Issue - meetings

1.         That the county council’s share of the local contribution to the cost of the first tranche of the 2015/16 Local Growth Deal programme of schemes be met from the Economic Regeneration capital budget.

2.         That authority be delegated, within the limits set out in the Constitution, to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding Recovery and the Director of Finance, to agree the precise amount of the SCC contribution.

3.         That the principles, set out in paragraph 7 of the submitted report, should form the basis for discussions with the Boroughs and Districts on how the local contribution to schemes might be shared in the future.

Reasons for Decisions:

The prioritised transport infrastructure schemes are a key element of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEPs), submitted by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to Government in March 2014, which set out how they will support the economic development and regeneration of their areas. The proposed schemes will deliver a range of benefits to Surrey’s residents, including reduced congestion, improved journey time reliability, enhanced safety, improved access for cyclists, pedestrians and buses, as well as enabling economic development and regeneration.

Under the funding arrangements, local authorities are required to provide a local contribution to the schemes to reflect the local benefits that will be provided. Therefore if we wish these schemes to proceed to business case submission, we will need to confirm that this local contribution is available.

This is the 1^st tranche of schemes that has been funded from the Local Growth Deal. The precise amount of the contribution that the county council will need to make will be finalised once discussions with relevant Borough Leaders/Chief Executives have been completed in accordance with the approach set out in this report.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Environment and Transport Select Committee]

Initial allocations from the Government’s national Local Growth Fund to the LEPs were announced in July 2014, along with a prioritised list of transport schemes. This first Local Growth Deal targeting 2015/16 and releasing £2bn is the first part of £20bn over the period 2015-20. EM3 was awarded £118m and C2C £202m with £79m of this to be used in 2015/16.

The Deputy Leader said that the County Council was now required to confirm the local contribution towards the cost of the first tranche of transport schemes, which are due to start in 2015/16.

Business cases for the first tranche of schemes were required to be submitted by 30 September 2014 to EM3 and by 31 October to C2C. These have been set out in paragraph 6 of the submitted report and are:

·         Runnymede Roundabout

·         Egham Sustainable Transport Package

·         Epsom TC Plan E

He confirmed that the County Council contribution would come from the Economic Regeneration Capital Budget. Finally, he proposed an amendment to recommendation (2), to add: ‘within the limits set out in the Constitution’ and commended the recommendations, as amended to Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the county council’s share of the local contribution to the cost of the first tranche of the 2015/16 Local Growth Deal programme of schemes be met from the Economic Regeneration capital budget.

2.         That authority be delegated, within the limits set out in the Constitution, to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding Recovery and the Director of Finance, to agree the precise amount of the SCC contribution.

3.         That the principles, set out in paragraph 7 of the submitted report, should form the basis for discussions with the Boroughs and Districts on how the local contribution to schemes might be shared in the future.

Reasons for Decisions:

The prioritised transport infrastructure schemes are a key element of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEPs), submitted by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to Government in March 2014, which set out how they will support the economic development and regeneration of their areas. The proposed schemes will deliver a range of benefits to Surrey’s residents, including reduced congestion, improved journey time reliability, enhanced safety, improved access for cyclists, pedestrians and buses, as well as enabling economic development and regeneration.

Under the funding arrangements, local authorities are required to provide a local contribution to the schemes to reflect the local benefits that will be provided. Therefore if we wish these schemes to proceed to business case submission, we will need to confirm that this local contribution is available.

This is the first tranche of schemes that has been funded from the Local Growth Deal. The precise amount of the contribution that the county council will need to make will be finalised once discussions with relevant Borough Leaders/Chief Executives have been completed in accordance with the approach set out in this report.