Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: The Council Chamber, Shire Hall, Cambridge

Contact: Democratic Services  03450 450 500 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence. The Chair welcomed Professor Phil Allmendinger as the new Executive Board member representing the University of Cambridge. The Chair also welcomed Councillor Roger Hickford, Chair of the City Deal Joint Assembly, to the meeting.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 355 KB

To authorise the Executive Board to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2017 as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

4.

Questions from Members of the Public pdf icon PDF 174 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Stephen Coates was invited to ask his pre-submitted question, as detailed in the notice of public questions. In response to Mr Coates’ question, the Chair made the following points:

·         All governance and probity questions of the City Deal had been taken seriously and would be answered. Executive Board members and the City Deal Chief Executive were always happy to answer such queries.

·         The City Deal expected all voting and non voting Executive and Joint Assembly Members to act appropriately and declare all interests. Members did not take part in decisions relating to issues in which they had a conflict of interest.

·         All members were bound by the members’ Code of Conduct and non voting members were bound by the Nolan Committee principles and the Joint Assembly’s and Executive Board’s Terms of Reference.

·         The Vice Chairman offered to look through the evidence gathered, with Mr Coates. Mr Coates accepted this offer.

·         The Chair stated that he was not aware of any probity issues or undeclared interests regarding the City Deal.

The other public questions received from Antony Carpen and Barbara Taylor, would be taken at the relevant agenda item.

 

5.

Reports and Recommendations from the Joint Assembly

Minutes:

Councillor Roger Hickford, Chairman of the City Deal Joint Assembly, provided updates on the issues raised by the Joint Assembly, at the relevant agenda items.

6.

City Deal Progress Report pdf icon PDF 446 KB

The agenda item includes updates on:

·         Update on Work with Combined Authority

·         Six-Monthly Report on Strategic Risk Register

·         Forward Plan

·         Financial monitoring

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Executive Board NOTED the City Deal progress report.

Minutes:

Tanya Sheridan, City Deal Programme Director presented the report which set out the progress on the delivery of agreed projects and work streams in which the City Deal was investing. The Executive Board was informed that a meeting had taken place with Network Rail on 23 February 2017 and that a meeting with Highways England would take place later in March.

 

Barbara Taylor was invited to ask her pre-submitted question, as detailed in the notice of public questions. In response to Ms Taylor’s question, the following points were made:

·         It was envisaged that public consultations would take place in parallel for the Milton Road project on the detailed scheme design and on the associated traffic regulation orders; the latter being a statutory consultation. This would allow comments and views to be submitted by the public on scheme design and traffic regulation orders in parallel, for consideration by the Executive Board. Discussions would take place with the Local Liaison Forum before a report was presented to the Joint Assembly and Executive Board in June 2017.

Councillor Roger Hickford informed the Executive Board of the discussion which had taken place at the Joint Assembly meeting, regarding this agenda item:

·         The Joint Assembly had raised concern that the City Deal was repeatedly referred to as a £1 billion investment programme, but as yet there had been relatively little extra funding secured. It was felt that more emphasis should be made on leveraging more funding. Officers had informed the Joint Assembly that the City Deal had the potential to reach £1 billion.

·         Concern was raised that the apprenticeship programme was not proceeding quickly enough. Joint Assembly members that formed the Skills Group, assured the Joint Assembly that activities were ongoing and were monitored and evaluated for outcomes.

In response to the update from the Joint Assembly, the City Deal Programme Director outlined the funding that was coming forward. This was envisaged to be up to £1 billion covering a range of anticipated local investment supporting housing and employment growth. Members were also informed that regarding the skills work stream, evaluation of the Form the Future contract had taken place and further evaluation was planned.

 

In response to concern raised by the Vice Chairman regarding housing and planning, the Executive Board was informed that new homes were only being counted towards the target of 1000 additional homes on rural exception sites or affordable houses on 5 year land supply sites once South Cambridgeshire was running ahead of its housing trajectory for the submitted local plan, which currently was not the case.  Until this was above the profile for the Local Plan trajectory, performance would remain at zero against the target. The Vice Chairman requested that future progress reports made clear where the City Deal was in terms of the 1000 additional homes target, suggesting a graph be included to make this clear.

 

The Vice Chairman requested that future progress reports made clear where the City Deal was on the path to reaching its target regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

2017/18 Budget Setting pdf icon PDF 407 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

The City Deal Executive Board:

 

a)    AGREED to allocate additional or new resource to:

 

(i)            Developing up to 12 cycling ‘greenways’ in Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire (£480K for development work over 2 years (2017 – 2019)).

(ii)           City Access project – invest £5.045m to accelerate the delivery of the eight point plan. The need for significant resources was detailed in paragraph 13 of the January 2017 Board report. It enables the parallel and balanced progression of the eight delivery plans, including prioritisation of a parking strategy (£250K) and required staffing resources (£702K).

(iii)          Co-investment in electric vehicle charging points across Cambridge (£100K  one off cost in 17/18)

(iv)         Travel audit to support case for Cambridge South Station and future transport requirements for the Biomedical Campus (£150K one off cost in 17/18).

(v)          Initial feasibility work on South Cambridgeshire Travel Hubs, including on key routes (£100k one off cost in 17/18)

(vi)         Strengthening programme management, governance, strategy and coordination capacity and funding finance and Democratic Services support (£339K over 3 years, mostly up front investment).

(vii)        Strengthening public engagement and communications by investing in better systems, capacity and expertise (£338K over 3 years).

(viii)       One year funding to Cambridge Promotions Agency to transition to fully-funded model (£40K).

(ix)         Greater Cambridge strategic planning and transport framework – towards 2050 (£230K one off cost in 17/18).

(x)          City Centre spaces and movement framework (£150K one off cost in 17/18).

(xi)         Scaling up the Smart Cambridge programme and attracting further investment in data and technologies (£1.640m over 3 years). It will focus on three aspects:(a) Better quantity, quality and use of data to improve information available to citizens, (b) Embedding digital solutions and emerging technology in City Deal work streams to ensure long term sustainable success, and (c) A collaborative approach that uses the power of digital technologies to galvanise  the business, community and academic sectors to work  together  and use their combined strengths to produce better outcomes for Greater Cambridge.

(xii)        Implementation of residents’ parking schemes within Cambridge City (indicative maximum of £1.0m over 3 years).

 

b)    AGREED to consider later in the year the following indicative request and to develop a detailed business case to enable Board decisions:

 

(i)    Scaling up original pilot skills work on stimulating business demand for apprenticeships and improving careers advice in schools into second phase of activity and investing in a wider reach (indicative maximum of £2.1m over 3 years).

 

 

c)    NOTED:

·         The financial position, including that all partner authorities have agreed to contribute 40% of their respective New Homes Bonus (NHB) allocation from 2017/18 to 2019/20.

·         That if the proposed allocations are approved, this would mean an over-allocation of existing available resources of £4.8m, which would have to be treated as a managed  risk to be offset with either new Tranche 2 funding, other funding, or reductions in agreed schemes in future years. Given over half the Infrastructure Programme budget is forecast to be spent beyond 2020 this is considered an appropriate strategy  ...  view the full decision text for item 7.

Minutes:

Tanya Sheridan, City Deal Programme Director presented the report which sought the Board’s agreement to an allocation of resources for 2017/18 and for future years to support the City Deal’s objectives.

 

Councillor Roger Hickford updated the Board on the discussions which had taken place at the Joint Assembly meeting regarding this item. He informed the Board that the Assembly had raised particular concern regarding:

·         Electric vehicle charging points: The Joint Assembly asked for a further paper to be presented at its meeting in June 2017. Concerns related to value for money and that the charging points would be for taxi use only.

·         South Cambridgeshire travel hubs: It was felt that there was not enough detail regarding where these would be and what these would look like.

·         Strategic planning and transport framework: It was felt that not enough detail had been provided for such a large one-off spend.

·         Scaling up of the Smart Cambridge programme.

The Executive Board discussed the recommendations as set out in the report:

Regarding the cycling greenways project, the Vice Chairman praised the County Council’s cycling team. He informed the Executive Board that each greenway would be 5 to 6 miles long radiating out of the city to the surrounding villages, creating a network of cycling routes. Haslingfield Parish Council had expressed concern that the greenways may look unattractive. It was hoped that extra funding would be leveraged from government grants and other sources. The Board was informed that £480,000 funding would go towards the recruitment of more officers into the County Council’s cycling team to work on projects. This would lead to projects being shovel ready when big investments came forward. It was envisaged that 12 projects would be undertaken in total, with six in the first phase and a further six in the second phase. Deciding upon the location of the greenways would involve much work with parish councils, local communities and potential landowners. The wider benefit of the project would be linking communities and linking homes and places of work.

 

Regarding the City Access project, it was clarified that this was a commitment of New Homes Bonus funding. Hilary Holden provided a brief overview of the range of projects that this would fund. Funding would also go towards funding 7.4 full time equivalent staff who would be allocated amongst the eight delivery plans that were discussed by the Executive Board at its meeting in January 2017. The Board was informed that the 7.4 full time equivalent staff would be permanent resource within the City Deal team, sitting within partner organisations, but dedicated to the City Deal work. Consultancy resource would cover secondments and support for particular pieces of work, design and implementation.

 

Councillor Bates expressed support for the City Access project and noting the dramatic fall in traffic during school holiday periods, advised that a starting point be to look at initiatives with schools, such as car sharing around park and ride sites.

 

Electric vehicle charging points were discussed:

The Head of Environmental Health  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

A1307 Three Campuses to Cambridge Bus, Cycle and Walking Improvements - Consultation Results and Selection of Preferred Option pdf icon PDF 322 KB

Report to follow.

Decision:

The City Deal Executive Board:

 

a)    NOTED the draft consultation report for publication on the Greater Cambridge City Deal website.

 

b)    Reviewed the preferred options and APPROVED further technical work to develop and refine them and other options, which improve public transport reliability, connectivity and access through park & ride expansion, proposals to deliver bus priority and increased cycling through improved infrastructure to support sustainable travel between homes and jobs, particularly:

 

(i)            Road safety enhancements between Linton and Horseheath.

(ii)           Improvements to signalised junctions and westbound bus lanes in Linton.

(iii)          Measures to improve bus journey times through Linton High Street.

(iv)         New and improved cycleways between Babraham and Great Abington/Granta Park.

(v)          A new park and ride site near the A11.

(vi)         A new westbound bus lane between the new park and ride site and Hinton Way roundabout.

(vii)        A new segregated bus route from the Babraham Road park and ride site to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC). Further work alongside future City Deal prioritisation work will determine if this route is to be on road or a new off road route;

 

(c)          ENDORSED  a second public consultation exercise on the preferred options  to commence in September 2017 after further workshops have taken place with the Local Liaison Forum and councillors, and AGREED that consultation materials be signed off by the voting members of the Executive Board.

d)             APPROVED a one-off spend of £25,000 to undertake some transport modelling, as part of pre-Strategic Outline Business Case work on the dualling of the A1307 between Haverhill and the A11.

Minutes:

Antony Carpen asked his pre-submitted question as detailed in the notice of public questions. In response to this, Graham Hughes, Executive Director Economy,Transport and Environment, Cambridgeshire County Council, made the following points:

·         The City Deal and Cambridge Ahead was supporting research to explore the opportunities for an ‘Advanced Very Rapid Transit’ (AVRT) system for the Greater Cambridge area. The outcome of the research would help future proof ongoing investments and find cost-effective solutions to the city’s transport issues, building on current and planned bus infrastructure. The work was one of several studies undertaken as part of the Smarter Cambridge programme.

·         The Cambridge-Haverhill rail corridor cost was very significant with a very low benefit to cost ratio (BCR). Due to this it was not being pursued. It was recognised that if the route was extended, there would be more passengers however the cost of providing the service would be more. The cheapest rail option would cost £390 million, with a BCR of 0.99.

·         Consultation would take place on the A1307 scheme. Further engagement would take place with the public, businesses and the Local Liaison Forum. There would continue to be opportunities for the public to engage with and scrutinise the proposals as they came forward.

 

In response to a query from the Chair, the Board was informed that the publication of the study on the AVRT was expected within the following months. The Chair added that the Executive Board and Joint Assembly would need to consider the priorities for tranche 2 projects and would commission further feasibility studies.

 

The Chair allowed Mr Carpen to ask a supplementary question. Mr Carpen asked officers to engage with Suffolk and Essex County Councils to look at what joint funding may be available and other funding that could be leveraged. The Chair assured Mr Carpen that the City Deal was committed to this dialogue.

 

Graham Hughes presented the report and set out the key results of the public consultation on the A1307,the majority of respondents to which supported the concepts of improved bus, cycle and walking infrastructure, with strong support indicated for each of the key concepts and principles of the options. Since the consultation closed, technical work and further modelling had been undertaken.The Executive Board was assured that modelling had been updated to include all planned development and growth to 2031 in South Cambridgeshire, Cambridge City, East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Haverhill. Mr Hughes stressed that the options were at a very early stage of development, were very broad and needed to be refined. Significant further public engagement was proposed in the run up to the consultation in June 2017.

 

Councillor Tony Orgee updated the Board on the Local Liaison Forum (LLF) meeting which had discussed the A1307 proposals on 20 February 2017:

·         Councillor Orgee informed the Board that the report had been late which had led to the LLF members coming to the meeting without any background knowledge.

·         The LLF supported the road safety improvements to the east of Linton, though more detail was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Industrial Strategy pdf icon PDF 244 KB

Decision:

The City Deal Executive Board DELEGATED authority to the City Deal Interim Chief Executive, in consultation with the Executive Board, to work with partners and stakeholders to develop a response to be submitted to Government by 17 April 2017.

 

Minutes:

Andrew Limb, Head of Corporate Strategy, Cambridge City Council,  presented the report which sought the Executive Board’s input to help shape the key themes that Greater Cambridge partners wished to emphasise in response to the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

 

Councillor Hickford informed the Board that Joint Assembly members had suggested that the City Deal’s response be coordinated with all the other organisations that would also be submitting a response, to ensure alignment. That clustering was a big factor in the area’s success should be emphasised in the response.

 

Professor Allmendinger advised that the University of Cambridge’s Pro-Vice Chancellor  was preparing the university’s response and advised coordination with this.

 

Councillor Burkitt advised that closing the skills gap and enabling jobs and opportunities to be available for local people, should be highlighted, as Cambridge had been described as one of the most unequal cities in the country.

 

The Executive Board agreed that responses should be coordinated and recognise each other.

 

Mr Limb set out his intentions which supported the views of the Executive Board Members. He highlighted Cambridge’s track record in research and development and of collaboration, which he felt needed to be emphasised and maximised. The Board thanked Mr Limb for his work on this.

 

The City Deal Executive Board DELEGATED authority to the City Deal Interim Chief Executive, in consultation with the Executive Board, to work with partners and stakeholders to develop a response to be submitted to Government by 17 April 2017.

 

10.

Date of Next Meeting

To note that the next meeting will be held on Thursday 15 June at 4pm at the Council Chamber, South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne.

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was noted. The venue for the meeting would be changed from Cambourne to Cambridge.