That the Revised Highway Safety Inspection Manual 2024, attached to this Record of Decision, is fully adopted and implemented from 1 July 2024.

The Highway Safety Inspection Manual has been reviewed and revised by the SWISCo Highways Team with assistance from Torbay Council’s Partner Consultant WSP. The reasons for the revision were:

•      The current Highway inspection Manual has been in operation since 2018 and does not reflect the new highways maintenance operating model since the creation of SWISCo.

•      The 2018 manual had reference to ‘intervention levels’ in some cases. The current Code of Practice (‘Well Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice – 2016) enables these to be removed and allow Inspectors more flexibility to instruct repairs on a purely risk-based approach.

•      Experience of working with the current manual showed that improved guidance was required for inspectors to ensure consistency with assessing levels of risk.

•      The hierarchy of streets was due for revision to take account of recent changes to guidance and requirements for active travel etc.

•      The manual needed to have flexibility to encompass new and emerging technologies for inspections, as and when these come forward.

•      Torbay Councils’ Partner consultant WSP have provided the Highways Team with additional technical input and challenge, based on best practice and experience from other highway authorities nationally to ensure our highway inspection processes are robust and provide an effective service.

•      The revised guidance ensures that appropriate timescales are given for repairs, allowing more flexibility to place defects into a planned and programmed approach.

The Revised Manual has been subject to consultation with Councillor Billings, as Cabinet Lead for Pride in Place and Parking and all elected Members were invited to attend a briefing session to present the Manual and provide comment. Councillor Billings has endorsed the revised manual and supports the proposal to implement.

The existing manual could continue to be used; however, it was considered that highway inspections should move to a fully ‘risk-based’ approach as well as fully reflecting recent changes to the operating model with SWISCo and ensuring an up to date hierarchy of streets.

Torbay Council needs to ensure a robust and compliant inspection regime to provide a defence to third party compensation claims.

This decision will be implemented immediately.

The Torbay Council Highway Safety Inspection Manual has undergone a full review to ensure that the new operational model with SWISCo, as the commissioned service to manage highway inspections, is fully reflected and to allow Highway Inspectors to move to a fully ‘Risk Based’ approach with the consideration of highway defects and repairs, in accordance with the National Code of Practice.

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