Dear Ms Wilkes RE: LCC Response to the Regulation 28 Report arising from the Inquest into the Death of Ayan Sediqi We write on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council (‘LCC’) in response to the Regulation 28 Report issued by the Area Coroner for Greater Lincolnshire on the 9 January 2026 following the inquest into the death of Ayan Sediqi, which concluded on the 19 December
2025. As set out within the report, the accident occurred on the A1 (southbound) on the 2 January 2025. At the location of the accident there was a significant volume of water flowing across both lanes of the southbound carriageway, some of which had turned to ice due to the freezing temperatures. The accident occurred after the vehicle, in which Ayan Sediqi was a passenger, encountered the ice causing the vehicle to slide across the carriageway into the layby and collide with a tree. The water was identified as coming from a drainage pipe running adjacent to the A1 southbound carriageway, which was blocked by the ingress of tree roots. Following the collision there was a media appeal by Lincolnshire Police, which evidenced that many members of the public had witnessed the water on the carriageway; however, enquiries revealed that no reports were received by any of the authorities involved.

The report raises the Coroner’s concern in relation to the lack of public awareness as to who, where and how motorists should report circumstances which present a risk of immediate danger to road users. Responsibility for the maintenance and repairs of the roads and/or drainage in Lincolnshire is shared between LCC and the National Highways Agency and is dependent on the particular road and location. The maintenance and repair of drains on the A1 at the accident location is the responsibility of the National Highways Agency and a full repair was conducted once they had knowledge of the issue in relation to the blocked drain. As set out within the Highway Code the first point of contact, where there is an immediate risk of danger to road users, is the emergency services on 999. As set out during the Coroner’s investigation, LCC has a system in place which allows for defects to be reported to relevant authorities, which would enable any identified defect to be picked up and repaired in line with LCC’s Highway Asset Management Plan(‘HIAMP’). The National Highways Agency also has a similar system in place. Reports to LCC can be made in the following ways: Customer Service Centre (‘CSC’) LCC has a Customer Service Centre (‘CSC’). This is a centrally located telephone answering service for the whole County Council. If a call is received regarding a potential highway defect, the CSC advisor logs and records the call as the caller describes the issue. On conclusion of the call the CSC advisor provides the caller with a reference number to enable any follow-up to be made. The call is automatically dated and timed on the computerised system known as CRM. The CRM automatically creates an "enquiry" in the Confirm highways asset management system. These enquiries are available to Officers within minutes, either visible on dashboards on the web based Confirm OnDemand or on their tablet devices whilst they are in the field through Confirm Connect. Their list of public reports updates wirelessly throughout the day on these tablets, is displayed in list or map views and can be updated on-site or repair jobs issued. FixMyStreet (‘FMS’) LCC’s website allows fault reports to be submitted electronically through FixMyStreet (‘FMS’). FMS is a stand-alone platform, which LCC has integrated into its own reporting system. Fault reports can also be submitted through the national FMS website. When a report is generated, this automatically creates an enquiry within the Confirm asset management system. In the same way as with enquiries logged by the CSC, these fault reports display as enquiries either on dashboards in the host system or on list and map views on tablet devices in the field through Confirm Connect. Fault reports on FMS are therefore available to officers within a few minutes of being logged by the public, subject to internet connections and 4G coverage. Where a report is received and it is at a location

that is the responsibility of the National Highways Agency, FMS will ensure that the report is directed to them to be actioned. Service Requests Any correspondence that amounts to a ‘service request’ will be logged into the CRM by the Divisional Support Staff. These will then be forwarded to the relevant officer for action in the same way as the telephone calls to the CSC. A ‘service request’ includes, but is not limited to, a request for repair of a highway defect and notification of a claim or incident which is alleged to have been caused by a defect in the highway. It is clear that there is an awareness of LCC’s reporting system, as LCC receive daily reports, which are actioned and dealt with in line with the HIAMP. Due to the size of the Lincolnshire Road Network, along with LCC’s own inspection and maintenance regime, LCC rely on the reports made by members of the public to assist in ensuring that the roads remain safe for all road users. There has been no suggestion that reporting systems are inadequate; however, the Coroner’s concerns arise in relation to the lack of public awareness of the reporting systems in place and what they should do in an emergency situation. As stated above, LCC rely on the reporting mechanisms they have in place and the following improvements are currently being considered/implemented:
• Amendments to the wording on the LCC FixMyStreet System web page to better reflect the responsibilities under the different types of reportable defects.

• Liaison with LCC’s Communications Team for a push on the available reporting methods, including explaining the different organisations responsible for the road network within Lincolnshire and what to do in an emergency situation.

• The LCC Communications Strategy is currently under review and is looking at aspects such as: Refined Template Responses As an experienced adopter of FMS, LCC’s approach and template responses have often been recognised by mySociety as examples of best practice. To maintain this high standard, the existing templates are being reviewed to ensure they are clear, consistent and easy to understand. The aim is to give customers the right information, at the right time, including explaining why an outcome has been reached. The service acknowledges that not all templates suit every scenario and will use feedback from councillors and customers to make improvements. This is a significant piece of work due to the Council’s highly detailed configuration of FMS. Currently, 44 bespoke templates are assigned across 144 different categories and

status combinations. Each one needs to be checked for wording and accuracy in the specific operational context in which is it triggered. Changes will therefore be introduced in stages as templates are revised, tested and rolled out. This approach ensures that changes are carefully considered and implemented without disrupting service consistency. Over time these improvements will strengthen communication quality, support transparency, and build trust in the service. Better Routine and Signposting Officers regularly review system and process performance to identify opportunities for improvement. Officers are currently testing functionality to correct a report’s category where an issue has been logged under the wrong heading so it can automatically be sent to the correct team. Improvements are also being made to the way follow up comments added to the FMS by customers are directed to officers to ensure clear visibility and aid timely responses. Work is ongoing to improve asset data and ownership clarity for both LCC and non-LCC assets, this will enable additional information to be rolled out across other categories resulting in increased transparency and awareness for customers. Planned Improvements Over the next 12 months planned improvements will build on changes already delivered and in progress. The pipeline of work will continue to focus efforts on changes that improve customer experience and can be delivered with the same level of resource or ideally less. This section provides more detail on some of the plant improvements. Improved Reporting Process Enhancing the reporting journey is important for accuracy, efficiency and customer experience. Additional guidance or prompts, and clearer map keys will make the process more intuitive at the point of reporting. Alongside this, additional features such as What3Words will be explored to increase report location accuracy for categories that do not use asset only reporting. As well as making things clearer for the customer, these changes will help enable more effective triage. Furthermore, within their Engagement Strategy, LCC have committed to the following objectives: Provide comprehensive service information and resources, and improve stakeholder awareness of their availability to drive interaction with self-service channels Effective self-service relies on the availability of relevant and accessible information. Despite the availability of digital platforms such as one.network and FixMyStreet, and

information on the LCC website, many members of the public remain unaware of where to find accurate information and timely updates. By improving public awareness and engagement with these resources, we aim to enhance transparency and enable residents to self-serve. By the end of March 2026, we will complete an audit of all public-facing highways information on the LCC website. Following this we will deliver identified improvements and undertake quarterly reviews to ensure quality and accessibility are maintained. We will seek to raise public awareness of service information and resources through targeted stakeholder communication and will measure performance using website analytics data including unique visitor numbers for key website pages. Data from 2024/25 will provide a baseline from which we aim to achieve an annual increase in unique website visitors. How we will achieve this: Audit the availability, quality, consistency and accessibility of all public-facing highways information on our website to identify any information gaps or areas for improvement by March 2026. Implement improvements where necessary to better enable stakeholders to self-serve, and undertake quarterly reviews, including quality checks to ensure our highways content is comprehensive and meets accessibility standards. Ensure stakeholders have access to relevant information about highways services, including policies, planned works and self-service tools via the council’s website. Regularly update service delivery information so stakeholders remain informed of current priorities and any changes. Undertake quarterly reviews with relevant stakeholders to maintain availability, quality and accessibility of information. Promote the availability of information and self-service tools through the highway’s newsletter and targeted other stakeholder communications. Increase visibility at public events to promote information sources and gather feedback on how to further improve awareness. Increase the use of social media channels to engage a wider audience. Continue to develop and promote FixMyStreet (FMS) Ensuring the platform, we use deliver a user-friendly experience, is crucial for enabling stakeholder engagement. By continuing to develop and promote the FMS platform we ensure it provides quality information, integrates with our internal asset management system to support delivery and demonstrates our commitment to continuous improvement and enhancing stakeholder experience.

We will continue to maintain a prioritised pipeline of enhancements. Performance will be measured through the number of unique users actively using FMS and the percentage of positive feedback received through the post-completion survey. Data collected during 2025/26 will provide a baseline from which we aim to achieve an annual improvement of both measures. How we will achieve this: Progress a pipeline of FMS improvements to improve customer experience, enhance the quality of reports and visibility of planned works, and maintain efficient integration with our asset management system. Promote FMS through planned communication activities. Review existing template responses to ensure customer communication is comprehensive and suitable for the situation. Collect stakeholder satisfaction data through the post-completion survey. LCC seeks to ensure that the Lincolnshire Road Network is repaired and maintained and continually seeks to improve its methods of working through its policies and identified strategies with a view to ensuring that the roads are safe for all road users and avoiding accidents like the one involving Ayan Sediqi. We take this opportunity to again offer our sincere condolences to the family of Ayan Sediqi for their loss.

Dear Ms Wilkes Re: Inquest touching the death of the late Ayan SEDIQI - Regulation 28 - Report to Prevent Future Deaths Thank you for your recent Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths, issued on 12 January 2026, following the inquest into the death of Ayan SEDIQI. We appreciate the opportunity to respond and to outline the actions our organisation has taken, and is continuing to take, to address the matters of concern you identified. We take the issues raised in your report extremely seriously and are committed to learning from this tragic incident to reduce the risk of any similar occurrence in the future. Summary of the Concerns Raised You identified the following matters of concern: Given the duration and extent of the flowing water/ice on the Al at the location of the collision, and the number of road users who would have passed over it, that there is a lack of public awareness as to who, where and how motorists should report circumstances which present a risk of immediate danger to road users. Planned Actions: To address the concern regarding public awareness of how to report road-related matters, we propose the following action: National Highways Customer Contact Centre Promotion: We will work with National Highways to support and amplify the promotion of their 24/7 Customer Contact Centre number within Lincolnshire Police engagement activity relating to road-related issues. This will include incorporating the number into our public-facing materials, community engagement sessions, digital communications, and routine messaging. The purpose of this action is to ensure that members of the public have greater clarity about who to contact and how to report concerns, enabling relevant agencies to receive timely information and take appropriate action. Strengthening this awareness will support faster issue resolution and help reduce the likelihood of similar circumstances arising in the future. Deputy Chief Constable Police Headquarters PO Box 999, Lincoln LN5 7PH (SatNav: LN2 2LT)

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Page 2 24 February 2026 We believe that the action we are taking enables National Highways to best inform the public in Lincolnshire about how to report crimes to the relevant responsible organisation. Whilst we are clear that the responsibility to triage and respond to concerns around the Al in Lincolnshire rests with National Highways, we understand that our engagement reach locally is more likely to reach the intended audience, and therefore represents a better opportunity to prevent further incidents. We are committed to learning from this case and ensuring that robust and effective systems are in place to prevent future deaths. We hope that the actions outlined provide assurance that the concerns raised in your report have been fully considered and are being actively addressed. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.

1

REGULATION 29 RESPONSE TO A REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

THIS RESPONSE IS BEING SENT TO:

The Area Coroner for the Coroner area of Greater Lincolnshire, of The Myle Cross Centre, Macaulay Drive, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN2 4EL in response to a ‘Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths’ issued after an inquest into the death of Ayan Sediqi.

1 NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

I am , Director of Operational Services, Operations Directorate, responding on behalf of National Highways Limited, Three Snowhill, Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham, B4 6GA.

National Highways is the highway authority for the strategic road network (SRN) of 4,400 miles of major A roads and most motorways in England. National Highways is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the SRN on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport.

2 CORONER’S MATTERS OF CONCERN

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows:–

There is a lack of public awareness as to who, where and how motorists should report circumstances which present a risk of immediate danger to road users.

3 DETAILS OF ACTION TAKEN

Reporting an Emergency

To report a risk of immediate danger to road users, the Highway Code provides clear guidance in the section “Breakdowns and Incidents (275 to 287)” that the first point of contact where there is immediate danger / an emergency (risk of collision, injury, fire etc) or obstructions is to call the emergency services on
999.A link to the relevant section of the Highway Code is provided here.

National Highways Customer Contact Centre

If a road user calls the National Highways 24/7 Customer Contact Centre (CCC) on 0300 123 5000, we provide the same guidance in the front-end message customers hear, namely that they should call 999 if the nature of their call is an emergency. The CCC handled over 379,000 customer contacts (telephone calls, emails) in the 12 months to 31 January 2026, with the near 300,000 telephone calls being answered on average within 37 seconds. The nature of these calls range from reports of broken-down vehicles and potholes, to requests for details of planned road closures and CCTV footage to support insurance claims.

When a customer calls the CCC raising an immediate risk or issue, this is immediately referred to one of our seven Regional Operations Centres (ROCs)

2 who will review and, depending on the priority level of the risk, consider sending it to the emergency services or despatch a resource to assess the reported situation thereby ensuring safety issues are responded to in a timely nature at any time of the day.

National Highways Website – Defect Reporting

Understanding the shift towards self-service channels, we have introduced a Defect Reporting Tool (DRT) on the National Highways website (https://report.nationalhighways.co.uk/) that can be accessed through just three clicks from the home page. Before accessing the DRT, customers are again reminded to call 999 in an emergency. National Highways received 12,970 reports through the DRT tool in the 12 months to the end of December 2025. An important feature of the DRT is that it understands who operates and maintains the road and location that a user is reporting an issue about. If the road is operated by a Local Highway Authority (LHA), the user’s report is automatically directed to the relevant LHA to investigate.

During 2026/27 we plan to launch a new version of the National Highways website that is designed on optimising how users find the DRT and making it visible on multiple pages for increased ease of access.

Road Improvement Schemes

When travelling on the SRN, we do place black on yellow hard plate signs at the end of major roadwork schemes, providing road users with details of how to contact National Highways via the CCC number on 0300 123 5000.

4 DETAILS OF FURTHER ACTION PROPOSED

To increase road user awareness of National Highways and how we can be contacted, we are already exploring the following themes and opportunities:

Communications Activity

We will look to incorporate advice into existing campaigns where feasible to do so, and we will explore the possibility of more bespoke awareness raising activity in this space. This could include information in relevant press briefings, social activity and through our partnerships (building on our existing work with for example, Halfords, KwikFit and police forces across England.

Fleet Livery

National Highways currently has 803 on-road vehicles that have the

We will seek to extend this to all new National Highways vehicles as the fleet is replaced over time to increase the number of our vehicles displaying our website address to over 1,300.

3 Engagement Van

National Highways has an engagement van that travels the country to support colleagues when they are meeting the general public and discussing future road work schemes. By 30 June 2026, we will ensure that they have promotional material that covers when and how members of the public can contact National Highways.

Motorway Service Areas (MSAs)

We maintain good working relationships with the companies who operate the MSAs and we will seek to identify how we might work with them to promote how and when to contact National Highways at the next meeting, expected to be by 31 August 2026.

Wayfinder Services

Through our Digital Labs team we have established and maintain relationships with wayfinder service providers, such as Google and Waze, providing them with access to our data. We recognise that road users have difficulty in understanding where the responsibility between National Highways and Local Highway Authority roads starts and ends. Whilst we understand the wayfinder service providers are private entities and make the decisions on their own products, we could use these relationships to explore the issue with them. We will seek out the next opportunity to discuss the subject and this will be done by 30 April 2026.

Traffic Officers and Highways Inspectors

A number of roles within National Highways interact with road users as part of their day-to-day duties. We will ensure that they have access to the information they need to educate and inform road users about when and how to contact National Highways as part of those regular interactions. This will be in place and rolled out to the Traffic Officers and Highways Inspectors by 30 September
2026.

Social Media Channels

Whilst we promote the use of other ways of contacting National Highways to inform us of a risk to road users, we recognise that customers also use Social Media. We are currently standing up a new 24/7 team to handle contacts received through our X (formerly known as Twitter) channels which is planned to be operational from April 2026.

Roadside Infrastructure

Variable Message Signs (VMS) are the most visible piece of infrastructure at the roadside of National Highways’ network, although located predominantly on motorways and not on the major A-roads.

VMS are traffic signs covered by legislation pertaining to their use and accordingly we prioritise safety and operational messaging. However, we will explore opportunities to increase awareness of National Highways using VMS

4 by the end of 2026, in line with safety and operational requirements. Such use of VMS would need to be similar to “Don’t Drive Tired” and linked to wider communications, and mustn’t be seen to encourage mobile phone use, due to the associated safety implication.

At the same time, we will also investigate if hard plate signage (black on yellow signs) with appropriate messaging, might guide road users to reporting situations they consider present a risk of immediate danger to road users.

5 TIMETABLE FOR ACTION

DATE ACTION

Ongoing Ensure all relevant communications activities contain details as to how to contact National Highways. Ongoing Ensure all newly commissioned vehicles into National Highways’ fleet incorporate the National Highways website into the livery. 30/04/26 To have established our Social Media Response Team to respond to contacts made through social media channels (X / Twitter). 30/04/26 To have met with wayfinder service providers and explored what opportunities there might be to inform road users about who operates / maintains the road they are travelling on. 30/06/26 Ensure that the Engagement Van has promotional material that covers when and how members of the public can contact National Highways. 31/08/26 To have raised with MSA operators how to better promote contacting National Highways. 30/09/26 To have ensured our on-road customer facing people have the knowledge / material to inform road users how to contact National Highways. 30/09/26 To have explored how we might use roadside infrastructure aligned with other communications, to inform road users about how to contact National Highways.

6 SAFETY OF ROAD USERS

The safety of everyone on our road network matters; it is an imperative for our business in what we set out to achieve and a core value of our organisation in how we go about it.

The actions already taken and those which are planned as outlined above are designed to help report a risk of immediate danger to road users to National Highways so that appropriate action can be taken to prevent future deaths.

4 March 2026 Signed:

Director of Operational Services