Highway Bond Provision
1. Please could you confirm what are the individual elements that your Authority includes within their bond requirement for all highways work for S278 and S38 agreements?
Full road construction costs including street lighting and drainage.
2. Please could you provide an average value for bond provision for S278 and S38 agreements?
We do not hold this information in a central record as it has no relevance to Devon County Council as an averaged value so it is not held in that form. To extract this information would therefore require a review of each of the dozens of agreements we enter into every year and opening and analysing each individual agreement. To review the dozens of agreements over a number of years would take a significant length of time and would take in excess of the appropriate time limit of 18 hours. We are therefore not obliged to disclose this information pursuant to s.12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
3. Please confirm what items of highway apparatus currently attract commuted sums, and what are the individual costs?
Any extraordinary items, costed on an individual basis.
4.Would you consider using the developer obtained tender value for calculating the bond provision for S278 and S38 agreements?
Yes, provided it has sufficient detail. We already consider this where there is a discrepancy between our calculations and the tender price.
5. Please could you confirm your inspection fee or percentage applicable relevant to the bond provision for S278 and S38 agreements?
6% for S38 and 7% for S278.
Highway S38/S278 Timescale Section S278 Agreements relating to residential developments during each of the past 5 financial years.
1. Please could you confirm the average time taken from technical submission to the issue of a technical approval?
2. Please could you confirm what is the average time from technical approval to the completion of a Section 278 legal agreement? i.e. legal engrossment?
In response to both questions 1 and 2, we do not hold this information in a central record as it has no relevance to Devon County Council as an averaged value so it is not held in that form. To extract this information would therefore require a review of each of the dozens of agreements we enter into every year and opening and analysing each individual agreement. To review the dozens of agreements over a number of years would take a significant length of time and would take in excess of the appropriate time limit of 18 hours. We are therefore not obliged to disclose this information pursuant to s.12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
3. Please could you confirm the average time to grant a Streetworks Permit, post execution of the document in question 2?
We do not operate a roadworks permit scheme in Devon. We plan to introduce such a scheme in March 2020. We therefore do not hold this information.
4. What in your opinion is an appropriate timescale for the submission and financial execution of a S38/ 278 Agreement?
It will vary considerably given the complexities of the Agreement in question and the quality of the initially submitted documentation.
5. What improvements do you think could be made to the overall process from submission to engrossment?
We do not consider this question to be a request for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 but, by way of advice and assistance, we can confirm that we are currently considering updating our agreements.
6. Section 38 Road Adoptions relating to residential developments during each of the past 5 financial years.
a. Please could you confirm what is the average time taken:
b. from technical submission to technical approval to;
c. completion of a Section 38 legal agreement to;
d. commencement of the maintenance period to;
e. the date of formal adoption to;
f. notification that any bond can be cancelled
Please see our response to questions 1 and 2 above.