Issue - meetings

That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding and the Director of Finance to agree the Surrey County Council share of local contribution for each scheme in Table 2 of the submitted report, within the overall total contribution set out in that table.

Reasons for decisions:

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 partners are required to provide a local contribution to the schemes to reflect the local benefits that will be provided. Therefore if these schemes wish to proceed to business case submission, The Council will need to confirm that this local contribution is available.

This is the second tranche of schemes to be funded from the Local Growth Deal. The precise amount of 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 presented to the Cabinet at the meeting of 23 September 2014 and repeated below.

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

On 23 September 2014, the Cabinet approved the arrangements for local financial contribution for the first tranche of three transport schemes of the 2015-16 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Local Growth Deal programme.

Since that Cabinet meeting the financial requirement from the County Council has been confirmed at £1.8m, significantly lower than the £2.7m potential commitment agreed.

The Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding commended the report to Members stating that investment in infrastructure was essential to improve and remove congestion. He also drew the Cabinet’s attention to the revised recommendation that had been tabled at the meeting regarding the Surrey County Council share of the local contribution for each scheme.

He clarified the information in paragraph 30, regarding Project Horizon and informed Members that this investment would not reduce this funding but would in fact enhance it.

He went on to state that a full Equalities Impact Assessment was not required as the result of the investment will be of benefit to residents.

The Cabinet Member for Community Services raised a query regarding the works due to be undertaken at the Runnymede roundabout and whether this would impact on the Magna Carta 800 years celebration to which the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding stated that this had been considered and work will not be undertaken prior to the June 2015 event as it would not be completed in time.

RESOLVED:

That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding and the Director of Finance to agree the Surrey County Council share of local contribution for each scheme in Table 2 of the submitted report, within the overall total contribution set out in that table.

Reasons for decisions:

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 partners are required to provide a local contribution to the schemes to reflect the local benefits that will be provided. Therefore if these schemes wish to proceed to business case submission, The Council will need to confirm that this local contribution is available.

This is the second tranche of schemes to be funded from the Local Growth Deal. The precise amount of 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 presented to the Cabinet at the meeting of 23 September 2014 and repeated below.