Issue - meetings

Following scrutiny, members supported the recommendation outlined in the draft Cabinet report.

The chair welcomed a member of the public to the meeting and noted that person had submitted a request to ask a question too late for the required timescales. Democratic Services had offered them an opportunity to ask the question at the cabinet meeting instead when this report is being considered. The chair advised that the member of the public had accepted that option.

The chair gave members a background on the report and explained that it had previously been due to be presented to the cabinet board and the scrutiny committee in the previous civic year but there were concerns raised during a chairs briefing around the report. The chair credited officers for taking on board the concerns and officers had convened a meeting of cabinet members, interested councillors and others, to discuss this matter. The chair noted that as a result, the report is vastly improved from the original draft.

Members were unhappy that there are no timescales in the report and felt that to measure the effectiveness of the strategy, time scales are required to see if the authority is on track to achieve the targets. Members also wanted to see in the report what grants the authority has previously applied for so that they can compare and measure against those.

Members commented that there didn’t seem to be any measurable outcomes and asked that more detail be included.

Members noted that the routes need maintenance and foliage cutting back to remain accessible and they felt that the street scene budget and the highways budget needs to be flexible and work together as it’s a job that crosses over both departments.

Members were also concerned that the report date range was from 2024- 2029 but over half of 2024 had already passed and felt that had meant most of this year had been missed.

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Transport and Connectivity Cllr Wyndham Griffiths gave a response to the questions and stated that the report does cover 2024- 2029 and would have come earlier in the year but as the chair noted earlier there had been another meeting with interested counsellors to expand on what was wanted in the plan and that is why it's coming back to members now.

The Cabinet member advised that the delivery improvements are subject to grant funding as the authority does not have an active travel budget and without the certainty of funding, officers are uncomfortable setting exact timetables for delivery. Members were advised that the authority had applied for £13 million in grants and £152,000 of grant aid and of that they had received £6,000,573. The cabinet member advised that the authority has got roughly half of all the monies applied for.

The Cabinet member noted that there is no specific budget for maintenance and that aside from the grant funding, the authority only gets the capital costs, but any maintenance has got to come out of the Streetscene and council's budget.

The Cabinet member advised that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3