Roadwork clean up
Case reference EIR2026/01357
Received 11 June 2026
Published 30 June 2026
Request
Please treat the following as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and, where it concerns held environmental information, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
1. Do your roadworks and highway-maintenance contracts place an explicit obligation on contractors to remove all temporary signage, sign frames, sandbags and traffic cones on completion of the works, and if so, within what timescale?
2. When contractors bid on these contracts, do they include and charge you for the cost of that equipment? A general description of the contractual treatment is sufficient; we do not seek commercially sensitive rates. If you are able to share an indicative or aggregate value without breaching commercial confidence, that would be welcome.
3. Once the works are complete, do your contractors (or the utilities and works promoters operating under your permit scheme) have any contractual or commercial incentive to recover that equipment, and is non-recovery subject to any penalty, performance deduction or recharge?
4. Are contractors’ removal of redundant equipment inspected or monitored? In 2024/25 and 2025/26 to date, how many times have you applied a penalty, performance deduction or recharge for failure to remove redundant roadworks equipment, and what total sum did that amount to? If this is not recorded, please say so.
5. For the two financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26 to date, broken down by year: how many reports of abandoned or redundant roadworks equipment did you receive; how many items or loads (or, if recorded, what tonnage) did you remove; and how many reports were recorded as cleared? If you do not record this in a distinct category, please say so.
6. What was your total expenditure on clearing abandoned or redundant roadworks equipment in 2024/25 and in 2025/26 to date, including labour, plant, traffic management, disposal and contractor charges? If this is not kept separate from general highway maintenance or street-cleansing budgets, please confirm that.
7. Approximately how much does it cost you to clear a single report, item, or a typical clearance visit? If this is not recorded, an estimate, or the basis you would use, is welcome.
[Optional, for two-tier areas: If your authority is not the highway authority for the roads in your area, we would be grateful if you could confirm this and, where possible, indicate the responsible authority; the questions above may be treated as not applicable in that case.]
Response
Please treat the following as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and, where it concerns held environmental information, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
1. Do your roadworks and highway-maintenance contracts place an explicit obligation on contractors to remove all temporary signage, sign frames, sandbags and traffic cones on completion of the works, and if so, within what timescale?
A: Yes, on completion of the work
2. When contractors bid on these contracts, do they include and charge you for the cost of that equipment? A general description of the contractual treatment is sufficient; we do not seek commercially sensitive rates. If you are able to share an indicative or aggregate value without breaching commercial confidence, that would be welcome.
A: Yes, they include this in the Tender for the project and is site specific to the project
3. Once the works are complete, do your contractors (or the utilities and works promoters operating under your permit scheme) have any contractual or commercial incentive to recover that equipment, and is non-recovery subject to any penalty, performance deduction or recharge?
A: All signage must be removed from the highway once works have been completed. utilities can be fined under s74 of New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 if signage pertaining to their works is found after works have been completed.
4. Are contractors’ removal of redundant equipment inspected or monitored? In 2024/25 and 2025/26 to date, how many times have you applied a penalty, performance deduction or recharge for failure to remove redundant roadworks equipment, and what total sum did that amount to? If this is not recorded, please say so.
A: Yes, however this is not separated out to this level of detail within the Highway Maintenance budget
5. For the two financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26 to date, broken down by year: how many reports of abandoned or redundant roadworks equipment did you receive; how many items or loads (or, if recorded, what tonnage) did you remove; and how many reports were recorded as cleared? If you do not record this in a distinct category, please say so.
A: FY2024-25: 15 reports of items being left on site.
FY2025-26: 20 reports of items being left on site.
All items were removed by the specific utility, the number of items or tonnage is not recorded.
6. What was your total expenditure on clearing abandoned or redundant roadworks equipment in 2024/25 and in 2025/26 to date, including labour, plant, traffic management, disposal and contractor charges? If this is not kept separate from general highway maintenance or street-cleansing budgets, please confirm that.
A: This is not separated out to this level of detail within the Highway Maintenance budget
7. Approximately how much does it cost you to clear a single report, item, or a typical clearance visit? If this is not recorded, an estimate, or the basis you would use, is welcome.
A: This is not separated out to this level of detail within the Highway Maintenance budget. However, an estimated cost for a removal would be circa £130
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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