Highways and Neighbourhoods Cabinet Member – Minutes – 22 January 2014

95 (42)HIGHWAYS LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN PROGRAMME UPDATE – The Director of Places submitted a report updating the Cabinet Member on the progress of delivering the current Local Transport Plan and Capital budget programmes.

Transport capital expenditure was mainly secured through the Local Transport Plan (LTP) process.  The council was required to submit a LTP submission for the Department of Transport.  The plan set out transport priorities for the council.  Last year had seen the start of the third generation of the plans.  They now covered a 15-year period.

As part of the LTP submission, council’s were required to produce a three year Delivery Plan.  This plan set out the programme themes and expected outcomes for the plan. 

There were two funding streams within the LTP award: Integrated Transport and Highway Maintenance.  The allocations for the current year including carry forwards were as follows:

  • Integrated Transport £1,509.000
  • Highway Maintenance £4,114,00
  • Additional capital £1,991.000

Programmes of work were prepared by professionally qualified officers, considering transport priorities and performance targets.  The breakdown into programmes of work was assessed using agreed policies and criteria.

Highway maintenance schemes were prioritised using nationally recognised highway condition assessment criteria within a prioritisation framework.  Where appropriate, maintenance schemes also included measures to improve road safety (particularly for vulnerable road users), increase personal security, reduce crime and enhance the street scene.

Monitoring of the programme could reveal both underspends or overspends on various budget lines whilst the base budgets were amended centrally.  The current position as set out in Appendix 1 to the report indicated that the LTP programme of works balanced and was fully committed.

Resolved – (a) That the progress of the delivery of the programme be noted and (b) that the potential start dates for future schemes, set out in Appendix 2 to the report, be noted.

96 (43) SCHOOL CROSSING PATROL – LAKESIDE PARKWAY, SCUNTHORPE – The Director of Places submitted a report seeking approval to establish a new School Crossing Patrol site on Lakeside Parkway in Scunthorpe.

There were currently 60 School Crossing Patrol sites in North Lincolnshire.  They worked term time only – 192 days a year.

The criteria for establishing a School Crossing Patrol site was approved by the Development and Environment Committee on 30 July 1996 (minute 238 refers).

St Peter and St Paul CE Primary School opened in September 2012.  They requested a School Crossing Patrol at the time and a site survey and traffic/pedestrian count was carried out.  The low number of people crossing on their way to and from school meant the site did not reach the criteria.

Increased pupil numbers at the school during the school year 2013/14 now meant that the number of people crossing Lakeside Parkway on the way to and from school had risen.  A new request for a School Crossing Patrol was made and the survey and count now met the criteria.

Resolved – That the creation of a new School Crossing Patrol site on Lakeside Parkway, Scunthorpe be approved.

The corresponding report of the following item (Minute 97 refers) contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

 97 (44) PUBLIC TRANSPORT: ALLOCATION OF BUS SERVICE OPERATORS’ GRANT (BSOG) – The Director of Places submitted a report setting out principles for the distribution of the BSOG in relation to subsidised local (tendered) bus services.

The Cabinet Member was briefed in December 2013 (minute 91 refers) on the devolution of BSOG funding to Local Transport Authorities.  As a result of the time period used to establish the amount for each council, the amount for North Lincolnshire did not include a number of new registered school contracts that came into effect from September 2012.  Therefore there would be a shortfall in the council’s BSOG allocation.

The shortfall had now been quantified and a one-off exercise had also been carried out of revising tender prices for all eligible contracts.

The exercise of allocating the BSOG to operators was now complete.  Appendix 1 to the report set out the financial implications with respect to options detailed in the report.

The Cabinet Member was also asked to agree a number of principles in relation to the future allocation of the BSOG.  These were also detailed in the report.

Resolved – (a) That Option 1, set out in the report at paragraph 3.1, be approved, and (b) that the principles of future BSOG payments, as set out in paragraph 2.5 of the report, be approved.

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Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.