for maintaining stiles and gates in a safe condition, so they are easily used by the public.

A number of reconstructive and preventative maintenance treatments will be delivered to renew or preserve carriageways and footways. The sites have been identified in accordance with the county council’s Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan.

In addition the county council will continue to repair localised defects to keep roads safe and undertake routine activities such as gully emptying and grass cutting to keep roads serviceable.

Find out about some of the council’s planned works on carriageways and footways

Staffordshire County Council prioritise all potholes so that the most dangerous ones are repaired either the next day or within 7 days.

The vast majority are given to specialist teams and will be repaired depending on location and road use.

For more information on completed pothole repairs click here.

All identified repairs are categorised depending on priority. The level of priority depends on a number of factors which include the severity and depth of the defect, its position in the highway and the volume of traffic using the route, for example.

Resources will always be targeted  to the greatest hazards on the county council’s network and as these can arise at any time, crews can be diverted away.

The majority of defects reported to the council are of a lower category of priority and often do not meet the criteria for intervention. Any unresolved defects will continue to be monitored during routine inspections which take place monthly, quarterly or annually, depending on the road classification.

Staffordshire County Council want parish/town councils to explore this website to find out what their options are with regards to the maintenance of small highways amenities and rights of way in their parish, and to begin discussions with them and/or other parish/town councils about ‘self-help’ solutions for:

• Vegetation- planting, weeding, hedge cutting and grass cutting
• Street furniture- fingerpost repairs , milestone repairs, cleaning signs, repairing fences, maintaining bus stops
• Footways and verges-edging off footways, repairing verge rutting
• Drainage – clearing gully tops, clearing drainage grills, shallow ditching, digging grips
• Winter gritting on footways
• Maintenance of gaps in rights of way
• Maintenance of stiles in rights of way
• Maintenance of signage in rights of way
• Maintenance of vegetation in rights of way
• The county council are also consulting about the potential of Parish Councils acting as its ‘eyes and ears’ and liaising with landowners over their responsibilities about rights of way on their land

The council council want parishes to get in touch to talk through potential options that they may want to get involved with.

Your ‘self-help’ options 

The jobs that a lengthsman might undertake are those that generally improve the appearance of a local environment, but will not be prioritised by the county council unless they are causing a safety issue. A number of local councils around the country have developed their own lengthsman service, or have worked together to develop a scheme that serves a number of different Parish Councils . Read case studies.

Whilst there is considerable pressure on county council budgets, it still needs to focus on keeping the road network safe for use and believe that the local community are often in a better position to shape, and in some cases provide, very local services – because you know your area better than anyone. Parish councils are local leaders and are in a prime position to find great solutions that make a difference to people’s lives, and are sustainable.

Plus, it can really help to mobilise the community. There are many examples across the county where self-help schemes originally designed to keep local amenities looking good and working well have also led to other community projects that really make a difference.

The National Association for Local Councils (NALC) has recently undertaken some research illustrating that over half of local parish and town councils – often with less than 6,000 electors – are collaborating to provide local services and making a big difference to the appearance of their local highways amenities.

Benefits found include:

• Improved satisfaction levels amongst residents
• Increased frequency and improved standards of local service delivery
• Parishes being able to prioritise local activity to meet local need
• Recurring minor issues being dealt with more efficiently

Additional benefits include:

• Providing local employment opportunities
• Administration is possible with existing resources in some cases
• Helps to mobilise the local community to get more involved in a range of activities that are important to them.

Read more case studies and examples

Everyone has responsibility for their own safety and for the safety of others that their actions may affect.  Many organisations have liability insurance to cover situations when things go wrong but if activities are well managed and thought out then such incidences will be rare.  The County Council will retain legal responsibility for the highway asset itself but not for the activities you might undertake.

Trees or hedges on private land are the responsibility of the landowner or occupier and they are required by law to trim any private vegetation next to the public highway where the growth is preventing the passage, or affecting the safety, of the highway user. Land Registry can help identify landowners or you can make a Highway Record Enquiry.

You may also find a map of Common Land and village/town greens helpful.

There is no existing inventory of assets, but this could be one of the first tasks for Parish Councils interested in taking the lead.  This could be based on conversations with local residents, the Community Highways Liaison Officer (CHLO) and any other interested bodies such as the Borough and District Councils.

Highways England are responsible for managing the Strategic Road Network, which includes most motorways and significant trunk (A) roads. The county council is  responsible for the rest of the public road network in Staffordshire. However, there are a small number of private roads that are not publicly maintained.  Your Community Highways Liaison Officer should be able to help you to identify these.

This interactive  county council map illustrates who is responsible for which road in Staffordshire.

Demand for services such as adult social care is rising at the same time the county council’s income from the government is reducing. To care for those who need its help most, the council have spent an additional £300m on caring for those most vulnerable this year. But to meet demand it needs to examine everything it does, find savings, and find new ways of working and find a balance about how much it spends and where.

Highways and rights of way is one of those areas where the council will have less money to spend, so it needs a different approach to maintain these important community assets from April 2018.

The county council receives less money from government and need to spend more on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable people in its communities.
More about budgets

Government funding going forward will factor in a highway authority’s approach to asset management principles – i.e. to get the most from government the council needs to demonstrate the sound application of asset management principles.  Investment is prioritised based on a number of factors discussed in the county council’s Asset Management Plan.

How can I report a problem?

You can report an issue on the roads by using the county council’s online reporting system. Report a fault online

The proposals suggest an alternative way of looking after the rights of way network in Staffordshire, including:

• a hierarchy system where each right of way is categorised as A, B or C with proactive maintenance primarily focused on A paths – the council want local insight through the consultation to help refine the categorisation of the paths
• the introduction of a new online programme to keep people informed of progress if they have requested help on a right of way
• that more help from the community is needed and that council supported volunteer programmes are a possibility – to know what the priorities are for county council supported volunteer programmes.
• that Parish Councils take over the liaison with landowners on reports about defects on rights of way on their land

Read more about the Rights of Way consultation.

You can find out  by using the interactive map.

Local councils have the legal powers to carry out a number of highways and rights of way tasks in their area.  Many already are and are making a huge difference.

Read the SPCA’s advice on the legal powers and duties of Parish Councils.
Powers and Duties of Local Councils

View of a summary of all of your options

Local councils have a wide range of powers and duties, particularly relating to highways. This document sets out the main ones; it is not a complete list of every single power and duty.

Read the SPCA’s advice on the legal powers and duties of local councils.
Powers and Duties of Local Councils2

The county council carry out grass-cutting on public highway verges predominantly to maintain visibility and to ensure the safety of highway users by preventing road and pavement widths from being reduced.

The council separate highway verge maintenance into two programmes; Rural (1-3 cuts a year) and Urban (8 cuts a year). There are various contractors and delivery partners engaged in this work on the council’s behalf, around the county.

Enhanced grass cutting is cutting grass on any other areas or more often than above.

Parish Councils are supporting their community with a wide range of highways and rights of way activities. Read their success stories here

As the Local Highway Authority, the county council will need to give permission for certain activities taking place on the road network, including ‘planting’ such as shrubs, benches, noticeboards,  excavation  and construction on footway improvements.

When to apply for a license  or permit

Note: The county council is currently liaising with Amey, their contractor, to identify if and how local councils can commission Amey to carry out works.  Please bear with us on this.

Your Community Highways Liaison Officer (CHLO),  however, is always on hand to help. Staffordshire County Council can look at any contractor quotes that you receive and advise if all aspects of the work have been covered. Contact your CHLO 

Because the county council has a contract with Amey as its highways provider, it cannot officially recommend any provider or offer a preferred list. The council can however, advise if all aspects of work are covered. The council would, for example, expect to see NRSWA qualifications for more significant works. Just contact your Community Highways Liaison Officer (CHLO) to find out more.

How to choose a Contractor help sheet

Any contractor carrying out small highways amenities tasks would require £5m of public liability insurance.

There is a range of useful documents and guidance in the Document Library – including risk assessments, method statements and safety advice.

The county council has a new contract with a voluntary sector strategic partner called S3. It is a consortium including Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services (SCVYS), Support Staffordshire and South Staffordshire Community Voluntary Action (SSCVA).

S3 is working hard to develop and support community capacity across Staffordshire. Their delivery plan focuses on growing the already vibrant voluntary sector in Staffordshire and connecting community resources to residents and the wider public sector.

S3 can provide you with some introductory advice as part of this contract and will also discuss further services with you, including Parish Council Membership.