Agenda and minutes
PDF 312 KBVenue: Civic Hall, 1st Floor West,LS1 1UR
Contact: Becky Atherton (0113 37 88642) Email: Becky.atherton@leeds.gov.uk
Link: to View Meeting Recording
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APPEALS AGAINST REFUSAL OF INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25 of the Access to Information Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded) Minutes: There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.
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Exempt Information - Possible Exclusion of the Press and Public 1 To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.
2 To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.
3 If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-
RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:-
Minutes: The agenda contained no exempt information.
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Late Items To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.
(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.) Minutes: No late items of business were added to the agenda.
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Declarations of Interests To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’. Minutes: No declarations of interest were made.
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Apologies for Absence and Notification of Substitutes To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.
Minutes: There were no apologies for absence.
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Call In Briefing Paper To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision. Minutes: The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report advising the Scrutiny Board on the procedural aspects of Calling In the decision.
Members were advised that the Call In is specific to the key decision in question, and issues outside of the decision, including other related decisions, were not to be considered as part of the Board’s decision regarding the outcome of the Call In.
Members were also advised that the options available to the Scrutiny Board in respect of this particular called in decision were as follows:
Option 1- Release the decision for implementation
Having reviewed this decision, the Scrutiny Board may decide to release it for implementation. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option, the decision will be immediately released for implementation and the decision may not be called in again.
Option 2 - Recommend that the decision be reconsidered
The Scrutiny Board may decide to recommend to the decision maker that the decision be reconsidered. If the Scrutiny Board chooses this option a report will be submitted to the decision maker.
In the case of this officer decision, the report of the Scrutiny Board will be prepared within three working days of the Scrutiny Board meeting and submitted to the relevant Director.
In reconsidering the decision and associated Scrutiny Board report, the Director may vary the decision or confirm the original decision. In either case, this will form the basis of the final decision and will not be subject to any further Call In.
Failure to agree one of the above options
If the Scrutiny Board, for any reason, does not agree one of the above courses of action at this meeting, then Option 1 will be adopted by default, i.e. the decision will be released for implementation with no further recourse to Call In.
RESOLVED – That the report outlining the Call In procedures be noted.
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Active Travel Fund - A660 Headingley Lane/Woodhouse Lane, Walking & Cycling Improvements To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services, which presents background information relating to a key decision that has been ‘called in’ in accordance with procedures set out within the Council’s Constitution.
The original delegated decision was taken by the Director of City Development on 12 September 2023 and relates to Active Travel Fund – A660 Headingley Lane/Woodhouse Lane, Walking & Cycling Improvements. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that presented background papers to a Key Decision made by the Director of City Development which had been Called-In in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.
The decision had been called in for review by Councillors Stewart Golton, Diane Chapman, Conrad Hart-Brook, Colin Campbell and Ryk Downes
The Scrutiny Board considered the following written information:
· Copy of the completed Call In request form. · Copy of the Delegated Decision Notice of the Director of City Development “Active Travel Fund – A660 Headingley Lane/Woodhouse Lane, Walking & Cycling Improvements” dated 4th September 2023 · Copy of the report of Traffic Engineering to the Chief Officer (Highways and Transportation) “Active Travel Fund – A660 Headingley Lane/Woodhouse Lane, Walking & Cycling Improvements” dated 23rd August 2023 associated with the Key Decision.
The following were in attendance: - Councillors S Golton, Lead signatory to the call-in - Councillor H Hayden, Executive Member Sustainable Development & Infrastructure - Martin Farrington – Director of City Development - Gary Bartlett - Chief Officer, Highways &Transportation - Nikki Deol - Section Head Property & Development (Legal Services) - Paul Foster – Transport Planning Manager - Nick Borras - Principal Traffic Engineer - Catherine Jebson – Project Manager
As the Nominated Lead Signatory to the Call In, Councillor Golton addressed the Board on the reason for the Call-in, noted as “The scheme is detrimental to the vast majority of road users whilst providing small benefit to cyclists and pedestrians (and no significant benefit to buses) and therefore does not represent value for money considering this scheme comprises two thirds of the entire cycling expenditure in the city.” Councillor Golton raised the following issues: · Oversight of the scheme’s Value For Money (VFM) had been compromised during the decision making process, citing his concern that there was a systemic weakness in the decision making style of West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Council (LCC) which limited the ability to pause and check the decisions. · Other routes for reflection had been sought but the Call-In process operated by WYCA prevented non-WYCA elected Members from requesting a Call in. · This single scheme amounted to two-thirds of the investment in cycle lanes/highways for Leeds and although it should improve the city’s green credentials, he believed that LCC’s own business case showed that it would fail to deliver the outcomes sought. · In terms of improving air quality, it was felt that encouraging a modal shift to bus use would be neutral, and even if the modal shift of cycling was achieved, the share of car usage was expected to increase due to new housing developments. · In terms of the impact of the scheme, he predicted that 3,500 vehicles would seek to use alternative routes to avoid the highway works, and pedestrians would be impacted by the proposals for shared cycle/pedestrian spaces. · The business case indicated associated costs of £60m, but he believed that there were lower impact, lower cost options that provided better VFM and queried why ... view the full minutes text for item 41. |
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Outcome of the Call In To determine whether to release the decision for implementation or recommend to the decision-maker that the decision should be reconsidered. Minutes: The Scrutiny Board considered whether or not to release the decision for implementation. A vote was subsequently held and the Scrutiny Board agreed (by majority decision) that the decision be released.
RESOLVED – That the decision be released for implementation.
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Date and Time of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Scrutiny Board (Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth) will take place on 1 November 2023 at 10.30am. There will be a pre-meeting for Scrutiny Board members at 10.15am. Minutes: RESOLVED – To note the date and time of the next Scrutiny Board (Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth) as Wednesday 1st November 2023 at 10.30 am
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