Agenda item

The Chairman reported that the training which had been held recently for members of the Committee in relation to contracts and procurement of contract had been excellent and over half of the Committee had attended.  The Chairman thanks the Infrastructure Commissioner and his team for putting the training together.  It was also suggested that this training should be raised with the Councillor Development Group and offered as a session to all members.

The Executive Councillor advised that he did not specifically have any announcements, but instead would give the Committee a flavour of some of the other issues which were ongoing in relation to Highways.

·         Town centre parking – a number of issues had been raised particularly in relation to Gainsborough and Spalding.  The Executive Councillor was exploring with the local members how the situation could be improved.

·         Development management issues with district councils planning committees continued to arise, but work continued to resolve them.

·         Transport for the East Midlands – this was now meeting on a regular basis.  Further investment into major road networks was expected (around £1 billion) and Lincolnshire was entering into a consultation for some of that funding.  Schemes were being drawn up around major road issues.

·         The future of the East Midlands Trains franchise was an ongoing issue.

·         There were now a substantial number of vacancies within the Highways team, and attempts to recruit were underway although this was proving difficult.  It was confirmed that these posts were all required and therefore recruitment would continue.

·         Highways IMT had been impacted by issues with the Confirm system.

·         Remembrance Day Parades – due to changes in legislation there was now a requirement for Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO's) to be submitted to the Council in order to hold a parade, as well as the need for marshalls to manage the parade, which would no longer be provided by the Police.  Members were asked to relay the message regarding TRO's to their communities.

·         Work had been ongoing with representatives of the food industry to organise a transport conference in the south of the county, to look at how the industry could reduce transport time for produce.

·         A lot of complaints were being received regarding overgrown hedges.

·         The opportunities around sponsorship of roundabouts by local businesses were being looked into further.

·         16,618 enquiries had been received through the Customer Service Centre this quarter.

·         During this quarter, 2,147 potholes had been reported, but the Council had actually filled around 25,000.

In relation to roundabout sponsorship it was queried whether this was something that the Committee should look at, and it was agreed that it could be looked at as there were some businesses which were very keen to be involved in this.

In respect of parades, it was highlighted that a lot of the remaining British Legion veterans were now quite elderly, and it was suggested whether the Council could liaise more closely with parade organisers, or look at a different way of doing things, maybe through district councils.  The Executive Councillor acknowledged that this was an issue which needed to be taken into account, and also reported that work was underway to agree set routes for a parade, and also to simplify the routes and have a standard plan that could be used each time, as there were now reduced resources.  It was also clarified that the County Council did not charge charitable organisations for TRO's for parades.