Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs W Bowkett and M A Griggs.

The Chief Executive reported that, under Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, Councillors B Adams and I G Fleetwood had been appointed to the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee to replace Councillors C L Strange until further notice and Mrs W Bowkett for this meeting only.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

RESOLVED

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman requested that thanks to the gritter crews for their work during the recent cold snap be recorded, and also expressed thanks to the officers for the updates sent to councillors in relation to winter maintenance.

Members were advised that in relation to the item from the previous meeting on weed control, the Executive and Executive Councillor had been asked to examine the frequency of weed spraying and asking them to consider this as part of the upcoming budget round.

There were no announcements at this time from the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT or the senior officers.

(To receive a verbal update from Paul Rusted, Infrastructure Commissioner, on progress with the Highways 2020 options appraisal work)

The Committee received an update from Paul Rusted, Infrastructure Commissioner, on the progress with the Highways 2020 options appraisal following the meeting of the Executive on 5 December 2017.  It was reported that this was unanimously well received by the Executive and provided the opportunity to move on with the rest of the work.  Since the meeting, various working groups had started meeting including officer groups looking at the performance specification and contract documents.  This work would be brought back to this committee as well as the councillor working group. 

The authority was still undertaking market engagement and there continued to be interest in the work from those companies that would be interested in tendering for this work.  It was considered positive that there was a lot of interest in tendering for this work particularly as there were projects such as HS2 which were beginning to have an impact on capacity within the industry.

Officers would begin working on tender documents to ensure that they were ready to go out at the appropriate time.

Members queried how the HS2 project would impact on Lincolnshire and were advised that it would be due to civil engineering resources and it was being found that a lot of staff from civil engineering companies were being drawn to the HS2 scheme, and it was already proving difficult to recruit to vacancies for the Lincoln Eastern Bypass.  There was also the issue of material supply, as a project such as HS2 required a lot of materials, which could cause the market costs of materials to increase.

(To receive a report by Matt Jones, Parking Services Manager, regarding the CCTV enforcement trial implemented outside eight schools within the County)

The Committee received a comprehensive report regarding the CCTV enforcement trial implemented outside eight schools within the county.  It was noted that the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee had previously supported and recommended that Lincolnshire County Council implement a trial scheme involving a CCTV vehicle to be used outside of eight primary schools to monitor motorist's behaviour on school keep clear markings.  The scheme was implemented in January 2017 and was ongoing at the time of the meeting.

It was reported that the eight schools involved in the trial were as follows:

·         William Alvey Primary School, Eastgate, Sleaford

·         St Thomas' School, Wyberton Low Road, Boston

·         Boston West Academy, Sussex Avenue, Boston

·         National Junior School, Castlegate, Grantham

·         Sir Francis Hill School, Bristol Drive, Lincoln

·         The Priory Witham Academy, Shannon Ave, Lincoln

·         Leslie Manser Primary School Kindgsdown Road, Lincoln

·         Kingsdown Nursery School, Kingsdown Road, Lincoln

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         The Executive Councillor commented that it was an excellent report, and reported that he had visited each of the locations before the trial, and again during the trial with an officer.  It was acknowledged that there were some substantial challenges with some of the locations.

·         Generally the trial had been very well received, and there had been a number of head teachers who had been in contact requesting the trial for their school.  There had been some negative feedback from those schools where the authority had found it difficult to engage on these issues.

·         It was clarified that a majority of the parents spoken to as part of this trial were drivers, and it was not just the 'walking' parents who were supportive of this initiative.

·         One member commented that safety outside schools was regularly reported as an issue at the Carholme Forum meetings. 

·         It was suggested that extending the trial was the right thing to do and then would need to be examined whether it became part of the day to day business of the authority.

·         It was queried how long a vehicle had to be on zig zag lines for it to be classed as an offence.  Members were advised that these were no stopping areas and as soon as the car stops it would be in breach of the restrictions.

·         It was noted that evidence had to be strong enough to be able to issue a ticket, such as recording the car registration number as well as clear signage in the area.  The footage would then be sent to the back office to review and it would be determined whether there was enough evidence to issue a ticket.

·         It was commented that the CCTV vehicles were expensive items to purchase and it was queried whether there would be a way to make better use of them as they would probably not be used between 9am and 2.45pm.  It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

(To receive a report by Paul Rusted, Infrastructure Commissioner, which sets out the performance of the highways service including the Lincolnshire Highways Alliance, Major Highways Schemes Update, the National Highways and Transport (NHT) Survey 2017 and the Customer Satisfaction Information)

Consideration was given to a report which set out the performance of the highways service including the Lincolnshire Highways Alliance, Major Highway Schemes Update, the National Highways and Transport (NHT) Survey 2017 and the Customer Satisfaction Information.

Members were guided through the report and were given the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was commented that the Alliance performance was good, but the results of the NHT Survey were disappointing.

·         In terms of the transport assessment for the western growth corridor, implications for impacts on the A46 were being scoped, but it would come down to an issue of balancing costs against a list of priorities.

·         It was commented that the satisfaction levels being down were more likely due to the visible weeds at the side of the road, as this would create a perception about the condition of the roads in general.

·         It was queried whether there was any merit in looking at the quality of footpaths arounds schools, however, it was noted that this should be included as part of a school's travel plan.

·         In terms of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, it was commented that one of the issues was capacity and cars being stationary, and so it was queried whether so many roundabouts were needed.  However, it was also considered positive that the project was coming in under budget in some areas, and it was queried whether the savings could be used to make modifications to the scheme.

·         It was queried whether there was an issue of confidence with the contractor as its share price had dropped dramatically since the start of the contract as details of its financial situation had emerged.  Members were reassured that the project would be constructed and finished in an appropriate time.  It was noted that some of the issues being experienced by the contractor had so far on had any impact on this project.  The phase of works which would be the earth works was about to commence and the authority would be closely monitoring the project.

·         It was noted that ragwort was a particularly difficult weed to remove and that it needed to be sprayed at the right time, officers reported that it would only be treated where it was adjacent to live stock.

·         It was important that the archaeology from the Lincoln Eastern Bypass was captured and recorded.

·         Queries were raised regarding the repair of faulty streetlights, and members were advised that there should not be any back log and as long as they were being reported in the correct way they should be being repaired.

·         It was noted that in relation to the National Highways and Transport Survey, and the Highways Maintenance/Enforcement theme benchmark results, Lincolnshire had not achieved the average result for any of the indicators.  Members were advised that the survey had been sent out to between 1400 – 1500 members of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

(To receive a report by Daniel Steel, Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity is focused where it can be of greatest benefit)

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity was focused where it could be of greatest benefit.

Members were advised that at the next meeting on 22 January 2018, the Committee would have the opportunity to consider and comment on the proposed highways budget.

It was also noted that the following items would be added to the work programme:

·         Short term communications strategy

·         CCTV enforcement trial strategy

It was also noted that a meeting of the Well Managed Highways Sounding group would be booked in for after the next meeting in January.

It was reported that two subjects had been identified for future scrutiny as follows:

·         Speed management policy for 20mph limits

·         Roundabout sponsorship

It was suggested that a report on both of these subjects should come to the Committee to determine whether they should go forward to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as a topic for Scrutiny Panel.

RESOLVED

1.    That the work programme as set out in Appendix A of the report be noted.

2.    That the future agenda items identified be added to the work programme.

3.    That the potential scrutiny panel topics highlighted above be investigated further.