Highways Agency

4 NGF/DLOA ADMINISTRATION AND REVIEW

4.1 Agency/LHA Liaison Arrangements

The continuing liaison between the Agency and the LHAs is being managed under the direction of the Traffic Operations Co-ordinating Committee (TOCC), a special purpose committee having representation from the Highways Agency and local authority organisations County Surveyors' Society (CSS), Core Cities Group and the Technical Advisors Group (TAG).

A framework for liaison has been adopted which allows for the effective management and appraisal of DLOAs (and if necessary the NGF). A regionally based consultation process is envisaged. This takes account of local or regional needs and input and will encompass the varying requirements of LHAs and the Agency as regarding new legislation, national policies or changes in working practices, including issues such as those raised by data protection and privacy legislation. Additionally so as to avoid any duplication of effort or unnecessary time spent in the liaison process, a template will be provided for all DLOAs and common themes or practices etc. will be communicated to other regions or parties as required.

A group consisting of representatives of the Agency, LHAs, the Police, OHAs and OIPs will be formed as the Traffic Operations Steering Group (TOSG), to make representation to the TOCC on issues raised by the seven Traffic Operations Regional Groups (TORG).

These regional groups, each representing one of the geographical areas defined by the operational responsibility of the Agency's RCCs, will include representatives of the Agency, LHAs and the Police. All LHAs will have the opportunity to participate in TORGs, which will discuss, co-ordinate and review issues relating to the local and regional management of traffic activities in their region. Where appropriate, the TORGs will make representation to the TOSG on issues requiring broader consideration.

Further details on the liaison process and the terms of reference for the TOCC, TOSG and TORGs may be found in the Appendices.

4.2 Continuous Improvement

It is recognised that there will be a process of continuous improvement in the light of practical operational experience, and procedures will be put in place to ensure that operational processes and procedures for both the Agency and LHAs are maintained to accurately reflect required changes. This will be underpinned by a process of annual review of the DLOA with each LHA and intermediate review as and when considered necessary by agreement between both parties. The NGF will also undergo an annual process of review with input from LHAs.

Wherever possible, opportunities will be taken to improve the Agency's and LHA's resource utilisation for the continuous improvement of services to the travelling public. One of the ongoing aims is to improve the service through a process of continuous review, reflected in Figure 4.2 below.

Figure 4.2: Review Process

4.3 NGF/DLOA REVIEW

All parties acknowledge that the policies of LHAs and the Agency will change from time-totime. This NGF will be the subject of regular review, as will each of the DLOAs. The following principles describe the framework within which these reviews will take place:

1. The DLOAs are arrangements with individual LHAs. The Agency will ensure that the review process is carried out in the most efficient manner and progress will be monitored by the TOCC Steering Group.
2. The Agency and individual LHAs will continually review operational methods, practices and procedures in order to identify and/or share best practice, and to address any points of concern. The Agency will use all reasonable endeavours to mitigate unresolved issues. DLOAs will be amended to reflect any resultant changes. These reviews will take place annually but may be supplemented by additional reviews if required by circumstances.
3. As part of the review process, the NTCC will upon request, assist LHAs in evaluating the previous year's operational activities between the LHA and the NTCC by providing a statistical report (e.g. number of incidents on the core network in the LHA area and number of occasions where NTCC strategies were implemented). The LHA and NTCC should reach agreement on the content and format of this report.
4. The three principal bodies involved in the DLOA review process (LHAs, NTCC, and the Agency) will ensure as far as is reasonably practicable that negotiations take place on an allinclusive basis, without the need for separate meetings between them. Every opportunity should be taken to include (or take account of) other relevant parties in those discussions (e.g. Local Police, Service Providers) to streamline the review process.
5. Representation for LHAs and the Agency at local level will be the most appropriate given the circumstances and will reflect the needs of Traffic Managers, RCCs, Service Providers, Agency Area Teams and their respective parent organisations. Where possible single, member representation is desirable.