Agenda and minutes

County Councillors Niki Penney, Terry Aldridge, Darren Clifford, Alan Schofield, Malcolm Barron and David Westley replaced County Councillors Miles Parkinson, Alyson Barnes, Richard Newman-Thompson, David O'Toole, Vivien Taylor and George Wilkins respectively for this meeting.

None.

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 Crompton declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 3 as a member of Preston City Council.

The Chair welcomed County Councillors Jenny Mein, Matthew Tomlinson, John Fillis, Tony Martin, Marcus Johnstone, Janice Hanson, Geoff Driver, Michael Devaney, Michael Green, Keith Sedgewick and Barrie Yates to the meeting.

The Chair also welcomed Jo Turton, Chief Executive, Steve Browne, Interim Executive director for the Environment, Eddie Sutton, Assistant Chief Executive and Ian Young, County Secretary and Solicitor.

The Chair invited Councillors Driver, Devaney, Green, Sedgewick and Yates to present the case for the call in of the cabinet's decision. A number of concerns were raised, including:

·  The assessment of the cost of refurbishment was based on a minimum spend, which was not in line with a figure in previous reports considered by Preston City Council. It was felt that this gave in effect an open-ended commitment.

·  There were concerns about the funding arrangements, and it was felt that the overprogamming of the capital programme was not appropriate.

·  The Youth Council was promised a purpose built Youth Zone facility in a different location, and instead were being offered part of the Bus Station. It was suggested that there needed to be a further consultation with young people through the Youth Council

·  Concerns were expressed about safety and security in that area of Preston

·  In general, it was proposed that more work on the detail of the scheme was necessary before the decision should go ahead.

Members of the Cabinet were invited to respond. A number of comments were made, including:

·  The structural survey indicated no major problems, although significant maintenance activity was required. The cost estimates were adequate, and represented a more certain level of commitment than the funding arrangement for the previous Youth Zone site.

·  The original proposed site of the Youth Zone was never ideal, and there had been strong support from Onside, the charity behind the Youth Zone, for the Bus Station site. The Youth Council had confirmed that they were keen to work with the Council on the new site.

·  It was recognised that it was a part of Preston in need of regeneration, but it was explained that this is partly what the work to the Bus Station would achieve. It was highlighted that it would be linked into the City Centre through the Fishergate redevelopment.

The Committee then discussed the matter. In the discussion, a number of issues were highlighted.

·  The proposal that had been approved by Cabinet was intended to be agreement to a scheme that could then be discussed with possible funding partners. It would not be possible to enter into those discussions without the approval of cabinet to the overall concept.

·  The previous location for the Youth Zone was a "least worst" option, and the Bus Station site would be more accessible for users.

·  It was confirmed that the funding requirement would be sufficient to give the building a further 25 years of life. Work would include redeveloping the ramps to set the barriers further back from the road, and there would also be discussion with the new owners of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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 was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will be held on Friday 5 December 2014 at 10:30am at the County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.30am on Friday 5 December at County Hall, Preston