Issue - meetings

Mr P Osborne - Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport presented the item.Nikola Floodgate-Road Safety & Active Travel Group Manager and Jamie Watson-Senior Schemes Programme Manager were also in attendance.

1)    KCC had been awarded £1.86 Million from Active Travel England under the Active Travel Fund Tranche 5(ATF5) to develop and construct active travel schemes throughout the county.

2)     Funding was based on £1.67 million in capital and £250,000 in revenue and was based on population and capability ratings. Schemes had been selected through consultation with districts and boroughs and had been reviewed by the Members Cycling and Walking groups (MCW) and would be overseen by the Cabinet Member for Highways and transport.

3)    A cross-party working group, in collaboration with Highways and Transportation, would oversee the delivery of development schemes funded entirely by a designated grant. No additional Council funding would be required.

4)    All development schemes would be completed by 31 March 2026, with construction targeted to be finalized by 31 March 2027. The Council would ensure full compliance with legal obligations, including procurement regulations, health and safety standards, and equality duties.

5)    Members raised concerns that no borough Members had seen the schemes due to the recent Joint Transport Board being cancelled (JTB) or it not being included on the agenda. Mr Prater highlighted a lack of scrutiny around the programmes that had made the ATF list.

6)    A significant number of applications had been submitted from across the county, and decisions would be made to fully fund, partially fund, or reject schemes. Members suggested that there had been a lack of visibility at certain points of the process.

7)    The paper referenced a list of schemes submitted by districts and boroughs (Section 1.4), which Members had not seen. Section 1.5 stated that the list had been shared and that the officer’s approach was endorsed at the 11 March meeting.

8)    It was noted that several Members were absent from the meeting held on 11 March. Additionally, neither the list of schemes nor the proposed approach was presented at the recent MCW meeting.

9)    Members raised queries regarding section 1.6, specifically the selection of tabled schemes and the exclusion criteria applied to others. Concerns were expressed that the prioritisation methodology had not been subject to adequate scrutiny, and that district travel teams were unaware of the schemes presented. Members indicated that there had been a lack of transparency and communication surrounding the item.

10)Officers responded to Members ‘concerns raised at last week’s MCW meeting. It was noted that an Officer had offered to arrange a follow-up session to guide Members through the background and decision-making process related to the discussed tranche of funding.

11) As outlined in the paper, many of the decisions and discussions occurred under the previous administration. Officers confirmed their willingness to attend any Joint Transportation Board (JTB) across the county to provide an overview of the Active Travel Programme. The offer has already been accepted by several districts and boroughs. Colleagues from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20