Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from committee members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jose Hales and Janet Lockwood.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2015 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2015, were AGREED as a correct record.

No questions from the public had been received.

Members of the City Deal Executive Board will be in attendance for this item.

The Leaders of the three City Deal partner Councils; Councillors Steve Count, Cambridge City Council, Councillor Lewis Herbert, Cambridgeshire County Council and Councillor Ray Manning, South Cambridgeshire District Council were in attendance for this item. They updated Members on the Greater Cambridge City Deal, with the following points emphasised:

·         Linkage of transport with the Local Plan was at the heart of the City Deal, which focussed on three threads; transport, affordable housing and skills.

·         The skills thread would provide 420 apprenticeships and focussed on the need to fill the gap between courses that students were studying and what skills business and industry needed.

·         The Leaders emphasised that the full benefits of the City Deal would not be realised by 2019, which was the next trigger point for funding.

·         The transport thread focussed on long term transport solutions in and around Cambridge City, with a list of projects having been prioritised.

·         While transport was a large focus, other important elements to the City Deal were broadband and encouraging business in Cambridge, in order to continue to make Cambridgeshire a place where people wanted to live.

·         Members were informed that there was no inflation link with the City Deal investment.

Discussion and questions ensued:

Transport:

·         The issue of congestion in and around Cambridge City was raised and the Leaders were asked how the City Deal would help reverse this. In response, Members were informed that the City Deal recognised that the areas around Cambridge had to be looked at as a priority, with a focus on getting people out of their cars and onto buses. The City Deal recognised that the bus provider Stagecoach would not invest in more buses and residents would not use buses, if buses could not navigate the city centre in a timely way.

·         Members were informed that Milton, Histon and Madingley roads were a focus for the City Deal to tackle by 2019.

·         Campaigns continued for funding from other sources to tackle transport infrastructure issues that were outside the City Deal, such as improvements to the A10.

·         Members were informed that the Science Park railway station was a focus, as this was a very congested part of Cambridge.

·         The City Deal would work with the bus provider Stagecoach to encourage more people out of their cars and onto buses to access the city centre, but recognised that the provider would not invest in more buses and residents would not use buses if buses could not navigate the city centre in a timely way.

·         Car parking charges in the city centre were questioned. Members were informed that this was a means of dissuading people from driving and parking in the city centre all day, and encouraging them to use public transport instead.

·         Congestion charging was queried, with Members informed that the Leaders did not believe this would be the right route to resolve the congestion issues in Cambridge, however all options needed to be considered.

·         The Leaders were asked to bear in mind that as Cambridge developed, research  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider update reports from Members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies.

The committee NOTED the update reports that had been received from members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies.

Councillor Roger Hall provided a verbal update on the County Archives and informed Members of the relocation of the Cambridgeshire Collection from the top floor of Sawston Library to Ely. Concern was expressed regarding this as this was a well used resource by Sawston residents. Councillor Hall would feed this concern back to the Cambridgeshire Collection.

To consider the Partnership Review Committee’s work programme for future meetings. The Council’s Forward Plan is attached for the committee to consider the items contained in this for possible future scrutiny.

At its January 2015 meeting, the committee agreed that its meeting in June 2015 would focus on policing.

The June 2015 meeting of the committee would focus on policing issues, with the Commissioner and Chief Constable being invited to attend the meeting to discuss neighbourhood and local policing.

Future meeting dates would be set at the June 2015 meeting. Members agreed that following the June meeting, representatives from Stagecoach and the County Council should be invited to attend, to discuss bus services in the District.

·         Tuesday 9 June 2pm

·         Tuesday 9 June at 2pm.