Mahmood Siddiqi is Director of Streets and Regulatory Services at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and is the incoming President of the Local Government Technical Advisers Group (LGTAG). Here, he talks to LCRIG Content Director Alec Peachey about his hopes for the role.
Q. What are some of the main challenges facing local government at the moment?
A. “Local government has been facing the same challenge for the past few decades –providing a wide range of services to a diverse community with finite resources. It has often meant having to decide which services should take priority over others.
“Environmental services in local government has never been more important. From maintaining the highway in a timely manner to mitigating the effects of climate change. It is a sobering thought that decisions that we are making today will have a profound effect on future generations.
“Climate change and air quality is going to be high on the agenda for most local authorities as more and more declare a climate emergency. The link between air quality and transportation is indisputable – one of the positive effects of the Covid lockdown has been the significant reduction in air-borne particulates – but there is so much more within our sphere of influence. Local authorities are best placed to bring about an attitudinal change in the way we travel. Improving the public realm will encourage more walking. Introducing more on-street electric vehicle charging will enable drivers to let go of their internal combustion engines. Effective urban drainage will reduce the risk of flooding. We need to make more responsible procurement decisions; transporting natural material from the other side of the world may have been cost effective but will it now meet our net zero carbon targets?
“The pandemic brought to the forefront our rehearsed plans for business continuity and resilience. Local government found itself overnight having to cater for a large proportion of its workforce working remotely, while at the same time maintaining business as usual for critical council services. I believe the transport and environment sector performed admirably; dustbins were still collected from homes, parking schemes accommodated thousands of key workers who needed to use their cars to get to work, and there was no loss of electricity, gas or water to homes. The pandemic also brought together the wide range of local services to pool their resources, enabling projects that would normally have taken months or years to plan, to be delivered within days. We closed off streets and introduced al fresco dining, and whilst they may not have been unanimously well received everywhere, one cannot deny the speed with which these schemes were introduced.”
Q. What are you hoping to achieve as the new president of LGTAG? When do you take over?
A. “I am due to take the reins from Andrew Cassells this month at a virtual ceremonial handover. Andrew will be a tough act to follow. I see the primary role of LGTAG as being a conduit for sharing best practice. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience amongst our members across the UK. There is a good chance that a particular problem in one local authority has already been resolved in another. I would like LGTAG to be the default consultee on matters relating to transport and the environment, drawing on our members to provide an impartial and informed viewpoint. We also need to attract new talent to the industry and I hope LGTAG can play a part.”
Q. What has your involvement with LGTAG been up to now and how do you see the group evolving?
A. “I have been Senior VP for the past two years and sat on LGTAG’s strategic panels for highway infrastructure and transport. LGTAG has been particularly active during the pandemic. It was important for the government to recognise that the construction industry was a critical service that needed to continue during lockdown. It meant that local authorities were able to avoid delaying crucial highway works which would otherwise have become a huge backlog.”
Q. How much of a need is there for collaboration and innovation at a local level and how can LGTAG help make it happen?
A. “Einstein pointed out that we shouldn’t expect different outcomes if we keep doing the same thing. Today there are huge opportunities through technology and business intelligence to bring about radical change, but on the other hand adopting the wrong ‘next big thing’ can be costly and counterproductive. Working collaboratively with partners, whether it’s with technology giants like Microsoft or co-designing with stakeholders, will reduce those inherent risks. I was a bi-borough director at two London authorities for 10 years and was often surprised at how two neighbouring boroughs had identical objectives but very different approaches. It was a unique chance to compare tasks and functions and adopt the more efficient practice. Local authorities are inundated with great ideas from SMEs, whether it is vehicle sensors buried in the road to give real-time data on parking occupancy, or innovative pothole repair material. How do we separate out the truly useful innovations from ones that will not deliver or quickly become defunct? I believe LGTAG can help to put local government officers in touch with each other to share their knowledge and experience.”
Q. How important is it to work with other likeminded sector groups and associations to help spread the word about what is happening at a local level?
A. “Very important. It is encouraging to see more and more roles being devolved at a local level. Bodies such as CIHT, BPA and HAUC(UK) regularly lobby the government to change legislation or regulatory powers. Working with these bodies will ensure that they have visibility of local issues and how they would be affected.”
Q. In what ways does the sector need to evolve?
A. “The sector is constantly evolving. I like to draw an analogy with the stock market. Historically decisions in financial investment were made by risk takers who had a ‘knack’ or ‘gut feeling’. Today they are equipped with mathematical models and trend analyses to assist in their decision making.
“In the same way we have access to a wealth of information allowing us to compare one local authority with another or to predict the optimum time to change a street lamp. We can use this business intelligence to understand how one authority can maintain their highway assets to a high standard while another cannot.”
Q. Can regulation be a barrier to innovation?
A. “I don’t think so. Regulation is important to ensure that local authorities do not feel compelled to introduce local rules that will be unfamiliar to the road user. I recall for years, DfT refused to allow a variation to the No-Entry traffic sign to exempt cyclists. They argued that there was already a diagram in the traffic signs manual that served this purpose. However, they allowed some LAs to trial a variation and when it was found to be successful, they subsequently revised the manual. This to me is the correct way to innovate then regulate.”
Q. Should more designated funding be allocated for local roads and what role can innovation play in ensuring money is spent effectively?
A. “I have spent my whole career working in the capital. For the past 20 years London boroughs have been receiving most of their highway maintenance funding from Transport for London but this is only intended to cover the cost of their principal road maintenance. To maintain the less busy local roads, they must rely on their general revenue funds. Paradoxically, the local road network may not carry the volume of traffic of the main roads but they are deteriorating at a fast rate. Local roads tend to have speed reducing features such as road humps and chicanes which are prone to damage and wear and tear. In addition these roads are being dug up year on year to accommodate upgraded utilities such as water meters and superfast internet. So it is no surprise that local roads are going unchecked until they require urgent reactive maintenance which is both costly and disruptive.
“The DfT have recognised this for years by allocating funding for pothole repairs, but repairing potholes is costly and inefficient. Highway authorities need to reach a steady state where most of their budget is spent on a planned maintenance programme. We do require larger budget allocations but will have to rely on efficient highway maintenance programmes to get best value.”
Q. What sort of legacy do you hope to leave once your presidency is over?
A. “I would like my presidency to be marked as one where the industry made major strides to become more efficient. It is non-negotiable. We will need to be lean and smart to recover from the effects of the pandemic. However, Covid-19 has ushered a step change in our ability to deliver radical projects. I hope this momentum is maintained and we finally see a dramatic shift towards sustainable transport modes and improved air quality during my term.”