Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from County Councillor Sean Serridge and Jenny Purcell.

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 Rob Bailey declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 5 - Value for Money - Potholes as he was employed by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 25th January 2024 be approved as an accurate record.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Aidy Riggott, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Growth, Andy Walker, Head of Service Business Growth, and Steve Burns, Head of Service Strategic Development.

The committee was presented a report on the county council's contribution towards the £12.8m Lancashire Economic Recovery and Growth programme towards post-Covid 19 economic recovery. The report also provided information on the pan-Lancashire Aerospace Watchtower Growth Accelerator project as a case study.

A presentation was provided during the meeting, and a copy can be found within the minutes.

Comments and questions raised by the committee were as follows:

·  Some of the challenges the area faced was the ability of manufacturers to effectively use digital technologies they had. For instance, some companies would purchase an Enterprise Management System with considerable capabilities, but they might only use it for managing the financial and logistics elements. What some of this work had found was that these companies could put relatively low cost monitoring systems on machining equipment, to help with productivity gains. In addition, it was highlighted that repair and maintenance schedules should also be put in place to minimise unforeseen outages.

·  It was noted that for Lancashire the evidence was suggesting that digital wasn't displacing jobs but complementing them. Businesses were not reducing jobs but using digital to supplement the work and processes.

·  The concept of how cyber interacted with the physical world would be an important factor for the Lancashire area. It was felt this could be an opportunity for the area to lead on this sector nationally and potentially worldwide.

·  The £12.8 million Lancashire Economic Recovery and Growth (LERG) fund was approved by Cabinet in September 2021. Whilst some funding was still available, officers were reassessing budget positions before allocating funds towards additional projects due to an increase in costs. Further conversations with District Councils were expected to take place to establish the most effective way to allocate funding.

·  On the £5m additional Levelling Up Fund, £1m of match funding was offered to those district councils who could evidence £2 million of local match funding (Tier 1) and £500,000 offered to successful Tier 2 bids. With funds remaining, it was reported some district councils were reviewing some of their plans.

·  It was noted that the Growth Accelerator Programme was a sector intelligence led steering group and did not necessarily include companies who were looking to benefit from the programme itself. The group provided an opportunity to share high level intelligence with companies further down the supply chain to deliver programmes around innovation and diversification.

·  It was confirmed that officers would carry out checks with those companies who had received interventions to check they had sustained any employment increases. Officers explained that engagement could continue with businesses and organisations involved in the Growth Accelerator Programme with repeat audits taking place on a revolving 6 month cycle up to 2 years after the awarding of funds to analyse the company's increase in productivity, sales and exports.

·  It was highlighted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, John Davies, Head of Service Highways Management Service, Kirstie Williams, Highways Group Manager – Countywide projects, Paul Binks, Asset Manager (Highways – Principal Engineer) and Rebecca Makinson, Highway Asset Principal (Capital Programme and Projects Development).

The committee was presented a report which provided information on the Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) and how Lancashire County Council intended to manage highways assets efficiently and effectively. A presentation was provided during the meeting, and a copy can be found within the minutes.

On the duration taken for requests received from county councillors for work to be carried out under the Local Deterioration Fund, it was confirmed that all the data was analysed up to three times per year, with any requests that came through from the middle of the year being added onto the next tranche of LDF schemes. On the weightings/factors used to determine the prioritisation of work, it was reported that a document had been signed off by the former Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport which set out how the Capital Programme was allocated. A copy of the document would be circulated to the committee.

Comments and questions raised by the committee were as follows:

·  It was confirmed that a summary of how the Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP) operated would be provided on the Lancashire County Council website and on the Local Deterioration Fund (LDF).

·  It was noted that approximately £40m worth of schemes had been submitted. With £15m of schemes costed up and an available budget of £4.6 million for the 2023-24 financial year to carry out repairs to road surfaces. It was clarified that the service did not have £15m in the budget to deliver those schemes in 2023/24.

·  Officers highlighted that the reactive maintenance and repair works for highways assets was only available for smaller, localised repairs for the 2023-24 financial year. It was highlighted that they did not have the budget to commission repairs to larger patches. In these instances, officers were making requests via the LDF pot to carry out that work. However, officers were in the process of reviewing and trialling new methods for repairs to larger patches.

·  Members of the committee felt disenfranchised with how reported highways defects were prioritised, and the TAMP appearing to be fully driven by a remote computer system. The ability for councillors to have some influence over this was not in place at Lancashire whereas other local authorities allocated around 80% through the modelling process and the remaining 20% driven by councillor engagement. Officers explained that with pothole repairs it was difficult to obtain member involvement, as this type of repair was done on a reactive basis. It was also explained that without using the TAMP process, the county council would have lost over £3m per year because the county council wouldn't have been following the well managed highways process and the requirements posed by the Department for Transport.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

A copy of the committee's work programme for 2023/24 which contained an update on progress with responses to the committee's recommendations on the Love Clean Streets App Review was presented.

Resolved: That;

(i)  The Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2023/24 be noted.

(ii)  The formal response from the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport to the committee's recommendations on the Love Clean Streets App Review 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 was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee will be held on Thursday 25 April 2024 at 10:30am in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee would be held on Thursday 25th April 2024 at 10:30am in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.