Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to note that County Councillor Edward Nash psc has been appointed as Chair of the External Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year. 

The Full Council appointed County Councillor David O'Toole as Chair of the Committee in May 2017.  County Councillor Aidy Riggott was appointed to replace Councillor O'Toole as Chair of the Committee following Councillor O'Toole's appointment as Chair of the Internal Scrutiny Committee on 11 January 2018.  Councillor Riggott has recently been appointed as a Lead Member, which has resulted in Councillor Nash being appointed to replace him as Chair of the External Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved: That the appointment of County Councillor Edward Nash psc as Chair of the External Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the 2017/18 municipal year be noted.

There were no apologies.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

County Councillor Anne Cheetham declared a non-pecuniary interest as she was a trustee of the East Lancashire Railway Trust.

The Chair welcomed Jonathan Spruce, Interim Strategy Director; Robin Miller-Stott, Senior Policy and Strategy Officer from Transport for the North; and Dave Colbert, Subject Matter Expert/Specialist Advisor: Transport Planning from LCC, to the meeting. The report presented set out the key messages of the draft Strategic Transport Plan for the North; a 30-year vision for transport investment currently out for consultation. A copy of the revised presentation is set out in the minutes.

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There were three core themes identified in the transport plan, connecting people, connecting businesses, and moving goods. There were four objectives set for the transport plan:

·  Transforming economic performance;

·  Improving opportunities across the North;

·  Promoting and supporting the built and natural environment; and

·  Increasing efficiency, reliability and resilience of the transport system.

Regarding the consultation it was reported that the County Council would respond in a narrative form rather than completing the questionnaire and propose a shortlist of questions to be put forward. The County Council's response would be considered at the meeting of Cabinet on 12 April 2018. Members of the Committee made the following requests for potential inclusion in the in the County Council's response to the Transport for the North consultation:

·  The electrification of the Preston to Leeds railway connection and Preston to Colne/Skipton.

·  Improvement of the A585, from Windy Harbour to Junction 3; and connectivity of the A585 into Fleetwood peninsula.

·  Railway connection from Rossendale to Greater Manchester and connection to Metro links.

·  Reducing heavy goods movement on the roads and better ways of distributing freight including the placement of distribution centres and restriction on delivery times in towns and city centres.

·  Encourage Transport for the North to retain fares to enable reinvestment in the north and incentivise rail travel.

·  An integrated green infrastructure developed alongside improvements to the rail and road networks to protect the rural areas.

·  Improvements to the A59 from Liverpool.

·  Improvements to the railway line that travels alongside the A59 from Liverpool to Preston.

·  Connectivity of railways across Wyre district and consideration of farming communities for example in the Over-Wyre area.

·  The Enterprise Zones become an economic hub and the relevant importance of them be brought into the plan.

·  Better connection to Yorkshire of the A59 and A56.

It was noted that the plan would be finalised in the Autumn of 2018.

Resolved: That;

1.  The External Scrutiny Committee's requests as set out in the minutes above be considered for inclusion in the County Council's response to Transport for the North's consultation on the Draft Strategic Transport Plan to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting scheduled for 12 April 2018;

2.  All County Councillors be encouraged to respond in their own capacity to the Transport for the North's consultation; and

3.  Representatives from Transport for the North be invited to a future meeting of the Committee.

The report presented set out the work plan for the newly established External Scrutiny Committee. A list of topics requested by members of the Committee at its meeting held on 25 July 2017 was also set out in the work plan.

At the request of the Chair, members were provided with a handout at the meeting detailing the newly established rapporteur mechanism for the scrutiny function. The Chair felt the rapporteur mechanism represented an ideal opportunity for this Committee to utilise and asked members of the Committee to report back at the next scheduled meeting with some suggested topics for rapporteurs to look into. The Committee's work plan would also be reviewed at the next scheduled meeting on 24 April.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next ordinary meeting of the External Scrutiny Committee will be held on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the External Scrutiny Committee will take place on Tuesday 24 April 2018 at 10.30am in Cabinet Room B (The Diamond Jubilee Room) at the County Hall, Preston.