Agenda and minutes

To disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests declared at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies for absence were submitted by Councillor J Walker.  Councillor J Walker was substituted by Councillor M Dobson.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting 12 October 2016 be approved as a correct record.

To received and consider the report of the Head of Governance Services and Scrutiny Support and appended report of the Director of City Development and West Yorkshire Combined Authority which supports the next session of the Scrutiny Inquiry.

The Head of Governance Services and Scrutiny Support, The Director of City Development and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority submitted reports to support the next session of the Scrutiny Inquiry, Transport for Leeds – Supertram, NGT and Beyond.

The following information was appended to the reports:

·  Appendix A – Membership of the Advisory Panel

·  Appendix B – Mott Macdonald Statement of Experience and Expertise

·  Appendix C – SDG Statement of Experience and Expertise

·  Appendix D – BDB Statement of Experience and Expertise

·  Appendix E – Aecom Statement of Experience and Expertise

·  Appendix F – KPMG Statement of Experience and Expertise

·  Appendix G – Submission to the Leeds City Council Scrutiny Board (City Development) By Peter Bonsall

·  Appendix H – Submission of the A660 Joint Council to Scrutiny Board (City Development)

The following representatives were in attendance to respond to Members queries and comments:

-  Gary Bartlett - Chief Highways Officer

-  Councillor Richard  Lewis – Executive Board Member

-  Dave Haskins  - WYCA

-  Andrew Wheeler – WYCA

-  Councillor Keith Wakefield – WYCA Transport Committee Chair

-  Bill McKinnon – Vice Chairman A660 Joint Council

-  Chris Longley – Area Policy Representative, Yorkshire
Federation of Small Businesses

-  Peter Bonsall - Emeritus Professor of Transport Planning at the University of Leeds

The key areas for discussion were:

·  Clarity regarding the appropriateness and suitability of the NGT in the initial stages and if the finding at public inquiry should have been self-evident to those involved in the project during the scheme’s initial phases.

·  The efficiency of the scheme’s consultants; particularly in regard to expectations and if they were requested to ‘support’ the development of the scheme without ‘challenging’ it.

·  The importance for future transport strategies to complement and support the city’s economic plan in order to ensure achievable benefits for both Leeds and the wider city region.

·  The need for Community engagement to be open, honest and transparent, which involves communities in setting the hierarchy transport priorities particularly where these are competing. The need for open-ended questions within engagement surveys to allow all potential alternatives to be explored.

·  The recognition that consultation can often become conflated with community engagement and the need to gather the opinions of residents in addition to their support.

·  The need for any major transport scheme of the future to have rigorous external independent verification and challenge in order to highlight any potential weaknesses within the proposal at its various stages.

·  The board sought clarity concerning the extent to which an organisation can be wholly ‘independent’ and suggested that a the expert panel may be able to provide support in this regard. 

·  The importance of creating a balanced consultation with input sought from both smaller directly affected businesses as well as larger organisations. 

·  The board expressed concern regarding the assertion that ‘stated preference’ information had been held back from the DfT; thus affecting the assumed feasibility of the business case. The Scrutiny Board requested further evidence regarding this.

·  Clarity was sought regarding the process of selecting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To agree the Board’s work schedule for the remainder of the 2016/17 municipal year.

A report was submitted by the Head of Governance Services and Scrutiny Support which detailed the Scrutiny Board’ draft work programme for the current municipal year.

The draft Scrutiny Board (City Development) work schedule for 2016/17 and the Executive Board minutes for 19 October 2016 were appended to the report.

RESOLVED – The Scrutiny Board noted the content of the report and agreed the work programme.

Wednesday 21 December 2016 at 10:30am

(pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10:00am)

Wednesday 21 December 2016 10:30 am (pre-meeting for all Board Members at 10:00am)

The meeting concluded at 12:55pm