Local highway and footway improvement groups

The LHFIG is normally made up of not more than 10 members from the following groups:

• Members of the Area Board
• Town and Parish council representatives
• Community/stakeholder representatives

Meetings will be attended by relevant officers from Wiltshire council including a senior transport planner, a senior traffic engineer and a local highway maintenance engineer as necessary. Their purpose is to offer advice and support to the group but they do not vote on the issues raised.

The LHFIG may also invite representatives from local organisations to its meetings to give technical advice or to share pertinent local knowledge.

• It is expected that the LHFIG meets four times a year as set out in the LHFIG Terms of Reference (OpenDocument text format, 15 KB)(opens new window). Meetings are intended to be limited to the membership set out above, and other members of the Area Board who wish to attend.
• Members of the public can be invited to discuss specific issues at the discretion of the chairman.
• It should be noted that LHFIG is an advisory body, which cannot exercise delegated decision-making powers.

• A discretionary highways budget has been allocated to each Area Board by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport. Full details of the current years allocations are set out in the LHFIG Guidance Notes (OpenDocument text format, 27 KB)(opens new window)
• The amount allocated is dependent on the geographical size and population for each community area.
• The funding allocation is for capital funding and can only be used to provide new and improved highway infrastructure.
• It is suitable for small scale schemes which improve safety, increase accessibility and sustainability by promoting walking; cycling and public transport, and improve traffic management. More specific details on what the funding can and cannot be used for can be found in appendix B of the LHFIG Terms of Reference (OpenDocument text format, 15 KB)(opens new window)
• It cannot be used to fund revenue functions such as maintenance schemes or the provision of passenger transport services.

• Typically individuals raise highway issues by completion of a highways improvement form which can be found on the Local Highway and Footway Improvement Groups webpage.
• Representation for individuals at the LHFIG is typically made through their local Parish or Town council and it would be for a Parish / Town representative to attend the group and endorse the highways concerns / suggestions being made.

• The LHFIG has no formal decision-making authority on operational matters or budget expenditure but acts as an informal discussion forum making recommendations to the Area Board.
• Recommendations must be agreed at a full LHFIG meeting before being brought to the next Area Board meeting for approval.

With only a limited allocation, each group will look carefully at all the issues raised. Where a solution has been identified it will be prioritised along with all other received requests.

• If the estimated cost of an identified LHFIG scheme is found to be excess of the total discretionary amount available, the group may consider submitting a bid for funding from the centrally held substantive funds
• Such bids should be agreed at the October meeting of the LHFIG in order to meet the submission deadline of November.
• Each bid is subject to a full assessment appraisal and scored against set criteria before funding is allocated