Agenda and minutes

Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board - Thursday, 14 July 2016 10.30 am

Venue: Ashcombe, County Hall, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DN

Contact: Huma Younis or Sharmina Ullah 

Items
No. Item

1/16

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

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    Minutes:

    Apologies were received from Richard Wilson, Pat Frost and Victoria Young. Michael Sydney substituted for Pat Frost.

2/16

MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 9 June 2016 pdf icon PDF 589 KB

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    To agree the previous minutes as a true record of the meeting.

    Minutes:

    The minutes of the last meeting held on 9 June were agreed as accurate record of the meeting.

3/16

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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    To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

     

    Notes:

     

    · In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest.

     

    · Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

     

    · Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register.

     

    · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest

     

    Minutes:

    There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

4/16

QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS

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    To receive any questions or petitions.

     

    Notes:

     

    · The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (8 July 2016).

     

    · The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (7 July 2016).

     

    · The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.

    Minutes:

    There were no questions or petitions.

5/16

RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE BOARD pdf icon PDF 125 KB

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    A response is included following recommendations made to Cabinet on 21 June 2016.

    Minutes:

    A response from the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding regarding the revised Asset Management Strategy was noted by the Board.

     

6/16

RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 12 KB

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    The board is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings and to review its forward work programme.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    The Board noted the progress made on the Recommendation Tracker and reviewed the Forward Work Programme.

7/16

UPDATES FROM MEMBER REFERENCE GROUPS AND TASK GROUPS

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    To receive a verbal update from the Board’s Task and Member Reference Groups.

    Minutes:

     

    1. The Chairman of the Basingstoke Canal Task Group advised the Board that there was nothing to report as the meeting was postponed due to complications with other parties external to Surrey County Council. The Chairman anticipated that the item will be reviewed at the next meeting depending on when another task group is organised.

     

    1. The Customer Service Excellence Members Reference Group met last week, they received a presentation from the Surrey Street Lighting Manager of Skanska on how they’re progressing with the contract, in particular their customer service style. The MRG was provided with enquiry volumes which will be reviewed periodically, going forward. It was confirmed during the meeting only two complaints were received with regards to dimming of lights. The MRG was also provided with an update on how outstanding partial compliances were being addressed with a network of champions in place. A new internal communications campaign had been launched, with the new strap line of ‘put yourself in your customer’s shoes.

     

    10.35am          Zully Grant-Duff arrived at the meeting

     

    1. The Board was also informed that the most recent highways customer panel survey was due to be published on the website this week, which will demonstrate an increase in customer satisfaction in relation to how enquiries are dealt with, 68% of respondents were satisfied. Highways and Transport have developed a new communications strategy and officers welcome any feedback from members, a short survey will be created and officers would appreciate as many respondents as possible. Members of the Board shared positive comments on Skanska doing a very good job and being very responsive.

     

    1. The Finance Sub-Group Chairman informed the Board that the Sub-Group aims to look at a snap shot of the first quarter performance against the budget. The Chairman explained that the group would meet with officers again in September to take another look at the budget.

     

    1. Since their last report which was accepted by Cabinet, the Local Transport Review Member Reference Group did not have anything to report and the next meeting would most likely take place in spring. The Winter Maintenance Task group plan to meet on 28 July, to review the £300,000K reduction to the winter maintenance budget.

     

8/16

UPDATE REPORT ON THE CHANGES TO THE SURREY RAIL STRATEGY

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    Purpose of the report: Policy Development and Review

     

    For the Board to receive an update on the changes to the Surrey rail strategy since the last update in September 2015.

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Paul Millin, Travel and Transport Group Manager

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1.    The Travel and Transport Group Manager introduced the item by giving a brief outline of the history of the rail strategy, reminding the Board that it was published in 2013, by way of a formal process, which came to the Board and then was approved by Cabinet. The report is an update on the priorities set out in the rail strategy, published in 2013 and the progress on the various different elements. Members had been circulated a slide pack in advance of the meeting.

     

    2.    The Board was also reminded of the agreed rail development objectives which were to maintain global competiveness, help deliver our economic priorities, reduce environmental impact within surrey in terms of transport and accommodate the effect of projective population growth.

     

    3.    The Travel and Transport Group Manager brought the Boards attention to the invitation to tender for the new South West Train franchise which was published two weeks ago. The two shortlist bidders to run the new South West Train franchise were identified as Stagecoach South West and First South Western Trains. The current position for the shortlist bidders is that they have 90 days to respond to Government, and then the preferred bidder will be announced in February 2017, with the aim of the new franchise to commence in summer 2017.

     

    4.    The Travel and Transport Group Manager advised the Board that this would be an important window for the County Council, also informing the Board that the Cabinet Member had written to the Department of Transport setting out the Council’s agreed rail priorities.

     

    5.    The Board was also informed of the number of meetings held in liaison with Stagecoach South West and First South Western Trains and the Travel and Transport Group Manager assured the Board this will continue to ensure the County Council’s priorities are reflected when the successful bidder runs the franchise.

     

    6.    The Travel and Transport Group Manager reminded the Board of the Crossrail 2 scheme which the County Council strongly supported.  In recent discussions with the promoters of the scheme, Dorking and Woking were requested to be assessed for potential inclusion in the scheme. Another key area of interest is the freed up capacity that will be a result of Crossrail 2. Officers have been talking to the promoters of the scheme about the County Council’s aspirations, where there is growth and appropriate use of that freed up capacity. The initial response to the winter consultation was released on 7 July, the project team have been reviewing that carefully and will respond, continuing to push case for Surrey.

     

    7.    The Board also addressed the Local Orbital Rail Services, where officers are liaising with Great Western Railway who are the operators of the franchise. Jointly the Council and the train operator are pressing government to commit to investment for electrification in control period 6. In terms of Surrey, members queried whether there were plans to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/16

9/16

ROAD SAFETY TRENDS AND INTERVENTIONS IN SURREY pdf icon PDF 261 KB

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    Purpose of the report:  Scrutiny of Performance

     

    Following an increase in road casualties in Surrey in 2014, a motion was debated by the Council on 13 October 2015. It was highlighted that the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board is the place for Member scrutiny of the council’s road safety activities. This report describes the work undertaken by the council and partners to reduce road death, injury and anti-social use of Surrey’s roads.

     

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Witnesses:

     

    Duncan Knox, Road Safety Team Manager

    Kay Hammond, Cabinet Associate for Fire and Police Services

     

    Key points raised during the discussion:

     

    1. The Road Safety Team Manager introduced the report by highlighting key points, informing the Board that the Drive Smart partnership had been renewed, allowing for the upgrade to safety camera enforcement. In addition the team is looking at ways to obtain funding in areas which may not be covered by the budget, a particular example is the war memorial junction in Esher which is known as a hot spot for collisions. The final point was the emerging figures for 2016 for KSI’s (killed or seriously injured) which look promising in comparison to recent trends in previous years.

     

    1. In reference to page 52, the Board asked for clarification as to why KSI figures spiked between 2013 and 2014.The Road Safety Team Manager explained that it wasn’t just Surrey but that figures spiked nationally.. 2014 was an unusual year, known to be the wettest and hottest year, having a big effect on all road users. However in 2015 the numbers reduced and 2016 figures look encouraging. Another factor that played a part in increasing road casualties by severity was the increase in traffic.

     

    1. There was a discussion around the increase in pedal cyclist casualties on page 54 of the report. The Board sought assurances on what measures can be taken to reduce the figures, as they are still considerably high. The Cabinet Associate for Fire and Police Services explained to the Board that Surrey has a legacy which stems from the Olympics for cycling, making Surrey a popular cycling destination. Therefore where you have increase in numbers you will have an increase in casualties. There has been investment put in to publicity, in terms of advising cyclists how to take precautions on the road and for motorists too in sharing the road and being patient. However there is personal responsibility too, that has to be understood by all road users.

     

    1. The Chairman of the Board requested more in depth analysis of each of the road user groups to be provided, for a broader understanding of the KSI trend. The Road Safety Team Manager said that this information was available and would send it to the board after the meeting.

     

    1. A board member stated that Surrey has the slowest traffic in the country but still has the highest number of casualties. The Road Safety Team manager stated inappropriate or excessive speeding occurs in between areas of congestion, and slow traffic does not necessarily prevent collisions from happening. However in an attempt to tackle these roads which have the worst record for speeding and casualties, in response they are looked into for improvement to avert further collisions and fatalities.

     

    1. The Cabinet Associate for Fire and Police Services reminded Members that the Council’s corporate responsibility is resident experience which includes cyclists, motorists and pedestrians and that we should be mindful to everyone’s needs and not just one sector of the community, promoting equality  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9/16

10/16

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 8 September 2016

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    The next meeting of the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board will be held on Thursday 8 September 2016 at 10.30am in the Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames.

    Minutes:

    The next meeting of the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board will be held on Thursday 8 September 2016 at 10:30am in the Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames.