Maintenance Works for Scarborough Bank Road, Boston - Find a freedom of information request

From the FOI information and available data that I am now furnished would you please confirm or refute the following:

1. According to your plan 4.1.8. The pothole review and asset management guidance products produced by HMEP both recommend that authorities should employ an asset management approach. The principle "prevention is better than cure" in determining the balance between structural, preventative and reactive maintenance activities has been embraced by Lincolnshire County Council.” However it is evident from the current state of Scarborough Bank road Boston PE22 8DR that the prevention measures are not employed successfully, or at all.

2. I find that the routine inspection frequency for PE228DR is just once per year (classed as Hierarchy 5).

3. This is evidenced by the inspection report obtained under FOI request FOI0960 which shows that the road was last inspected 12 August 2019, the last occasion of an annual inspection regime. The inspection advised only temporary repairs and patching, but gave no detail of what and where. The record also shows that a job had already been issued for this prior to the inspection.

4. Furthermore, according to your plan “4.4.10.3. To provide clarity, the Council has adopted dimensional definitions for potholes based on best practice as part of its maintenance policy. Lincolnshire County Council's (LCC's) reactive maintenance works based on fixed response times, including those put forward by members of the public, outlined in Appendix B of this plan.”

5. For this road this means that once the Council is notified through the web portal of a perceived defect, in this case a pothole >40mm on a hierarchy 5 Highway, the maximum response time is quoted as 28 days for the perceived defect to be inspected by a designated Highways Officer.

6. Following an incident on 09 December 2019 on this road where my vehicle suffered pothole related damage, the defect was reported through the LCC fix-my-street web portal.

7. Allowing for Sundays and Public holidays I noted that by 14 January the report on the fix my street site had not been followed up with either a decision or repair. This is contra to the HIAMP (dated April 19) in that it did not inspect and respond within the service level 28 working days as allotted.

1. Comment noted. Even under a proactive asset management based approach the demand for schemes outweighs the available budget, so prioritisation based on usage and condition is employed to prioritise where this funding is most needed.

2. Correct.

3. Confirm as an accurate summary of the content of the Asset History report.

4. Confirmed as a word for word extract from the HIAMP.

5. Correct.

6. Enquiry 360978 was reported on 9 December 2019 via 'FixMyStreet'.

7. Confirm that as of 14 January 2020, no decision or repair had been made related to enquiry 360978.