Chaired by Alison Williams, Streetworks Policy and Compliance Manager, Openreach
Street Works UK was pleased to welcome Alison Williams, Streetworks Policy and Compliance Manager at Openreach, to Chair our breakout session Reflecting on 2021 Consultation – so, what comes next? The Breakout session was available to attendees to join on both days of the Conference, and was an opportunity for members to engage in discussion on what to expect from government in the upcoming months and years and how we as an industry can prepare for this.
The session’s discussion focused primarily of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) recent Street Manager and Permit Scheme Changes consultation, published in May 2021. The consultation sought views on the Department’s proposals for further reforms to legislation covering utility street and highway authority road works.
During the session, there was discussion over the changes to cover permit schemes and the data required for Street Manager. As well as this, there was mention of the response to this consultation by Street Works UK, which submitted its own response. It was also highlighted that Street Works UK has developed the Street Manager and Permit Scheme Changes Consultation Response Toolkit to aid members in their responses, and feedback was given on this.
It was noted in the discussion that whilst DfT was supposed to have published its consultation response by end of October 2021, there are a number of expectations the industry should look out for over the coming months and years. These are:
Both sessions allowed for significant discussion and engagement, and attendees took the opportunity to discuss a whole host of subjects including changes to flexi permits, the diversionary works code, and inspections.