Highway authorities urged to learn from car manufacturers and overhaul services

Local authorities are being urged to save millions of pounds by reviewing the entire process of delivering a highways service using 'LEAN,' to strip out any activity that fails to benefit customers, road users.

The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme toolkit says that looking at what an organisation does from a customer's perspective, something pioneered by car manufacturer Toyota, "has had a dramatic improvement in those delivering front-line services".

To date, LEAN pilots have tended to focus on reducing the inefficiency of highways repairs. HMEP advocate Matthew Lugg believes that entire highways services can benefit, pointing to Nottinghamshire's introduction of a new operating model with a separate programme management function and a new customer interface.

Islington Council, meanwhile, under a new system puts calls reporting highways defects straight through to crews, who fix the defects without inspection. The toolkit says that investing in such changes has a return of up to 10:1.

The guidance comes as the finishing touches are made to a review of HMEP, designed to identify how the programme can ensure its work can have maximum impact by reaching as many highway authorities as possible. HMEP two years ago highlighted poor end-to-end processes as one of six shortcomings of highways services.