The Local Government Association (LGA) has released a report it buried three years ago covering the financial impact of the Government's Street Manager software.
Only released this summer following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Highways, the report details survey results on the cost of the Government's national road and street works management software made mandatory from July 2020.
The LGA press office had initially refused to release the information, which shows that across England's 150-plus local highway authorities, the lack of functionality in the Street Manager system costs councils more than £6m a year in extra fees.
The document is still marked up for an intended release date of December 2020, but was buried due to sensitivity in the LGA and its inability to arrive at a common policy on the system, Highways understands.
It reveals that 95% of councils (49 of the 51 respondents) said they ran a street works management system alongside Street Manager, incurring significant extra costs.
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