Transcript

Good morning chairman, we are now live Thank you Thomas Good morning I'd like to welcome everyone present in the chamber those listening online to the business of the highways and transport scrutiny committee meeting My name is council Richard Wright and I'm vice chairman of this committee Councillor Alex all the chairman of the committee's sent his apologies and therefore I'm acting as chairman on his behalf Can I remind you that the audio-visual feed of this formal public meeting is being broadcast? Live by the County Council's website and all your comments will remain accessible online There is no fire drill flam this morning in the event of a fire alarm sounding we need to leave the council chamber through the rear Doors and leave the building through the reception and assemble in the front car park and wait for the restrictions Can I request everyone present to ensure your mobiles laptops and iPads are on silent for the duration of this meeting? And may I remind you that the hearing loop is now activating Request to speak will be collected by Council Vernon today. Who's in this vice chairman seat Can I have a vote of approval for Councillor Vernon to be the vice chairman, please? Yeah, those are listening yeah, thank you I'll try to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to ask questions and make contributions I would appreciate contributions to be succinct and concise and also that you indicate early when you wish to speak And we will now move on to the formal agenda item 1 apologies for absence Thank you, we have counselor and we have a party from Councillor Hall and we have Councillor Tyrrell replacing Councillor Hall for this meeting only Decorations there's opportunity for members to declare any pecuniary or other interests do members wish to declare any Thank You chairman Regarding item 6 for property reasons. I'd like to declare. I have a close family member who holds a senior position within Network Rail However, he has no dealings within Lincolnshire whatsoever Secondly again regarding item 6 there are references to hull trains in the report My father was actually one of the founders of hull trains However, he is now retired and no longer has any role and therefore I do not feel that any of these reasons preclude me from taking Part in the discussion today. Thank you Thank You very much Any other declarations? No Okay, item three then is minutes of the meeting held on 29th of April 2024 This item is to approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record So please turn to pages 7 to 14 of the agenda pack So do we have any anything to raise on the minutes from those from those pages No, okay, then driver proposal for the minutes, please Counts Thank You councillor Brooks and a seconder councillor Gibson. I'll put my glasses on for the rest of this meeting All those in favor That's majority, thank you I'll say sorry abstentions. Sorry. Yep. Thank you councillor strangle any other abstentions. Nope councillor Tyrrell Right announcements by the chairman I have no announcements as such but I would like to just Say a big. Thank you. I think on behalf of the committee I don't think it's been said to councillor Brooks We previously chaired this committee and did an excellent job a much better job than I'm going to do today thrown into the into the Into the fire for this meeting, but I just like to say that it was a pleasure being on the committee under you as the chairman council Brooks Right, we have five pre decision items to consider therefore I'd like to stress the importance of taking reports as read and I ask that I present to summarize the key points and the type of input expected by the committee Introductions of reports will ideally be around five minutes. So we have time to consider and debate That being said we've been joined by partners from East England rail and Network Rail will be sharing visual presentations in support to our discussion and debate of item six Do we have any executive councilor announcements Tom? Good morning chairman. Congratulations. No announcement to me Thank you Councillor Davis and nothing from Councillor perot and Williams, okay right Finally, are there any announcements by senior officers? Nothing chair Okay item five then is the Lincoln town's deal since the bank rejuvenation project This pre decision school report can be found on pages 15 to 30 of the agenda pack The report outlines essential bank rejuvenation project that aims to revitalize the area for residents and businesses it involves implementing a master plan and play shaping framework to improve various aspects of the neighborhood through different themes and is part of the Lincoln town deal funded by the government's level up program This rejuvenation scheme aligns with the Lincoln transport strategy and is considered crucial for the overall Lincoln town investment plan Our decision is due to be taken by the leader of council executive council for resources communications and commissioning and the executive council for highways transport and IT between 17th to 28th of June Before we move on to the presentation. I would like to note that councillor Debbie armiger is in attendance of local member for Park division It's therefore asked that we consider the report and determine whether we support recommendations To the executive councillors and that we agree any additional comments to be passed on to the executive councils in relation to this item This report will be presented by Jonathan Evans head of highways client and contractual management services Jonathan Apologies chair and some Edwards is doing this paper That's not what he says on my agenda Thank You Joe morning or so, yeah, so this scheme as you've outlined is a pre decision pre key decision paper The scheme itself was part of the overall towns fund that the city of Lincoln Council was successful in in securing That was 19 million back in 2020. This is one of various schemes that have been brought forward across the city Part of it also being part of the the the overall towns fund is that this complements what's in the paper Other things that have taken place in the central bank area. For example, the recent resident parking and initiative that's been put in place Essentially, this is a construction or the widening and construction of a footway cycle way along South Central Bank or since or drain That links as a green corridor between South Park Avenue and therefore South common through to the city It's to improve linkages provide alt I suppose improve alternative travel patterns And also Incorporate some of the gateways and greenings that have been outlined Now those are still being worked on by the city of cat by the city of Lincoln Council But they'll likely include a number of parks improvements a sustainable urban drainage totems flag signs and really sort of improve the the look and the feel of the central bank area Which as I say complements the footway cycle way that we're constructing as part of the works This scheme as I say is in line with the residents parking but it also brings in the one-way system Which is which has gone through the approval process or already as far as planning a res committee That will allow this to be constructed. So this part of central bank turns southbound only We've been working with residents and businesses and in numerous consultations Which which has led to the successful one-way system implementation This is also to stress this this particular scheme was included in the Lincoln transport strategy So again outlines about trying to provide green and alternative chart travel patterns Sure, the key decision be be taken the the next step will be for the grant funding agreement to be signed with the with the city And then we move on to procurement in July through to August before we start in August for peer that finishes in sort of early 2025 and as outlined in the paper the cost estimates we're looking at is circa 3 million However, we are we are obviously until we get prices back from from the contact We won't know for sure But that's the sort of envelope that we're looking which falls within the funding well within the funding bracket provided So I'm conscious of time and the packed agenda. So I'll stop there and ask for any questions Thanks a lot some and if I can start with council armature who's attended specifically to ask questions on this item I Would like to ask what measures will be put in place to support local shops during the construction phase To ensure they remain accessible to customers and to prevent them from losing business due to the works being done Okay, thank thank you for the question So yeah We we've been working with business and will continue to do to do so will be as part of works employing a public liaison Officer that will be sort of meeting with residents and businesses to keep them regularly updated We will be Maintaining access it may be restricted at times as we do in the works and the traffic management as including the paper is yet to be fully defined but it's like very likely to be a range of road closures and Diversions as part of it to construct because the narrow nature of further road As far as supporting the businesses we we can't and won't sign individuals But we can keep signs open things like businesses open as usual and we can engage in public Social media as as we do to put out the positive messages about it Other elements that the businesses can look into is is a tax relief through the district council It's not something as a count County Council We we we are in charge of but it's something that they can appeal or ask from the city of Lincoln Council for But we will do our utmost to keep it open But there will be a level of disruption and I'm not going to shy away from that But the result of doing the works will be far more positive Does that answer your question council? Council clock Thank You chairman I Did raise at the last meeting I'll probably raise it and next meeting as well about cycle facilities I'm pleased that the cycle facilities in you know this plan what's called the you know, the green corridor, but What sort of throwing me is is there overall plans to Link this cycle path with any other because if you take it it starts at South Park Avenue There's nothing there. There's no cycle paths towards South Park Avenue Because Steven Street, yeah, you've got st. Mary's Street and then you can get back onto the cycle path. So what I really want to So understand is if there's an overall plan or is it bits and bobs here and there? Thank you So there's an overall plan included in the what's called the out the LC whip so I'll get the accident wrong here But the link is basically the local cycling and walking Improvement plan of that. I think this which covers the the Lincoln area now I take that we can't we can't do everything at once and therefore it may come out as doing little bits here and there But there are still some significant improvements from the scheme because you are linking Central Bank Which has got a number of residents in there as better travel patterns and actually as it links through to South Park Avenue there is a cycle way footway as you go through the underpass under under Canock Hill and comes out the back and goes up over the Hill and and and actually links through to the top of there So you it's not as I suppose as clean or as clear as many would like but it's I wouldn't say it Stops and ends it does it does link to others to it to improve those and there's other ways that we can look to in The future if members want to invest in those kind of areas elsewhere in the LC whip Councillor - Thank you Is this scheme actually going to be done in in in sections or are you going to try and do it all in one go? So it's it's difficult to define that if I'm being honest with you until the contract comes back about how they want to phase the Works, it's unlikely. We will close the whole length in one go because we because there's people that live there They need access and so forth So it's likely to be done in sections But I can't confirm that here and now until we get the pricing and the program back But we can certainly feed that back to local members as we would do anyway once we know more and that comes part of the social media campaign and the and the update to residents and Also the public liaison officer so we can update exactly what's going on as we go Thank You chairman and I note that the work on this project is due to start in the summer of 2024 and in item 2.3 you talk about minimizing impact on residents and also the football club Clearly there needs to be some consideration to the football club with 10,000 people sort of coming to fixtures on a regular basis And I wondered what steps you're taking to ensure there is minimal impact on match days Which could be midweek as well as during the week as well as obviously on residents - thank you So we've had significant in engagement with the with the football club They've been part of the the project board has been go we keep meeting every other week because of the sensitivity of Their uses it also they need to be involved because some of the permanent changes we're putting in around the one-way system has an impact Or how they access the football ground and how they're how the fans and actually it was more the it was the it was the away Home buses that were the issue to get through So there's certain things that we enacted in the TRO that was the one-way system that was opening up the route through to South Park Avenue that will be gated for those away buses and being able to Flip the one-way system over on on that particular section for certain circumstances Hence the the bus is going away. So they've been engaged throughout And we've it's difficult under all the details, but they're very aware of it and they're factored into it to what it is But it'll be quite changeable depending on who's playing out where they're coming from that that type of thing Just to come back on that quickly and I know I'm not a football fan I'd like to say at this point although sort of obviously have some awareness of what goes on So I understand that the fixture release date for legal on fixtures is June the 26th And this executive council decision is obviously due between 17th and the 28th of June Are you considering sort of the impact on potential fixtures and where people may be traveling from as part of the executive decision process? So, I'm also not a football fan so I didn't know that I came out but the the provisions that we've been talking through doesn't really Have the away fans get dropped off at the same place regardless of where they come in from and the there are Accessible buses that may be needed and we've catered for that and they can flip the one-way system to go out So they're not waiting for the other the other fans to leave the away coaches that come in so that's like the away players coach will come in through the fire at the fire station as They do now and the home away games. Sorry the away home buses I'm not a football fan as you can sell They will access like I say food to South Park Avenue to have access to there So yeah, we've we've covered every eventual and we've done that collaboratively with the football club who were happy or content with the provisions That we've put in place No further questions So just a couple from me some and one on finance with regards to the fact that the majority the money is coming from The Lincoln town deal and so what contingency plans are in place if there's any delays there and on shortfalls and our accountability Be maintained for this financially and the other one again is because it's so closely working the city of Lincoln It's the certain aspects of the green in elements of the green of the gateways still need tendering Bearing in mind what we're talking about disturbance and timelines. Do we see them foresee any issues that way? So from a finance perspective our estimated cost is around three million But you notice there's six hundred fifty thousand pounds of risk in there, which is quite significant for a scheme of the scale In addition the actual funding is is is is is higher than that So there's I think this from memory there's three or four hundred thousand that's for in excess of that This is for the great the gateways and greening But the reason we have an instructor about in this in this tender and working on is that can be scalable So if for example the cost come in low Then we can scale that three four hundred thousand the gateway green into a million pounds say if it comes in higher Then it scales down So that is I guess our our pot to scale that the gate was in greenings through there Which is why we will instruct once we get into contract. We will know our price then and know where we're going. We will then Request a price from the contractor for these in addition works to ensure they don't go over the budget allowance that we've got in place Okay, there's no further comments then thank everybody for that debate and I'll move that the committee supports the proposed recommendations as they were set out on page 17 of the report and I asked that the comments raised by the committee be shared with Executive Councillors for their consideration. I had a decision being made between 17th to 28th of June I suggest what we note the ongoing concerns of councillor Clark I were joined up cycle ways and when looking at the planning we get somebody that knows something about football Do I have a second Okay, all those in favor I Thank you, that's a majority any abstentions and nobody against no, okay. Thank you very much that's moved Okay, item six is the rail recovery and strategic role in providing connectivity supporting links your communities and economy This scrutiny report and associated dependencies can be found on pages 31 to 36 of the agenda pack The report provides an update from Network Rail and strategic planning for future usage and infrastructure requirements of the rail network Focusing on maintenance and operational schemes for the control period 7 It includes an overview from East Midlands rail, which operates most regional services link share Detailing the current service and fleet Additionally the report outlines plans for the Skegness summer service and proposed station improvements across the region I'd like to welcome our presenters Tom Ingrid, who's the lead strategic planner for South Network Rail is in the chamber today Jamie Tookwood permanent timetable improvement manager East Midlands via teams and George Selby Stakeholder, so engagement manager East Midlands rail also by teams Sorry actions. It is asked that we discuss the progress on rail related issues with representatives of Network Rail and East Midlands rail and Consider infrastructure and regional rail service provision and role of rail in Lincolnshire And I'll now hand over to Jane Wingard Jamie Tookwood and George Selby to present Thank you chair. We're going to start with East Midlands rail with Jamie Tookwood they're going to present first and then if members would like to ask any questions directly after that presentation and Then Tom Ingrid from Network Rail will then present and then again, there'll be an opportunity after the presentation For questions as well. So I hope you enjoy the presentation. Thank you Good morning, everyone, and it's George Selby from East Midlands railway and Jamie unfortunately is not very well today so he's not been able to join us, but as stakeholder engagement manager I'm delighted to run through some of the things that we're looking at and Take away any questions that you might have so if I could move to the first slide if that's okay, please The areas we're going to touch upon is a little bit of context So the May 2023 reinstatements that have broadly been positive and got us to a point where We're back to where we was before May 2021 and some of the impacts that Covid brought I'm going to touch upon summer skeg nest because that's crucial to the region, crucial to East Midlands railway and the provisions were putting in place for that for this summer and some exciting news around some investment that we've achieved and succeeded in bringing into the company with our regional fleet refurb Some information on the progress of the Boston and Skegness new town deal funding and how the improvements to the station are going And then a little bit on what our future plans and ambitions are for service enhancements in the area Before I get to that bit that is very much in a sort of scope and exercise at the moment So a bit details like but it's to sort of show our ambitions in that space So if I could move to the next slide, please This is the context of The reinstatements that we bought in about a year ago. Now, they're broadly bedded in well These are in response to Some of the commuter services that were still being requested for at that time It's in response to the real positive leisure recovery that we've seen post Covid So much so that we're actually comfortably carrying more passengers now than then pre Covid actually and there's still a challenge financially because the sort of What word am I after the the means in which they're traveling has changed so the commuter Season ticket purchases have dropped quite dramatically and leisure doesn't quite cover that financially However, in terms of footfall alone, we are in a stronger place than we was before before the pandemic So on that list there you can see that Six weekday services were reinstated with a service extended and and leaning into that leisure recovery That I've spoken about eight Saturdays Were reinstated and eight Saturday services were reinstated too As I say broadly bedded in in in well And hopefully you've seen seen that in the region Next slide, please This is something we're really excited about for this summer and I'm a lad from Derby I used to go to chapel st. Leonards regularly to my grandma's caravan. So I've got fond memories of Skegness myself and This summer it's running from the 2nd of June. So it's just begun with we've had about a week of that Beginning and it runs until the 7th of September This year we have had we're going to have a 40% uplifting capacity compared to 2023 Because if you recall last year, we were in a difficult position with our fleet cascade. So The joke I saw to make is our 170s. We're almost like the Avengers We're pulling them in from West Midlands trains from Great Wranglers from Scott rail And you might see that when you travel on our trains because you'll see on some there's a green Interior with some of the seats and there's a blue interior with others and a red from Transport for Wales But last summer that cascade hadn't completed so to support last summer's summer Skegness Timetable we use bus replacements to supplement it however, this year the cascade is completed and therefore we're delighted to offer a complete rail proposition and and because that cascades finished with we're seeing a significant uplift on capacity and There will be rail replacement buses on standby. That's if we have an exceptionally good summer or Demand exceeds that that we're confident that our rail proposition will be able to cover it We are strengthening weekday services and that intelligence has been Bought to bear from last last summer So basically the the services that were most busy last summer are the ones that we've targeted for summer strengthening this year And some of our trains will depart from platform 7 at Nottingham Because platform 2 is a shorter platform and limits the the length of of trains we can run so those those trains that will be four or five cars in length will depart from platform 7 and touching upon my personal experience and Derby, we are continuing to run our summer Saturday services they start a little bit later the 20th of July run until the 7th of September and that's to coincide with School holidays when when obviously demand tends to go up and these will be formed off five car 170 units and you can see the Timetable just below and there's a link to our dedicated website which which provides more information on it and the 170s You perhaps accustomed to them in the region. That's that that's an image of one of the 170s to the right next slide, please And the customer experience is absolutely vital and we want to this is a significant revenue stream to us and we want to encourage repeat custom and and therefore making sure that our passengers are happy and satisfied with the services is really important to us and For those that might be apprehensive or nervous or want to be organized they can book their tickets in advance of the of the day they're traveling or they can put purchase on the day if it's particularly good weather and it's just one of those things where you you want to go to the seaside for the afternoon and There will be a queuing system in place at Nottingham. We are very experienced in delivering this We've done this for many years where there'll be a pre booked line effectively for those who have booked in advance and then a Separate line for those that have bought on on the day of purchase and that that again provides that confidence to those who have pre booked We're working with the train line obviously a major retailer in the British rail industry Where we're sharing information on those trains that are perhaps busier than others So again, if you are booking advance and you're using the train line Which a lot of people do and you've got some indication of trains that you might want to take for more comfort or for reassurance We have family packs we've done this again for many years to keep the children entertained if they're waiting or Provide excitement on the journey because it's a holiday for a lot of families Giveaways such as headphones and buckets and spades. Hopefully the weather plays ball Ponchos if it doesn't and sweets, so hopefully it makes it a pleasurable and enjoyable trip for families We are supplying extra staff. So there's management colleagues We that's already gone round actually where we see a lot of our staff live work and a residence in the area so we seek management support which we get a lot of buy-in for and we also employ agency staff over the summer to support that too And Kindliness, we're with this SQR scores that service and quality regime scores with the Department for Transport that are absolutely vital to us We scored very very highly last summer and this remains a priority to us. So we've got cleaning teams that will board the train at the Beginning and terminus as well as traveling on board to to maintain those exceptionally high scores and at the station at Skegness and then there's other bits so Vacuum packs that families can apply for that's to try and help minimize Those with luggage and try and reduce the the luggage that's been taken on board it's certainly the space that it takes up to provide more seats for passengers and make it more enjoyable and there's going to be pre for those who pre book there's going to be video supplied as well with top tips and And with Putlins being such a desirable place for people traveling on that route. There's Key information on how to get there and support buses once you arrive at Skegness that Provide the onward travel such as that intermodal connection next slide, please This is a slide talking about our fleet refurbishment We are very very excited to be talking about this as I said earlier on in the presentation. We've That the fleet's been cascaded in and the nature of that is it's come from multiple operators And it's really important to us that we have a consistent customer experience It's taken some time, but we've secured funding to Completely refurbish our class 170s and 158 trains that that you will see on on your patch so to speak In this image the 170s are in the bottom left and the 158s are in that top, right? 158s primarily serve our Liverpool Norwich line, but they will support the summer Skegness And they do occasionally find themselves onto Lincoln routes as well So that they won't be a complete stranger to your region and they're included in the refurbishment program, too Their refurbishment is a little bit more Stripped back, they're getting seat refurbishments, completely new coverings, improved CCTV and passenger count improvements However, the nature of them they were built in the late 80s and actually we're looking at sort of an EMR of 2030 and looking at The beginning to scope replacements for them. So the nature of their That that fee is that they're going to be limited in in terms of how how long they will continue to serve So that therefore the refurbishment is a little bit scoped back on that one. The 170s We anticipate will serve us for many years to come. We're delighted to welcome them to our proposition and our fleet Again, they are having a complete interior refresh with New carpets, new seat refurbishments, all the touch points, handles etc are being replaced, tables CCTV improvements, passenger count enhancements that help inform Where we direct our fleet more intelligently so although 20 years old or so In terms of stakeholders and passengers in the region whether you are in Lincoln or Derby where I live With the introduction of our brand new Aurora fleet, which are in the bottom, right? The touch and feel for passengers across our whole region is going to be improved with either brand new trains or fully refurbished trains And next slide, please This is in regards to Boston and Skegness stations which are having significant improvements and Both started in November 2023 Boston's progressing extremely well Where ticket halls and staff areas have been completed quite recently a couple of months ago in March Phase two is underway where the ticket office at ticket hall and staff areas are seeing refurbishments and improvements And we are approaching small businesses So there's a CAF and the opportunity for small startups that that could utilize a new space and our commercial teams are looking at proposition there Skegness similarly started in November and there was there's been some challenges around some structural issues that have been uncovered during the strip out Remedial works have taken place It's added some delay to that project However concourse and platform lighting has been replaced Phase one is due with that delay due to complete in October 2024 With phase two completing as it stands in May 2025 and we've had Although there's been challenges with that project We've had local interest and in terms of filling the cafe space and the propositions that will go in there to Hopefully continue to improve it for a few years Next slide, please This is regarding a bit In line with what I said a few minutes ago with the 158 replacements almost an EMR 2030 vision that we're sort of building towards internally And there's been scopes to look at how we best utilize our fleets So the class 170s and the class 158 that you will see in your region How is best to utilize them? Is there certain routes they're more suited towards? There's all manner of things so for example the class 170s pictured there have Mid-train boarding and that helps with Dwell times at stations so they might be better suited to particular routes where we've got schools and school children that board and That can add delays to our service if you've got 30 school children Congregated around a single door and then that impacts our performance so all these sorts of things are factored in about almost like the marginal gains about how we can improve our performance and And then we're working with third parties and external agents about line speed improvements that might unlock Future timetable improvements as I say lots of hurdles to go through with that we've got some exciting propositions internally that working towards but But some way to go in terms of before we're in a firm position to talk about some of those And that's that's that's about it really I'm happy to take any questions and hopefully I can answer them in person But otherwise I would just come back to you as soon as I possibly can Thank You for that George, we'll take the questions that point then so I've got Councillor Ashton first Thank you I've never really heard the word supplying trains on a regular basis called a complete rain rail proposition I'm also welcome in Trated to were to note that the welcome given to the class 170s as part of the EMR fleet I remember them in this part of the country on central train 25 years ago It's good that we've got them back. We've had an awful lot of drops in between I would just like to ask around Haven't picked up any mention of improving services at locations such as Sleaford for instance, which is part of the EMR network, which seems to be the cause of Significant delays in journey time for anyone wanting to use the train between either Lincoln and Skegness or Lincoln and Boston if you're heading from Lincoln to Boston then because of the the way that the train services cross over at Sleaford You miss the preceding service onward by 10 to 16 minutes, which means you end up with a 40 to 60 minute Wait for the next train and therefore journey times of getting on for two hours I Know it's great to have new shiny trains But if you're waiting for that length of time for the next one It doesn't matter how pretty the station is or how great the train is when you get on it That's not going to encourage people to to get on those trains and it's exactly the same on that that Connection going back the other way If you're traveling from Boston to Lincoln again, it can be a myth of as little as eight minutes between Effectively the train that you should be on leaving and the one that you're getting in on And these fields yeah, I appreciate sleep and I appreciate the eastern part of these Midlands Railways network, you know, it's it's not a glamorous is nothing and it's not a glamorous is the as the Darwinist getting their stuff But it's just it's this kind of service that people in Lincolnshire Rely on or should be able to rely on Day in day out and I haven't heard any mention of any attempt to address This particular service or others that I'm sure are around And I just wonder whether this is something that is planned to be picked up or not Thank you the question completely understand the concerns Without making light of it because it's a very serious point my partner's family live in Hekington and my mother-in-law Says much the same. She she uses the train and she lives just Round the corner from the station and echoes much of what you say It's a shame Jane is poorly this morning because being our planning manager He's much closer to that to be able to answer and the final slide that I touched upon which is looking towards improvements in future timetables is aimed exactly on that and actually and Please don't think that the eastern portion of our of our services are in any way Not prioritized in many ways the what we're really excited about what we could unlock on the eastern portion of our route and and there's a there's a laser focus with we've recently recruited a Colleague called Chris Patman who has vast rare experience. He's worked with an Avanti. He lives in Newark not far away And and he is his soul He is our long-term strategy manager and he is looking at what how we can improve connections on that on our eastern portion and And and potentially expand services as well and I can't go into too much detail one because it's in the early stages of being scope too and unfortunately, it's not not my area of expertise, but in the least if I can reassure people in the room that we're absolutely laser focused on that and And secondly, I can take the question away and hopefully provide some more detail and after after the meeting I Move on from that for now council action because there's other questions council Thank you chairman. Um, firstly, I'd like to say I'm delighted to see the increased capacity on the Skegness summer route But what are you actually doing to encourage people to utilize that service? I note that sort of in your report you've stated the capacity can be a challenge And if I was traveling with young children and luggage that would put me off going by train to be honest So I think sort of you obviously need to have a good PR Sort of service going on with that In terms of the additional the additional services that you're looking at on the summer Saturdays How far in advance are you publicizing these? I did a quick search on train line last night and couldn't see the additional services coming up However, maybe incorrect but if I was booking I'd be booking now So I think it's really important to get that out there and have those being booked so that you know How many people to expect on the train as well? The two other points I'd like to mention that we've not touched on sort of I don't believe in your sort of comments are the frequency of the trains between Lincoln and St. Pancras and whether you have any plans to increase the frequency of those and Also Doncaster Airport shouldn't be understated either I know it's not open at the moment, but there are plans afoot to reopen it And it's something obviously being considered by Doncaster. Are you considering that when you're looking at your forward planning as well? Thank you Okay, thank you for your question and I'll cover so in terms of what very quickly on Doncaster and again With all respect for people in the room and I do apologize for this Jamie being the planning manager would be in a better place to have answered that I'm afraid and Again, I'm more than happy to take that away and come back to you and to with a response about what we're planning to do in that area and On the London services. I'm afraid to say that there are no plans. I do know there are no plans to add any additional services to London from Lincoln via EMR and Obviously, I'm aware that LNER have some services in I think five a day. I believe LNER are a peer operator that Operate from Lincoln to London Kings Cross directly But I'm afraid we don't have any plans to add any in that on that route. I'm afraid and Just if you can the first question I was working backwards there that would be the first point around Yes, I beg your pardon, sorry about that you can book three months in advance they will be available if on journey planners if you look 12 weeks out and We do last summer actually because of the challenges we had with the Cascade We actually rode back on some of our marketing on scaredness because we it were in this sort of catch-22 of not wanting to put People off but aware of the capacity challenges this summer We're in a different position. So we do have as the summer continues to build and And we move towards six weeks holiday we do have some marketing exposure on social media and some local advertising on radio and things like that and as well as some materials going in at some of our key hub stations at Derby at Nottingham to promote and travel to the coast because and It's it's a significant revenue line for us We want to support local tourism and and and some escape net is a is a key focus for us as a business Yes, so we will we will we do have plans to promote it as there as a summer progressive Thanks those questions I'm just going to throw a couple of quick ones in because we need to move on on this but George I mean, I remember being here two years ago And asking questions and to be honest with you some of the answers were similar. I also remember being with the the minister Pre-covid at Ruskinton where we put the new ramping and we were talking then about EMR upgrades to to The stock so question two questions really are if we're now beginning to scope the upgrades How long will it take to actually put them in place and how long will it take them to scope and do we need them? Because a really nice upgrade to the trains would be ones like I can actually sit on We haven't put the seat so close together. I can't even get my knees in if I'm if anybody's six foot tall And the other one is again going back to Skegness now We've heard your family connections and your fondness for Skegness But it would appear to be that we can only be fond of it on a Saturday Because families can't even start out from Sleefford until 10 o'clock So if we're talking about the tourism if we're talking about the effect of the pandemic we can only be fond of it on a Saturday If we're talking about the effect on the economy and how we get people to these places When are we actually going to do something about the fact that actually Sunday? I know everybody's entitled to arrest but surely we can have services that run at a decent time For people to actually use their downtime if they want to use trains So on the fleet refurb They're due to begin in the autumn. So we're looking at September October time with the first class 170s and Being taken off of use to to begin those those refurbishments To not impact passenger services. It won't be complete until 2026 So incrementally 170s will come out and go through the refurbishment program with their with third party Engineering companies and to then be put back on at a later date But yes, so so certainly from sort of the early part of next year you'll start to see The trains that have been fully refurbished entering active use. On the point in regards to Sleaford and Connections to the coast on that specific issue again, I apologize. I've Not been from the planning team and I'm unsure what the answer would be on that whether it's an operational issue whether it's Crewing issues. I'm unsure but I'm more than happy to take that away again with the other two questions and Providing answer to to to after after the meeting Okay, thank you Thank you, yes just picking up I'm aware as part of station refurbishment work on going but when EMR first took on franchise, there was the expectation that every station would be upgraded with things like Wi-Fi and The ability to buy a ticket on the platform Has that taken place will that take place and is that really good value for money? When that program is being extended to places such as Thorpe culvert, which on current statistics has one train a day I'm just wondering whether there are better value for money things that EMR could do and just picking up on the Numerous questions that have come from around the chamber around services and planning and improvements. I would add to that The potential that there is to promote Skegness not just to these Midlands and Derby But to those other parts of the country that don't have a particularly good rail service to a seaside resort such as Peterborough And if it's not possible to answer them questions and at the others from members of the committee this morning whether Jamie would be willing to come and talk to us directly appreciating the experiences of members and People in our communities might be useful as part of that planning process in the future Yeah Just touching upon the final question That if that was of use we'd be delighted to it would be there's several Members of the tick planning team who are very open and transparent and would be happy to go meet Or have a remote meeting to talk about some of those and details in depth and how we come to decisions and the considerations that go into to planning the timetable and in terms of sort of advertising outside of our patch and I mean with our rail proposition supports it we work with external tourism boards and External agencies to promote travel to the coast We are limited in that Geographically we can only sort of reach those on our path ironically actually and from some research there's quite a lot of people that travel to to Skepness from Scotland and they come down from the through the East Coast mainline and then there and then head across for East from from from Grantham and places like that, so There is there is reach and we are somewhat limited because geographically we target our location if that makes sense locality and on providing ticket purchasing facilities at stations we've introduced a number of smart kiosks in the region that were a much cost effective a much more cost effective way of providing ticket purchasing facilities for passengers where they need and and they also come with customer information screens in in places where we can then provide onward travel information to passengers where Perhaps at the station that wasn't wasn't there before so it provides sort of a double benefit I suppose Thank you George, do you have a quick question Councillor Clark? Very quick one. I share with the other councillors the issues of the train service within Lincolnshire But can I have some clarification on page 34? It's a the cancellation of HS 2 Is Lincolnshire rail network receiving any of the promised funding for the North or aren't we in the North anymore? Was we ever in the North? Or from an EMR point of view and we we are the contracted operator so in terms of and Obviously, I'm close to rail news the HS 2 funding that might be attributed to other areas that I'm afraid that's all the other bodies that would determine where that's spent where that's the Department for Transport in coordination with bodies like Network Rail and goodness knows what and third parties like Midlands connect to Campaign for funding in certain areas. We do work closely with them that but as the operator we have no Determination of where the where any Subsequent government funding like that goes I'm afraid Thank you George, we might get that those answers in the next part Councillor Clark Okay, is that we finished now with the questions on there and we can hand back to either Jane or Tom to take us On to the next part, please Thank you George that was really helpful and we'll pick up on the points that needs some clarification from Jamie and now We can look forward to our presentation from Network Rail And Tom Ingrid is going to take us through The infrastructure plans for the region in the next five years CP the CP seven. Thank you Tom Good morning, everybody. I'm Tommy gray leads to partner for Network Rail Eastern region and I cover the Anglia and East Midlands part of the geography I should note that Lincolnshire is split between the north and east route in eastern and East Midlands My colleague Richard Bates, unfortunately couldn't be here today So I'll try and address the questions that relate to the north and east route in Lincolnshire as best I can The key aim I think from the presentation from us today is to talk about the conclusion of our strategic advice which was published Towards the end of last year And I've also wanted just to pick up on a few questions that Jane has raised with us recently around the CP 7 plan and Other projects ongoing in the in the region So if I go to the next slide, please So the question Underpinning the strategic advice to recap is how can economic growth and connectivity be best supported by the rail network in Lincolnshire. I Won't dwell too much on the challenges in the rail sector that My counterpart in East Midlands railway has also alluded to but clearly there is a challenging Environment at the moment in the rail sector as we adjust to new traveling trends and the impact that has on our funding That said what we have tried to do with the Lincolnshire strategic advice is bring out the wider aims and wider benefits of rail addressing a number of challenges be that connectivity akin to the point that the one of the council's raised about some connections at Sleaford or also addressing social deprivation and Opportunities to connect different parts of the county for routes for our geography The core recommendations of the completed work and I should add if anyone Hasn't had the opportunity to see that it's available on our public website under the long-term planning section never rail Core recommendations are looking to progress the plans to extend the London Kings Cross Lincoln service to cleethorpes as my colleague referred to Ultimately LNER are the primary body taking forward that proposition So there may be a limit to which I can immediately address questions on that one But it's very much something we see as a benefit to the to the county We also recommend exploring opportunities to improve the passenger experience Lincoln station With particular reference to the footbridge and I must say this morning when I arrived just before nine o'clock, I noticed the the volume of passengers coming towards the footbridge and the width constraints that are highlighted in our work We also recommend exploring replacing the level crossing with a footbridge at Crowell there's a particular interface there with Aspiration to increase and maintain existing freight flows in the in the region and we also recommend exploring the operational feasibility of removing the near three-hour gap in morning services from Barton on Humber as I'm sure you can appreciate With the rail industry as it's structured today There is a need here to work with our partners on on this very closely. I think the particular opportunity Highlighted but in these Midlands railways presentation is the opportunity to work with their dedicated strategic planning manager Chris Patman We've been feeding in some work to their rural connectivity and regional line speeds study And I think I was very much Grateful to be referred to as a partner at the start of this meeting I think we really see that partnership working as a key area to continue working with Yourselves and also the sub-national transport bodies of Midlands connect towards the Midlands and Transport for North are looking towards the Northeast So the other recommendations on the next slide, please Reference the proposal from the nuclear waste services for a geological disposal facility at the teleport I Suppose to clarify network else position on this one. We have been approached by the nuclear waste services as part of their own planning work the DFT asked us as part of this work to consider the viability of passenger service benefits arising from the proposal So the work we've done here is ultimately subject to The proposal developing further. I should add that it would be challenging to make a case for reinstating services without an agent of change such as the proposal so what we did in our work is we looked at the theoretical feasibility of services either coming from Grimsby in the north or via Boston in the south We concluded that the greatest value for money particularly considering the passenger service Options would be likely via the southern approach That's not a absolute position network rail. I think at this stage we've not been consulted further by the nuclear waste services provider, but we will of course consider any business development proposals that put forward and clearly there's a big opportunity to work with yourselves as partners on on the rail passenger service options arising I think to expand on the point about connections at Sleaford with what I assume is referenced the the rail services the further opportunity beyond that we see is an opportunity to take forward with yourselves and Business connect and other partners is the opportunity to improve multimodal integration across the county So thinking about how our road network and our bus network Interfaces with our stations. There's a direct relationship between both better passenger outcomes of an integrated first lot first last mile journey but also An opportunity for us to increase our revenue base which gives us greater opportunity to take four different options in the future and finally the Recommendation to explore funding for electrification of the Great Northern Great Eastern line Between Peter and Don cast of iLincoln is a medium-term priority now perhaps just to add a bit of Realism to what short medium-term might mean I think medium-term we would refer to as a likely proposition in the 2030s There is It's difficult to say there is a committed rail Electrification pipeline over time in the manner which we would prefer to perhaps meet our net-zero objectives But equally there is a significant electrification being funded by the EFT at the moment most notably the Midlands mainline Midland mainline electrification and the TRU electrification so what we're looking to do in our role in strategic planning is to propose the forward options so that as when funding becomes available we can be clear on our priorities and Given the primary freight flows on the line and also the diversionary Use of the service we see the G and G is a key Primary option in that medium-term phase next slide, please. I Note from the last presentation the questions around the high-speed to Eastern leg cancellation and what that means With regarding to Network North and future rail enhancements I Mean there's a limit to what I could say given the pre-election Requirements at the moment, but to be frank were that even without that particular Position At the moment much more work needs to be done from a net rail perspective to be clear on definitive outcomes of What that may mean across our wider network in Lincolnshire? The Network North announcement means we really need to reevaluate the primary factors of High speed to his original intent and we are continuing to work with the DFT on that at the moment in particular, we're looking at a workstream with them called Midlands Yorkshire Northeast What that work looks to do is to understand the impact to the Midlands and the Northeast from the removal of the eastern leg And clearly as part of that we need to understand how that interfaces with the existing network and other Long-term priorities of partners Newark flat crossing is Inevitably part of that question and what I'm referring to there Is that we are looking at the East Coast mainline and what the consequences of that cancellation means? The existing timetable change is a microcosm of the challenges that we need to look at in the longer term of accommodating that That capacity and wider objectives to be that journey time or connectivity In the medium to long term on the East Coast mainline We're looking to develop a proposal on a future network study for these East Coast mainline And there has been some work started as part of the former Integrated rail plan to look at some of the earlier stage outputs of that So Newark, I think we obviously have to look at from both the perspective of the Midlands to Midlands flows coming From in across to the Midlands, but also that that primary intercity route and It will be challenging in isolation to make a business case for Newick black crossing on the local flows and freight flows But it remains one of the options that we need to explore as we look across that corridor wide challenge over the long term next slide, please The slide here is just a very brief outline of the control period 7 Funding so just again to clarify the funding for network rails operational settlement operations maintenance and renewals Similar to the funding for our train operating colleagues is linked to the control period 7 settlement Enhancements is funded separately either through Other public funds private funding or the round network enhancements pipeline But just to touch on some key things custom communities is a key pass of that CP 7 settlement likewise Commitment to health and safety We really need to address the productivity challenges within our own business to be able to address some of the wider funding challenges But also give us the opportunity to progress new opportunities where they arrive Environmental sustainability Is clearly a challenge for us and network and in particular the Smith's region or route sorry has made a particular commitments to improve our drainage Facilities, I think that's very much geared short-term Keeping service today Viable and performing well And of course, there is a longer-term aspect to this beyond control period 7 of what those climate change factors mean to Parts of our network that are more vulnerable to that So for example the question of looking at a Mabel Thorpe service needs to be addressed in the context of the existing Railways resilience to to future change as much as it is a new new opportunity network and asset resilience is Really focused around prioritizing the areas of greatest network vulnerability And making sure we use our funding to address those Accordingly and Likewise with regards to keeping a resilient timetable It's key that we work with our partners across all the tops and Fox To maintain that today and then shaping tomorrow's railway, which hopefully I've given you A flavor of as we've gone through the particular Focus in these Midlands route major investment is the completion of the middle and mainline electrification package and there's also Opportunities to look forward at future digital railway signaling packages but I think the key thing for us with the funding environment as it is and also mindful of the changing governance structure of the local mayoralties Both with the recent East Midlands mayor and next year's Elections with Lincolnshire Is understanding how we can work together to use? funding across the round out work enhancements pipeline which never relatively proposed DFT, but also emerging funding from mayoralty funds as well next slide, please I'm very quick one here. Just just highlighting the Total funding for East Midlands in that settlement is 1.6 billion over the five-year control period and billion enhancements Actually largely taking in that that middle mainline electrification Priority next slide, please I wanted to finish on a few key issues that Jane has raised in industry meetings and and we've discussed recently I'm aware this window II re-signaling has been Subject to changed timescales And I wanted to pass on some commitments that the East Midlands routes have shared with them with Jane recently very quick summary of the Swindon be Project the the primary aim of the project is to move the existing signal control from local boxes to Lincoln control center And removal of redundant line side equipments and also upgrades to level crossings within that there is a link also with a Enhancements project shall come on to in a second But the I think the key news to share today is the invitation to tenders have been prepared and issued you may have seen recently that rallies issued a framework for major works in in the eastern region So we're hoping we can assess that tender with a view to contract award in autumn and then looking to start on site in spring 25 with a final completion stage in in spring 2027 So I think ultimately final confirmation on these commitments will need to be Evaluated once a procurement exercise is complete but I wanted to reassure the members here today that that is key part of our CP 7 plan Going forward next slide, please Access for all station improvements and so to recap this is a national fund Looks addressing accessibility gaps and provision across the country Our team in strategic planning have been preparing our views on prioritization in advance of informing Contributions from partners here and other bodies mentioned particularly Smithons railway as well And I'm really pleased that our own recommendations for Seifert and Stanford is particular priorities have been taken forward I Should note though that the caveat there is that the initial phases for? design feasibility Before a final decision has been is taken on on those schemes to go forward I'm familiar with both stations and I think they're both very compelling cases particularly from the safety perspective of using crossings as an alternative for passengers with reduced mobility but also passengers with luggage or push chairs and other needs Gaines Billy Lee Road station again, I think there's been a deferral from renewals work banking in CP 6 But the current plans for the platform 1 Renewal are to take for that work in years 2 and 4 of CP 7 And again, once we we work that free with the respective works contractors we can we can share further detail next slide, please So as I say never really is keen to work with partners on Enhancement proposals and I think Try to allude to the start that really I think that's very much the focus. We're going to have to take with other enhancement proposals It's very difficult to make the case for funding and the constrained round up enhancements pipeline But working together with partners we can we can leverage both that stakeholder and partner Inputs to the strategic case work with local politicians and national politicians And Nottingham to Lincoln line speed is ultimately about working in and around the renewals of Swindeby other parts of our network to enhance the Line speed of the existing services to use that line Network rail have been working for Midlands connect as a excuse me as a development partner and most recently on advice from the DFT to present a joints OBC FPC proposal as outlined business case final business case We have prepared an estimate for the next stage of design which Midlands Connect will be liaising with DFT to take forward and clearly the Maturing timescales around Swindeby allows us to understand when we we need to be making decisions around that But without preempting the decision of that of that program board. I think it's important we think about understanding how a financial case may be made Across a wider contribution space depending on the availability of round up enhancements pipeline funding clearly The work that Eastman's railways referred to earlier is something that we would look to also linking with this if we're looking at different service frequencies in the future Those benefits would be increased G&G Sunday service So I think this is ultimately something we need to work on further I don't think our work looked definitively at providing the answers for this and I must admit I think there are some myths that needs to be dispelled from what I understand Opening signal boxes is not the problem. It once was with the amount of services that Transferred to the link and control center. There is a challenge for maintenance because clearly is a heavy utilized freight line we need to have maintenance time within the timetable But actually I don't know if people have seen in the last control period Early this year. We've looked at pilots to work different times of the week to midweek evenings and that has some consequences in Later services are terminated earlier and passengers have to use rail placement buses But I would say that across our strategic planning portfolio. We are really looking to understand How we can widen our revenue base and as it Eastman's railway referred to earlier leisure is is a key growth area I'm a resident of Spalding and I used to service on Saturday, and I think Clearly there is a demand there that will be Likely to benefit from that service. So I think we need to work further with Eastman's railway It's it's not just an infrastructure cost those level crossing Signal box challenges could extend beyond the job fee of the GNG itself depending on what the fleet is coming from But I think the work that some Eastman's railway referred to is a key opportunity And I think it's not the last slide or is it's the one more. I Think really just just to finish and thank you again for your opportunity to speak for me probably the overarching point to take away for us is Is suggesting a further meeting with Jane mittens connects transport for North And thinking about the opportunities presented by the governance changes the challenges we face as a sector and You know, I welcome that the challenge by one of the council's earlier - are we spending money in the right place one of the key things we're trying to do in our control period planning is Not for foul of renewing assets for the sake of renewing assets There are always decisions to be made to spend depending on each individual decision about whether spending or different means of achieving Maintenance of those assets can be achieved over spending something else and I think we need to do the same in enhancements and I was interested to hear from Jane that there is a legacy of Working together to potentially cross subsidize local services And I I would note that from the little I understand of that. There is an element of trust that would be needed there in Ensuring that there's a clear agreement between the parties that rallies business railway DFT ultimately Around such an agreement, but I think there's always there's always an option to Consider operational spending over capital spending And we shouldn't lose sight of that and I look forward to working with them Lincolnshire And for governance bodies as partners going forward. Thank you Thank you very much Before I ask them to speak obviously you mentioned timetable for mayoral elections for Lincolnshire the orders weren't laid so hopefully your plans aren't solely centered around that because we'll have to see what the timeline is going forward, but Right, I guess members can I please ask members to be succinct please and questions not statements as we've got plenty on the agenda today Councillor Ashton Thank You chairman, I make no apology, but I have got several I will split them down if I may into three particular sections first of all picking up on signaling and issues really pleased to see To hear the confirmation that the issues with the Sunday service on the Spalding line are no longer down to opening up signal boxes but I really really do think that it will be Bizarre if the collective minds of the rail industry cannot get a Sunday service on that railway Within the next five years. It is perhaps a standing utter utter utter shame the after all of the money that's been spent upgrading that line to freight standards upgrading the signaling that there is still no longer a Sunday connection between Three key towns in link questions, please council Ashton. We'll get there So my question is are we expecting a solution to that in five years or not? Also, what plans are there to upgrade signaling on the poacher line between sleepers and sickness and Does the issue of public bridge level crossing make that impossible to achieve? That's one area, please Well, first of all, just just quickly on Sunday services and what I was alluding to is my view is that the Signal box opening factor is not as bigger a factor as a it has been made out previously I think what we need to do is to get around the table and understand the facts Like I said, it might not be limited to the geography because if the service is coming from other parts of network where there is Operating costs that could be a factor you could say the same about other services on the line as well So I think that keep that key piece of work with these Midlands and looking at regional connectivity is probably the place to take that I mean theoretically I see no reason why you couldn't look at this question within a five-year and times timeframe It's a good example of something that should be achievable. However, the fact is around that around driver availability And other other factors we need to get to the bottom of and I'm very happy to take an action to work with Jane And these middens colleagues on that I Couldn't give you a detailed answer for the poacher line re-sickling Certainly, how much bridge is something that we we we referenced and understand in our strategic advice And I'll be happy to go away and take that question on where we're looking to do work going forward, but the piece of work that I referred to is a Approach of looking at our business plan from the perspective of different value factors not just renewing for the sake of renewing Is exactly the sort of reason why we want to input and understand more about these these options before we make four choices So yeah, as far as I'm aware, it's not a key part of the CP 7 plan, but I can clarify that through Jane and back to this Thank you And I appreciate the lonely job of the hidden one on the poacher line waiting for the few train to come back It can't be as exciting as it is in some part of the network picking up on the Hope for improvement for the LNER connection to please hope what plans are there or has it been considered to run? potentially the first and last LNER service from Lincoln via the Joint line to pick up measuring and rushing to sleep with and spalding instead of running via the East Coast Main Line I appreciate the East Coast Main Line has a plentiful service of trains but if you're looking at new business the population I looked at this some time ago population of measuring and rushing to sleep with spalding Equates to the same population the Grantham and Newark in terms of potential new business Is that something that you're looking at factoring in if it's something you could factor in? Because that would make a real difference to the access to a direct service to London for a lot of Lincoln ship Well, I'm quite sympathetic personally as I said I live in Spalding I think As far as I'm aware, it's not the work that's been done by network rail to look at the cleethorps Extension has been based on using the Nottingham to Lincoln line and joining the East Coast at There's no reason why we couldn't look at that question again, I think there are some challenges with the infrastructure restrictive headways Section between the sleeve and spalding. I Guess ultimately we'd have to look at the bigger picture as well in terms of I think your population Challenge is a sensible one and I think we could look at that the clear would be a dis benefit to calls For customers that Grantham and and Newark but again, I think It's probably one I'd have to think about Clearly there's a there's a challenge in getting the current East Coast proposition Over the line, shall we say? So I'd be reluctant to make any firm commitments at the risk of complicating an already Challenging position but I think it's a valid question from a strategic planning perspective and I'll look to take that away and understand if My colleagues who develop this work before I seem the role have done any work on that But I think there's certainly some value in that Thank you very much indeed My final area of questioning. I'm really really pleased to see the work that you've done around the proposal for federal thought I'm delighted that your Root your suggested route is coming up from the south I'm assuming that having looked at the challenges of bringing a new rail line effectively a new rail line through the northern wall It would come with a not just huge engineering problems, but area of outstanding natural beauty and so on As part of your southern connection, would you be thinking in terms of reaching Mabel thought via Laos? for instance you talk about passenger route passenger potential Obviously Laos is the one key town in the eastern bit of Lincolnshire without a railway line It's what a lot of people have begged for a railway line to come back to Lough for a long long time But I appreciate Mabel thought federal thought sort of off to the side Are you thinking of going up to Laos in the cross or missing Lough? I? Don't think the the proposal Presented in seizure bias includes But I think that's a good example again of how we can work with funders To understand the value of that. I think you're right to a certain extent those challenges coming from the north are exacerbated by some of the profile Compared to the south but also I think there's element of economic modeling we did on what we thought the likely rail usage patterns would be So again, I think it's one we could definitely consider At a later stage of development and I think really for us at the moment, how can I put it? the work is perhaps on ice somewhat until the The the nuclear proposition goes forward further certainly if there's evidence and information about that that that's It's quite stark points, but it understood that Suffers from that lack of connectivity would be keen to set forward and also think about that question a post around working with other transport providers on connectivity Whatever happens with that proposal it could be some years off And if there are opportunities to work with partners on bus routes their provision being improved to Improve passenger in a more shorter term then we'll be keen to explore as well I Don't Well, thank you for that just one question for myself Tom and that's with regards to your vision slide now I will keep it to one because I could ask questions about near enough every category on there to be honest I think I think there might be some tying up needed all that vision to be honest with you but with the environmental sustainability And I'd be quite happy for somebody to send something on later on this But where it says we will become more resilient to the changes in weather I find that to be you know Pretty sort of bland and all-encompassing statement bearing in mind my local station during the last lot of flooding was good for boating You could boat at the line because they were you just filled up with water so I'll be interested to know what is actually on the cards for making the the network resilient to You know extremes of weather going forward and whether you could send something on rather than try to answer that now appreciate that Thank you for that Clarification because yes, I think in detail we'd have to say that one away. Where was your local state is your local station? Sorry? Yeah, so I think ultimately the the work in CP 7 is is more about improving our day-to-day maintenance At the drainage network at the railway a lot of that is also about working with partners Depending on where the outflows and inputs are coming in So all system from the environment agency and other partners of a similar nature drainage boards as well in this area There's been a significant commitment to further drainage engineer And maintenance activity in the CP 7 plan. So I think the simple answer is there is a Significant commitment within the CP 7 plan to improve the highest risk areas of flooding I think what I was leading to in the longer term is thinking about the vulnerability of coastal routes or other areas to longer term climate trends And again speaking from a non specialist Environmental perspective. I think again that's about considering the wider investment portfolio we have So for example where we there's been investment in Boston barrier other local flood infrastructure Schemes the answer may not always lie with Rail to spend money that has a wider benefit And of course then you could take it further and if certain communities become isolated and less Viable and there's longer term changes You'd have to look at that in the round. So Happy to look at a colleague in East Midlands route perhaps to speak about the the short-term drainage work And likewise that that long-term piece But I really I really see that as working with with key partners much in a similar way that in Spalding Probably less environmental per se but with level crossings. We need to think about how the road investment proposals can benefit that and It will be challenging for network rail to provide a direct funding contribution typically those types of opportunities arise when we can close level crossing which I don't think would be viable in the case of Windsor Road in Park Park Road, but I think working with partners on What is going to be limited funding whether it is the time scales that you mentioned goes out saying that we obviously be working with yourselves At Lincolnshire in any case However, the governance plays out Thank you very much Thank you for the presentation Nothing to add Jane before I move this on Right, I move that the committee notes the updates provided by network rail and East Midlands rail on rail infrastructure plans service enhancements and challenges in meeting stakeholder aspirations for improved connectivity and capacity in Lincolnshire and that the committee recommends that relevant LCC offices and portfolio holders work proactively with relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure that Lincolnshire's rail connectivity requirements are adequately represented and prioritized in broader Regional transport plans such as the network North initiative and the Midlands rail hub scheme and could add to that the the fact that we were Offered from mr. Selby to come back to us with answers on questions from today and whilst council Ashton made a good suggestion that there perhaps would be another and it meeting with somebody else that come to see is that I Wouldn't want to wait for that meeting for those answers. So if we could send the questions off And and get replies back to this committee and obviously to the resident officers and portfolio holder With that in mind. Can I have that proposed pleased? Council Vernon seconded council Rawlings all those in favor Thank you very much Right. I'm sure you I'm sure you're really keen to see the rest is meeting through Tom Right we had at this point scheduled in a ten minute break if people needed it because but we've got a pretty long agenda here So does anybody who actually want the break or should we move on with the agenda? Carry on right. That's the only answer I got so we'll carry on Right item seven then is the winter service plan This pre decision scrutiny report can be found on pages 37 to 108 of the agenda pack The report outlines the proposed amendments to the winter service plan for 24 25 ensuring alignment with national guidance and best practices a decision is due to be taken by the Executive Council of a Highways Transport and IT between the 17th and 28th of June It's asked we consider the report and determine whether we support Recommendations to the Executive Council and that we agree any additional comments be passed to the Executive Council in relation to this item The report will be presented by Claire Dixon policy and asset manager Thank You chair So this report provides the committee with the background information on the council's winter service plan for 2024 to 25 The winter service plan documents the robust policies procedures and standards Against which the council fulfills its statutory duties in relation to snow and ice and otherwise manages its winter service the plan covers gritting of the highway network during wind conditions covering an Operational period of the 1st of October to the 30th of April with provisions to extend beyond those dates if required During this period our train staff will monitor weather forecasts and weather conditions on a 24-hour basis And this will enable treatment decisions to be tuned to changing winter weather conditions winter service operations will give priority to a 3018 kilometer network of priority routes and details of these routes can be found on our website All treatments shall be carried out using appropriate action for the prevailing conditions in accordance with national guidance and best practice a system of local weather stations will be operated and used both to feed into the weather forecast model and to monitor local conditions and Professional forecasting service will be used to guide treatment decisions We own and use 12 roadside weather stations around the county and these weather stations are positioned so that there are sufficient weather stations in each of Lincoln Cheers six weather domains Salton grip bins will be provided and maintained on request if the if the location meets the criteria are set out in Appendix C Page 81 and through the report and a responsible body Undertakes to spread salt and or grit where necessary and inform the network resilience team when it needs refilling These bins are provided on a self-help basis to local communities to treat known local trouble spots on the public highway Not covered by the priority route network We undertake to provide limited amounts of additional salt and or grit in wanton sacks to parish councils at agreed locations on request or during summer following a severe winter To ensure we have sufficient resources for our winter service operations. We will provide the following as a minimum 43 frontline gritters for spare gritters 47 snow plows eight Operational centers at which gritters and salt supplies will be based and at the start of each winter season There'll be a minimum of twenty five thousand tons of salt in stock the council will aim to manage the carriageway so that the public can travel safely and within and with minimal disruption or delay and We will do what is reasonably possible to ensure that the strategic routes remain open to public use The planet is updated annually in line with the highways infrastructure asset management plan which sets out the policy and procedures for the winter service a Appendix B and on page 93 of your report pack your you'll find the statistics for the winter service Service level demand for the past couple of years for 22 23. We had 68 salting turnouts using approximately 18,500 tons of salt for 23 24 We had 51 salting turnouts where we used approximately twelve thousand one hundred tons of salt I am joined today by my colleague Darryl Redford Network resilience manager. He does have some additional Statistics and is able to answer any questions at the end of this report An annual review has been undertaken and there are no proposed policy changes However, there are some minor operational changes and clarifications recommended for 2024 These include the removal of information regarding Budgets being based on an average winter References to fleet services have been removed and the local highways team have been removed as a point of contact for network resilience Which did form part of the update process from the forecast service provider? The reference of snowroom has been amended to instant response room to align with our operational procedures and the instant plan Report which is agreed between network resilience and contractor shall be done. So after each instant rather than at the end of each shift section 3.14 of the winter service plan and page 76 of your report has also been updated to show that the mutual aid Arrangements form part of the Lincolnshire resilience forum as part of multi-agency response The report invites the Executive Council for highways and transport to approve the plan as attached at appendix a of this report and the winter Service plan for 2024 will then become operational from the 1st of October 2024 Alternatives will be not to approve this plan which could then affect the arrangements and preparations to deliver the winter service and Just to note that we will also be delivering an interim winter service report to provide a mid-season Update and it shall be presented to the scrutiny committee on the 27th of January 2025. Thank you Thank you Councillor Brooks first, please Thank You chairman and a couple of things that I've got Thank you for the report good report and it is a note tweaks on the previous winter service plan so which has been through this committee before As I say, there's a couple of things I just wanted to ask about in the We talk about the mutual aid Section 3 1 4 in the plan and notice that reference to Bags of salt going to parish councils has been removed. It was in last year's And it's it's not in this year's plan. We talked about engaging with parish and town councils, but don't specifically mention the term bag of grit and it's something that is valued by Parish councils and town councils that that is available and it's often have referred to Throughout the year at parish council meetings the fact that they get that so I'm just a bit concerned that that's disappeared out of this year's plan and The the other question I've got was on route optimization and the reference to the ongoing project looking at the roads that might be out of the policy scope etc, and I just We previously said at this committee about having member involvement with that process and Again, I'd just like to the comfort of knowing that it's still intended to have member it input and involvement When that comes to the fall Thank You chairman Thank You councillor books and The Paragraph with regards to the wanton salt sacks has actually just been moved in the document It's now at two point ten point eight on page fifty. All right I looked at the changes and I said I went to the which I do find that useful Paragraph to propose changes tend to look through that and go and look at what the changes are I didn't realize that that had been moved to another section because it wasn't referred to There as a change so that's fine as long as it's there Yeah council books in relation to the other Optimization work we are working as quickly as possible in the background to make sure we get that You know just just testing what we can do in the background looking at optimizing our roots that's underway We are looking for sort of an informal member engagement just to develop that over the next 12 months and it is for the winter Service plan for the one after next so we believe we've got enough time And I'll be I'll be an action for me to reach out and make sure we arrange that Thank you, thanks Councillor Ashton Thank you, could you advise me why Colin's been tattoo seems to be missed off of the appendix a Main villages in Lincolnshire on page 77. I appreciate Just looking down the list there at places like Ragby simply stick me if they're on the list I'm just wondering why Collins be and Tasha are not Just on that same basis. I appreciate we have arrangements in place With the NHS and other authorities. Do we have anything in place? With the RAF appreciating the air base at calling fee and I assume the need to maintain access to that. Thank you The air base for Collins be is covered on our main gritting routes All the others in the county As far as Colin's been Tasha, we're just checking the document. They should be in so thank you for picking that up We'll make those changes, sorry about that. Thank you for pointing that out Thank You Apologies mr. Chairman, I think council Brooks actually covered what I want to ask Thank you for that council Rawlings Thank You. Mr. Chairman. This is a more minor matter, but colleague referred to the provision and filling of grip in grit bins in Isolated communities I have an issue on one of my very small villages where a main drain runs through the village and it get it on a Absolutely hairpin sort of partially hairpin Bend highly dangerous they have a local children's home just down the road and the the workers there seemed to manage to whiz round there and end up with the wheels over the Embankment of the of the drain on a regular basis now. There was a good thing there We have a lot of very elderly residents in the village Who have got past doing that sort of thing? But there is some concern about the younger residents about putting the grit out It's ineffective and then we end up with a fatality or some very nasty accident on the bow of this bridge Which has happened on more than one occasions people will not control the speed. So I just wanted about the community liability on that As far as community liability for spreading salt from a salt bin as I've seen as a Community spirited I exercise there is there is no legal Duty fought against them. So there has been no claim or no Court case involving grit bids spreading as long as you're not doing anything silly like putting hot water down and then letting it freeze You're just using the salt out of the bin though house, but there is no liability against the member of the public doing it It's seen as a community action The poor drivers in question tend to blame the local residents not putting the grit down properly so I think that's I think a lot of parishes know that as well I know it's vexed a lot of parish councils, but they got the answer about two years ago, sir There is a there is obviously a legal requirement for us as a service to do it properly That is the only legal requirement Councillor strangle Thank You chairman, I Think most of the damage to the roads is caused by the frost After a winter especially as severe winter not so much snow, but I think the frost is the the one We've heard the term For the summer beach ready body. I'm not referring to myself here chairman, obviously But what about winter ready roads whether you use the word precautionary quite a lot in here Is there any way because you can see that some of the roads that get damaged by severe frost Actually occur in the same places Quite a lot of the time or I I've noticed that anyway I noticed especially on the a46 between Lincoln and Newark actually Is there any way that we can perhaps? identify areas that could be Susceptible to actually severe frost damage Or is that too difficult to do and if so, is there any precaution precaution you could take? to actually preempt a severe winter of frost And road damage. Thank you to answer your question, obviously Frost damage is due to water ingress into a fault or a crack in the road That's already there and then it being freezing and thawing and expanding and contracting and that's what causes the issue Obviously, we'd have to identify if there is a fault in the road with cracking or allowing water ingress into that that system As far as as making a road winter ready, I am unsure of if there is any Material that we can use or anything like that. I'd have to investigate on that one and talk to my local Highways officers on that on that issue as I say, it's not my area of expertise, unfortunately What was the second question there was a second Element More about identifying areas that seem to be damaged more and more each year whether you know, there is any Identified Hand over to John on that one John Evans Yeah, happy to take that question in terms of what we do as a highway service We're always trying to react in terms of conditions. So our highways officers are out there doing safety inspections but we're also doing as I'll report in my Item number 11, I think later on the condition of the highway We're always looking for it as it evolves some areas of our network deteriorates slower than others We've recently adopted some AI technology Visala AI that's mapping the road network as we drive it with around with our cameras that's just looking for deterioration cracking of different types and we use that to sort of inform us and Every year we're reprioritizing our scheme selection Whilst we've got a program for three to five years ahead of ourselves based on the latest condition data. We sort of reshuffle and so We're always looking to try and Capture the the highway assets in the worst condition prior to winter and one of the best techniques for that is preventative maintenance So stuff like surface dressing micro slurry treatments on top of an existing service Will ensure that that water ingress is is stopped So it doesn't deteriorate further during the winter. There's obviously Lots to go at in Lincolnshire. We try and do our best but sometimes we may get it wrong. So Yeah, that's probably what the best answer I can give at the moment Council - Thank you You said earlier that you you put these bins out where? If we want on is it is there a certain road you won't supply a bin and And is it the parish council that actually actually asked for these or or councillors or anybody? Thank you It is obviously In the parish council is the main people that request these we look look really for a professional Body that can come back to us and let keep us informed about them being need to be refilled and look after them for us And the parish council is usually the best element to do that though we will take We will take requests from from other other areas as well As far as roads that we will not put a grip in on there is nothing Though we will tend to shy away from putting them on roads that we're already gritting we will only put a grip bin in if there was an additional issue such as runoff from the roads or a drainage issue that we're aware of that needs possible further salting after we've gone through and that the water is Is a problem flowing water being a problem on the network, so I Wouldn't say no to everything, but we do have a criteria obviously that we look at shaded areas corners And things like that And deep ditches to the side where there could be an issue of if a car comes off where there could be an issue So they have a priority when we put them out. I think we've got to be aware We've got over 2,000 grip bins in the in the county, which is a considerable number and keeping those Filled and and ready over over a winter particularly a bad winter is a big big exercise No further questions Just a quick one for myself then with regards to where it mentions value for money improvements And for instance owning the gritters, there's no mention there. No any potential impacts Obviously, there's all the associated issues then go with owning such as maintenance and repair So are we have we done anything to make sure that we don't compromise the effectiveness and timeliness of the of the? operations going forward based on ownership Yes, I mean one of the things we've got with the new gritters is we've got the ability to now regulate our own maintenance plans We have us before we were tied into what what we had got with by the contractors One thing we are doing we always do a summer overhaul obviously to to to gritters they're all in now having their their summer break and getting massaged and sunlamps and all that Yeah beach ready for for Eddie for the winter But also we are looking at Internal movement of vehicles what the ones that I do more roots and higher mileage being Pastured out to to lesser roots and moving moving those gritters into different gritters around Rotating those we're also looking at mid Life overhauls as well to spend a little money to invest to get more out of those gritters and a longer term out of them so there is many things that we are now looking at and And being able to to push further now that we own those gritters we've also got remember that Maintenance has always been there. So we've always been paying for it. So it's just now how Angling it at a better way. I'm getting more for our book bigger bang for our book. So That's what we're looking at at the moment Just come back Jonathan Yeah, really quick one I just think it's worth the high was transportation scrutiny Scrutiny committee being aware that since drafting the report the leasing company go plan has gone into administration So that's the seven hired of the seven gritters that were hired What we the highway service did whilst that company was getting wound up was purchased three of them And so we've taken that we've de-risked that element and we placed in a direct order for the purchase of four more So we brought forward that leasing so that prior to winter the coming winter. It'll be a fully LCC owned stock Just thought I'd update there and just some of activity that went on that happened before this was this Document was being drafted Thank you for that Okay, so no further questions I mean that the committee supports the proposed recommendations as they are set out on page 39 of the report and I ask that the comments raised by this committee be shared with executive council for consideration ahead of decision being made between 17th to 28th of June within those Comments, obviously there was potential issue of missing maps and also the ongoing consideration of member involvement in road prioritizing So do I have a seconder councillor strangle all those in favor That's carried thank you very much Okay for move then to item eight which is parking enforcement procedures manual The next pre decision scrutiny report now agenda can be found on pages 109 to 190 We are considering a draft report which sets out various amendments the existing parking enforcement procedures manual Our decision is due to be taken by the executive council for highways transport and IT between 17th and 24th of June It is asked that we consider the report and determine whether we support recommendations to the executive Councillor and that we agree any additional comments to be passed on to the executive councillor in relation to these items The report will be presented by Matt Jones parking services manager Good morning. Thank you chair and The report starts on page 118 but is a good 50 55 pages long solo won't go for every page, but I'll try and extract some of the key points that are detailed within it and Ultimately, the the purpose of the document is to provide guidance and to help motorists in their kind of in their intention on where to park how to park correctly throughout the county and what we do as a service to to try and enhance that experience and what the process is in place to deliver the the parking service itself and ultimately we undertake our enforcement in a fair but firm manner and That's both when we're undertaking enforcement activity on on street, but also in our back office as well So that includes handling telephone calls inquiries and an appeals process That's in place for anyone that could be issued with a penalty charge or that may have an inquiry regarding the service itself Goes into a lot more detail about that But as I said, I'm just trying to extract some of the the key points from there And we'll always try and attempt to issue penalty charges right first time and always looking to investigate everyone's comments that they may have across the across the service and publishing our data and statistics on the council's website is one of our kind of key points to Almost show that we're very open and transparent with the work that we do the work that we deliver and how that it's It's it's shown within each area across the county is then displayed through interactive maps and Very various data sets that we've got online Fundamentally we Civil parking enforcement is in place to Reduce traffic to enhance visitors experience create turnover of limited waiting parking bays and providing access for Those with a disability who are in possession of a valid blue badge So ensuring that we visit key areas across the county is important for us to To make sure that the parking spaces are there for use for as many people as possible So the document explains in quite a lot of detail about what parking restrictions are and this can go Ranges from the meaning of double yellow lines what we can do on them as a motorist loading and unloading is permitted dropping off pedestrians Passengers from a vehicle. Sorry allowing someone to alight into the vehicle as well So a lot of detail about how and why restrictions are in place and what the meanings of them actually are our officers will Enforce the restrictions as I said earlier in a fair but firm manner. So there's a very set guidelines that are available to officers in line with legislation and that are that we that we undertake our duties from so we enforce all on-street restrictions throughout the county and a number of off-street car parks in our Coastal areas and to be Creek hot off car Terrace for example as well there are some Elements which still remain the jurisdiction of the police obstruction for example Falls within the jurisdiction of the police still so we will always try and advise motorists in terms of what we can do but also what we may not be able to assist with and and the relevant channels that are available to the public to report matters such as that The officers themselves will follow not just the the legislation that we have in place but our own guidelines our own observation periods Relative to each type of parking instance that can occur. Like I said earlier on loading and unloading is permitted Off of a yellow line in a loading bay. So we have grace periods in place that allow Motorists to do that and to carry out that activity for local shops businesses, etc In terms of the actual penalties themselves they're set at two rates of one at 50 pounds, which is a the the lower level contravention and The higher level contravention of 70 pounds. These are both discounted by 50% if they're paid within 14 days and upon an issue of a penalty charge a motorist will always have the Opportunity to challenge the penalty if they feel it's either been issued incorrectly or there's valid grounds that may justify the cancellation Of that charge itself so the process is in place as per legislation in terms of the actual appeal process and Our notice processing team will handle all items of correspondence relative to that If penalties remain unpaid the process is followed for recovery a number of letters are sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle which we obtained from the DVLA and Again, if there's non-payment the the process continues until the penalty is either recovered in full via a payment to the authority or The matter is hand is passed across to to an enforcement agent to recover the debt for for the council Part of the appeals process also includes the opportunity to challenge via an independent parking adjudicator So this is a group of lawyers based within the traffic penalty tribunal So if again someone did feel that the penalty was issued either incorrectly or those valid grounds Were presented. However, the the council we felt that Discrete that the sufficient grounds weren't presented then a member of the public or motorists can actually challenge via someone independent from the council who will review the matter from scratch look at the rationale behind issuing and the Arguments from the motorists point of view for for the challenge and then form a decision from there Again, the document kind of goes into a bit more detail about that whole process itself We again are very open about how we Manage the service from a an appeals perspective We always accept that some penalty charge notices will be cancelled people will have valid grounds that justify cancellations and we identify a number of of potentials within the document itself loading and unloading a pay and display ticket may have fallen onto the Floor of a vehicle or a blue badge may have been partially obscured So all elements within this where we're very open about how we can offer discretion is detailed within the manual itself We also I we also accept that and some motorists may wish to Propose a payment plan in regards to penalties. So we'll always consider it about individual circumstances and we look at how we can manage that as Part of an appeals process as well The Discretion side of things rests pretty much solely with the back office So once a penalty has been issued on on street the the enforcement officer cannot do anything with that ticket They can add notes to the system They can add more details and explanations if there's more evidence has come to light after the event But fundamentally that is handled in the in the notice processing team afterwards The Fund or a big portion of the document or of the manual again kind of identifies Where we may give permissions for vehicles to park on on the network as well. So we are we issue parking waivers or dispensations which allows someone to park on a restriction if there's a specific need to access a property for example if there's building works going on directly next to the where the vehicle was required to be parked and Constant access to that vehicle was required. There's a process in place that that we can That we can assist with that bar an application process similar for parking bay suspensions as well, so there could be an event or there could be Works being undertaken on the highway that require a stretch of parking bays to be suspended and we manage that process as well In conjunction with kind of colleagues in our highways highways teams Moving further down into the document we Identify that we manage from Lincolnshire County Council resident permit schemes We have schemes in place in Sleaford Lough Stanford and Grantham all of which are a virtual permit system where a resident can apply for a permit and the handheld device that the officer is Utilizing when on street will flag up with the relevant information as to parking rights The City of Lincoln administer the Lincoln's permit scheme, which is still a physical permit so we we will always check for for permits or any type of document that shows that there's a permission given from the City of Lincoln to park in the resident permit bays in in the city The Towards the end of the document we list all of the different Controversions that can be issued. So there's a large large number all of which have different grace periods depending upon the severity of them a Disabled Bay for example if a vehicle is parked within it with no badge on display and in a ticket can be issued instantly However, if a vehicle is parked in a loading bay, then there may not be someone actively seen at that precise moment but we will give an observation to ensure that The the activity is witnessed and seen so all of these guidelines are what the are what the enforcement officers follow and the overall intention of the manual is to be Or to treat to treat it as a guide for motorists that can access the the document if they wish to And provide information as to what we do and how we undertake the cert the the parking enforcement service It was last updated. I think eight nine years ago. So we're due for an update the Updates are or the alterations are listed as appendix B on page one hundred and seventy four So there's two or three pages there of what the updates themselves can entail But on the whole that's in a in a quick snapshot nutshell the the mandal itself Thank you Thanks, man Any questions or comes with Councillor Clark? Chairman the old chestnut that's been I've been bringing up for many years a 5.25 it's a complete waste of time ringing up the police telling them about an obstruction Because all they'll say is it's down to the County Council ring them They've said this to many many residents and residents just don't bother anymore So that'll be ongoing for years I should think three point one resident parking I Understand Lincoln has 17 resident areas And there's another rather large area being put forward Will this mean the county will undertake more enforcement officers? Thank you Okay, thank you first of all in terms of obstruction I Completely appreciate what you've said I've heard it myself as well. We're unfortunately incorrect advice has been given to to the public we've worked with the police in the past to try and Explain and reinforce exactly what we can do. I know that there has been nationally a big big push to tackle pavement parking issues and there is still I think there was a consultation a good three years ago now where Discussions were had and opportunities were put forward from an array of groups and authorities to Explain how an authority may be able to assist with that moving forward so we're still awaiting the the outcome from government on it, but I Understand your point in terms of obstruction In terms of the resident parking. Yes. We've obviously with the there was a recent expansion of the Lincoln zone since all Bank area and We were very careful with how we've enforced that specific location because we don't want to take officers from other areas of the city to cover another scheme and Potentially leave other areas open to abuse and non-compliance. So we have to manage the resource extremely carefully. We look at What? Requirement is needed So we survey the area first and foremost to ascertain how many vehicles are actually parking in a non-compliant manner What tickets are issued from that is their compliance there? So potentially if there if there was a vast expansion Covering, you know a huge number of areas then we would have to look at the resource that we have because we couldn't We couldn't potentially manage that and the rest of the city with the existing staff. So Yes is the is the answer but we obviously need to work with City of Lincoln on that as well Council Brooks Thank You chairman Thank You Matt for the report. It's a good report. The document is extremely easy to read I find and just one One little criticism. I read through it all and I kept wondering because it is an update Where what the changes were and right on the last page I get appendix B changes to the document and I just wondered is there any way of making a reference to the changes to this document are in appendix B at the end so that if you would like to you can go there find out what the changes are and then Go back and check them out if you previously Familiar with the document but and the other thing I'd like to mention is grace periods and Particularly with no parking outside of schools when traffic regulation orders are put in outside of schools are just To say to everybody if you get proposals for no parking traffic regulation so orders outside of schools make sure there is a no load in unloading Part of that because if the yellow line if you just have yellow lines without no load in Unloading they have to be observed for a period of time Parking there and causing a real problem before the enforcement officer can give them a ticket And with parking unsafely outside of schools interfering with school crossing patrols and things like that You know, there shouldn't be any grace at all. It shouldn't be part there and so I'm just saying to everybody because I recently had one go through a School in my division thought great that's going to solve it school crossing patrol and then people start parking there knowing full well that The enforcement officer has got to give them a period of grace before they can give them a ticket So I just think that's worth everybody knowing and that's it. Thank you chairman Yes, thank you, yeah, no, thank you for your comments councillor Brooks and yeah in terms of schools I understand With zigzag marking so keep clear markings an instant contravention So we there is no observation period required for the yellow lines, which are say adjacent or either side of a zigzag That's where potentially there's an observation period that can take place So you're right in what you're saying in terms of a loading ban that stops Blue badge holders from parking on yellow lines. It stops loading and unloading and it's an instant contravention Whereas without a ban on loading so just a single yellow or a double yellow line. We would have to observe a vehicle to allow Someone to load and unload if they were, you know taking items into the school for example, or whatever it may be Then yeah, there's there's an observation period so I understand your comment on that It's one small observation and nobody else may think it's valid but on Page 127 you talk about the pay-by-phone tariff and ensuring you purchase the appropriate time, which is obviously really useful advice and can we add in about checking the number plate as well because I Unfortunately did get a parking ticket because I used the wrong vehicle. So obviously hands up That was my fault entirely, but I think it's one of those things now where in all seriousness It's simple just to put the wrong digit in so I wonder if it is perhaps worth including that as part of the guidance as well Thank you Yes, completely fine I can we can add that in Council Ashton Thank You chairman just picking up on and completely agree with the point raised by Councillor Brooks What is the evidence base that's required in order to introduce loading on loading restrictions? Is there a threshold? That has to be met is there a process that has to be gone through or is it simply that can be brought forward a? part of the usual TR o process and the reason I pick up on that is that we could perhaps do not wishing to prejudice what may come out of the current working group that's taking place that working group may I think I Will be speaking to the chairman after this meeting to see if we can just get a little bit more around your loading restrictions into that group, but I'm very keen on a personal basis to see you take a Uniform approach across Lincolnshire that wherever we're introducing TR o to tackle parking outside schools We do them to the most enforceable standard Like Councillor Brooks was saying any any crack in that enforceability makes it really really difficult To try and to try and and I mean my view is that double yellow line should be no parking There's no point in having double yellow lines If you're allowing parking of any kind, but if we if there is a means of doing that through loading restrictions Then that feels me a good place to land Yeah, okay, thank you Councillor Ashton and yes, I mean it would be part of the the TR o process From the parking services side. We enforce we don't implement or or administer that the implementing the new restrictions or an adjustment or an amendment but It's certainly something that could work very well be picked up at that early stage because of the knock-on effects further down the line So yeah, it could very well be that it's something that could be looked at as as a separate entity on its on its own Merits and you know being uniform Potentially throughout the county could could very well be beneficial appreciate that there could be individual circumstances for each area But but yeah, certainly something to look at Thank you any further questions now just just a quick one might suggest we were getting a bit behind now I noticed in the guidance it gives quite clear Information about you know, people that people forget they park on the verge They think that that means they're not part of the double yellow lines And obviously people gonna have to work out from this whether they know whether it's the highway or not Which is obviously a little bit unclear, but but it doesn't mention anywhere cycle lanes So I know a particular area near a school where there's no verge So they just blatantly park in the cycle lane and completely block the cycle lane and that's not mentioned at all Is that because of some legality over cycle lanes or is it just not mentioned? No, not at all. We enforce cycle lanes mandatory cycle lanes so I can ensure that there's an addition made to the manual itself to explain the you know, Kind of the impact that they that that can have as well and what we can do is a from an enforcement perspective So that can be added to the to the manual itself. I Was gonna say something else I know if somebody said I'm going to take my cycle then all the way down is trick cycle All the way down all the parked cars. I said, I think I don't think you can quite go that far We'll talk about enforcement first okay, right if there aren't any further questions and then I move that the Committee supports the proposed recommendations as that set out on page one one one of the report I ask the comments raised by this committee be shared with executive council for consideration ahead of decision being made between 17th to 24th of June and obviously within those considerations are the questions that be raised cycle lanes a Catholic council o'clock would like it to be mentioned again about The resourcing of enforcement. I think it's something that we share across the piece That we often wonder if there is enough enforcement within the resources that are available Do I have a seconder? Councillor Brooks. Thank you all those in favor And that's carried, thank you very much We now move then to item 9 which is the North High come relief rogue compulsory purchase order and side roads order The next pre-discussion scrutiny reports on our gender can be found on pages Excuse me, but there's a misprint on my agenda So Can be found following on from the last report We're considering a draft report which sets out the various amendments the existing parking enforcement Right, we are considering draft reports at the various amendments to the the to the North High can really from compulsory purchase I don't side roads order a decision is due to be made as I said previously It is asked that we consider the report and determine whether we support recommendations the executive and we agree any additional comments to be passed onto the relation to this item this report will be presented by Some that's not in my agenda So over to you some Thank you, right Well, first of all, you'll be happy. I appreciate The time in the meeting. I won't go through what includes the appendices the 367 pages so I'll summarize it's a Suppose in summary it is illegal. It's a paper seeking legal approval of the process So if you remember I came to this committee Probably three or four months ago now seeking approval that went through to executive to prepare the orders That was approved and that's that's what we've been doing the last three or four months is preparing those legal orders on the 13th of May Planning a rest committee the the North equity frauds achieved planning permission. So it meant you can move on to the next phase Which is effective publishing the orders This is what this paper now covers. It's the second half of that legal paper So we use that time to prepare the orders now, we're nearing the point of publishing them So this so this delegation clues make it so it's what's called making this the compulsory purchase orders And making the side results making the statement of reasons and making the statement of case and then delegates the executive director of place and the executive portfolio holder for housing transport to To issue those at the right time Also delegates to the chief legal officer for sealing those documents in their final form and then finally also goes gives the approvals to actually go through the financial elements and the completion of lead of land acquisition So the relief row hasn't changed. I guess that's the way to stress and since that point in fact it's become more galvanized and the fact that it's that it's secured plan permission in its current state and now this really grants us the the Legal approval to publish those orders, which is one of the requirements we need to secure the land from a timeline perspective We would look to do that as soon as possible following an executive approval if one is given And that will mean that we're this opens an objection process or praise. You never know If if there are any Stasi objections It will it will result in the need for a public inquiry which was difficult to defer entire to determine timelines of this but that would likely be spring next year and by the time that the Planning inspector has gone through that That will go through its own process If they can if the scheme continues to progress through that the next process then is the final business case with the DFT and then forming Contracts and start so we're still looking if with a fair wind and everything going through this program They're coming up for starting works towards the end of next year, which actually is not that long when you think about it On this case scale of scheme. So of course exciting next step. Thank you Thank you some questions Counselor strangle Thank You chairman well very encouraged by the progress on this road and it'll be great when there's a full ring road round Lincoln That will benefit the people within the Lincoln boundaries as well as those outside Just one little concern. I notice in the early report when we were talking about the winter conditions. We were talking about 3,000 plus Kilometers of roads and now we're talking about a hundred and twenty kilometer per hour due all purpose to in Carriageway why are we going to kilometers and Kilometers per hour for goodness sake we've left the European Union We should be British. It should be miles. Can I just get that corrected? If not, I will hold my peace. Thank you I don't think we'll they call some to comment on leaving the European Union Are there any further questions or comments cancer clock So I'm just a curiosity you said that if there was objections how many objections would be enough to hold it So It can be it's not down to ourselves to make that decision It's down to the planning inspector at pins who make that decision. It is usually a Minimal one study objector can cause the need for public inquiry There are non-study objectors, which don't trigger that same thing But if you get a collection of people around the same sort of issue the planning inspector It can make a decision that because there's so much I guess noise around that They can also from the need for an inquiry and what I should stress though is if there is an objection Of course The the authority would have the ability to talk to that objector and to see if they would move it if what's causing it Why what the concerns are and that's what we were doing that in that intervening period which is what we've done on various other schemes like Can it kill when those objections there for that scheme we remove those we also did the same thing for welton roundabout But when we did those so we would work towards that so it depends on the scale of the objection But yes to answer your question. Can we just one statute objector? Actually just before going can I just add to that it's worth Commenting that the planning application for a scale of the of the scheme of this nature received very few objections And it's worth stressing and that's not to say there aren't concerns from from various parties But the scale of what the project we are doing the number of objection that we did Received and most of them were removed before the before the inquiry the statue ones I would I would just reiterate this is a well supported skin Okay Thanks for that Just a couple from me Sam one is about the cost We've got costed and according to the report one hundred ninety three point nine million and now that's made up of various contributions We've got a little thing called general election going on at the moment So if there are any differences as in any rising costs, how will we mitigating that? Where would we look to actually make sure that we meet those costs if they do rise? And the other one is with regards to the section six agreement and any minor technical amendments What stage are they considered and what safeguards are in place to make sure that there's no real major change or timeline? variation that takes us out of scope I Okay, the funny one is a very difficult one obviously there's there's there's a lot of uncertainty what I will start with is Through all my conversations with the DFT. There was no there was no noise. There was no Insinuation of any funding cuts or you know descaling or anything like that And it's also we're stressing that the planning permission we have is for a dual carriageway 70 miles an hour road And it is it can't be simply just changed you would have to go back to the drawing board as far as the business case With regards to the funding envelope, although our most likely cost at this stage of 193 There is a range that goes broader than that. That's look that's a lower range and and and and a higher range now that Incorporates costs that we we think could happen going through but you know opportunities and costs that could impact that Incredi and part of that would be inflation and there is a level inflation attached to to these values It is near on impossible to predict, you know Something like a kovat impact or a war in Ukraine sort of impact or that type of thing But there is flexibility in that but as far as the budget allocation at this time There is a hundred and ten million from the DFT and the remaining comes from Lincolnshire County Council, which is in the budget Statement if more was needed then that would be a decision for the County Council to make as whether they would fill that or take different decisions As far as the section six agreement just just for those section six is if you think about us You may know section two seven eight allows a developer to come on to the County Council highway network Section six with the highway that effectively lets the County Council as a highway authority go on to the trunk road network similar sort of relationship We have started the the legal document is fairly straightforward. It's fairly standard. That's not a problem But in order to sign that all the technical details need to be approved between the County Council and national highways We've had a number of productive meetings over over the last month and in an advance of planning. We're in we're in Extensive dialogue with national highways. Hence why there was no objection to the planning application Now clearly we need to go through the final elements of those details I'm but we were so far progressed with the plan of mission already that those aren't Those aren't scary. I suppose there's that they're quite well defined already The the only issue of not having the section six beforehand is that's an impediment to the scheme because we can't get on That land that doesn't that shouldn't derail this process of publishing the orders to go for the approval in the meantime we're doing that in tandem, so there's a level of risk, but with the conversations and the Collaborative working that we've had with national highs for about three years now on the scheme. It's not a Significant risk in my mind at at this stage Okay, thanks Okay for no further questions then or comments It's a move that the committee supports proposed recommendation as these are set out on pages one nine three and one nine four of the report and they ask that the Comments raised by the committee be shared with executive whose consideration ahead with the decision being made After the 2nd of July do I have a seconder Councillor strangle all those in favor That's carried Okay item 10 is the Hawthorne Road shared footway cycleway and Hawthorne Road little cherry footway access renewal These final pre-decision decision scrutiny report can be found on pages two one seven to two thirty of the agenda pack This report seeks approval for the construction of a new shared footway Stroke a cycleway and the renewal of the footway access onto Hawthorne Road Hawthorne Road is a strategic link connecting Cherry Willingham and nearby villages to the new Lincoln Eastern bypass and Lincoln East It is recommended to the executive councillors to approve the scheme which is part of the Lincoln cycling and walking infrastructure plan. A Decision is due to be taken by the leader of council executive council resources communications and Commissioning and the executive council for highways Transport and IT on the 17th of June 2024 It is asked that we consider the report and determine whether we support Recommendations the executive councillors and that we agree in additional comments be passed on to the executive council relations item This report will be presented by some Edwards Thank you chair, so this is a Fella a relatively simple straightforward high-risk game, but a really impactful one in a positive way, obviously so This particular footway on on long Hawthorne Road between Cherry Willingham and the Lincoln Eastern bypass was due for maintenance anyway But at the same time there's a development taking place nearby which has 85 thousand pounds of section 106 attached to it So we look for a slight slightly different lens and actually the footfall that's been through there since the Eastern bypass has been constructed It has increased which is which is fantastic and links the community of sort of the Carlton the state and bunkers Hill Through to many that go to the school. Let's show in cherry Willingham as well So we've taken the opportunity to actually put some integrated transport block, which is a unring fence Put capital potter funding from the DFT to enhance the budget to actually do greater improvements so we're looking to widen the footway on the south side between the eastern bypass and cherry cherry William looking to Replace the culvert that is damaged through there as well and then footway reconstruction on the north side provides a connected footway cycle way through through there and to enhance the area and it's it's sort of a It's a it's a it's a perfect Sort of storm. I guess that's the way I put it, but it's a perfect scenario where you've got what? developer funding Maintenance funding and actually capital improvement funding all coming it all coming together to deliver the scheme So it from our perspective we think is a really good scheme well supported locally We're looking at should a favorable decision be made We're looking to start around July this year taking through to September and it will likely be a road closure while we do there with The diversion route by a canal Lane and the 158 Concerts of time so I'll stop there and ask for any questions Comments or questions Council Thank You chairman and firstly I'd like to say thank you very much indeed for avoiding school term time because actually this is something we talk about quite A lot on the impact that that has on people. So that's really really great to see. Can I just ask about obviously? That is a long time though six weeks So is it expected to last that long or will it be sort of floating closures or bits closed and access it other times? Thank you, so I'm gonna come out with a slightly vague responses I do know that it's difficult until we get the contacts and tender out It's likely be closed for the duration because we'll although we'll do it in section start and probably have two gangs work running further do it Because of the width restrictions we may be able to have to realize that's something that we can look at with the contractor I'll be very nervous about having the serial lights too close to the eastern bypass So you get curing on so we'd have to stop stop that further back and close the slipway in the left and left out So there may be opportunity we can looking at two-way lights having said that the diversion route is relatively small It's not it's not a significant one. So it might actually be a case where the Closing it all all in one go will speed up which will reduce cost and therefore deliver deliver it sooner as well So it might be a case of actually if you close it you get it done faster and on it slightly cheaper Because of the time relation and it may be worth that be with it being a modest diversion to make that decision But when we get the information we can balance the two Any further comments or questions No Okay, thanks. I'll then move the committee supports the proposed recommendations are set out in the report I ask the comments raised by this committee be shared with executive councilors for their consideration Ahead of decision being made on 17th of June. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Vernon all those in favor Aye Carried thank you Okay item 11 our performance report quarter 4 which is the 1st of January to 31st of March 2024 this quarterly performance report is found on pages 2 1 3 2 4 or 5 of the agenda pack and The report provides a committee with a scrutiny and performance for quarter 4 in relations the council highway services including maintenance schemes and complaints the committee is invited to consider and comment on the detail of the report and recommend any changes or actions to the executive member of a highways transport and IT Jonathan Evans will highways clients contractual management services will present the report Thanks chairman, I know you've been keen to hear from me all afternoon So this report provides an update in all aspects of the highway maintenance service delivery including the quarterly performance data for the key contracts How it works traffic signals and professional services and within there, there's some strategic highlights relevant to the maintenance service So I'll start the section 1.2 the performance report in terms of these scores for the quarter the highway works term contract Which is operated by Balfour BT scored seventy eight point one That's a slight drop from seventy eight point six last quarter professional services scored eighty point seven That's slightly up from seventy eight percent last quarter Travel signals scored eighty six the same as it was the previous quarter The client because we treat ourselves as a kind of sort of a contractual partner Scored eighty three that's a drop from last quarter at ninety and then we have an overarching key performance indicators Which are measuring sort of the bigger strategic outcomes. We scored eighty two out of a hundred and last quarter. It was eighty three So storm Henk had an impact on some of aspects of the highway works and the client indicators during this period But there are areas of continued improvements such as street lighting service The ones that are probably worth noting on the client was the early contractor involvement so we missed three out of our 40 schemes in terms of Getting that engagement with a contractor early on before the work start on site in line with the contractual procedures performance indicator 2 and PI 3 Of the highway works contract both fell below the minimum performance level sort of triggered a low service damage penalty And again, that's likely that's due to the storm Henk the impact it had during that phase and then the follow-on works But I can report that quarter one has already improved significantly. So that's no longer a concern I would say other than we need more resilience during that sort of intense rainfall periods Move on to the both of et within the report There's lots of data which outline sort of the performance relative to sort of productivity that we're doing out in the network But I'll just run through some of the key points. So the highway maintenance service for 24 25 is Looking to allocate or spend approximately 109 million that's up from last financial year So which is great news for the residents of Lincolnshire. I'll just run through some of those pots that have been allocated So add an additional 10 million from LCC funds to allocate to drought damaged roads Which is which contains a program of works targeting longitudinal gap filling got an additional 1.8 million from LCC funds Let's focus on improvements to drains resource on the contract. I think that's following storm Henk and Babbit We've got LCC funds that total eight point nine million to ensure the strategic objectives of the service have met. That's in sort of in Ensuring that we meet our our strategic objectives of holding our static position on our main asset groups I'm improving the unclassified network And then we've got an additional four point nine million from the Department of Transport for this financial year Which comes from the network North funds so based on this level of funding It's anticipated that the highways infrastructure asset management strategy objectives will be met for this financial year But it is worth noting that the funding levels for 24 25 needs to be maintained consistently over a prolonged period Ensure that we drive down and get that sort of condition improvement over time Similar to quarter three storm events in early January had an impact on resource for the highway works contract So at a thousand and thirty seven emergency jobs raised Typically that will probably be around the 600 mark for this time of year the impact for winter weather has had an impact on their active Service alongside some resourcing issues that's seen a measure drop to its lowest level since year three quarter one Alpha beta you've been quick to address this as I mentioned earlier Whilst we've had some issues as an authority when we benchmark ourselves against other Roar authorities doing similar work. We're in a relatively good position. We have got a work stack that's manageable and It feels like we're on top of it So we're flexing the resource during intensive time periods and reacting to it appropriately Move on now to the professional services contract WSP the pipeline of work for the highway service remains high hence the the budget allocation figures that I've mentioned there and With the funding levels this high it means that we need to use WSP as a top-up mechanism So the professional services contract enables us to reach back into the wider business And that's increased over the last three months So that's really useful that the contracts being used in that way and it's it's a release valve or release pressure for the service moving now on to the traffic signals contracts coalesce during quarter four and the highway service were notified that it's been Successful and it's planned for drivers greenlight fund bid that we announced at the previous update So that's an allocation of additional five hundred thousand on top of an additional figure of one hundred and twenty-eight thousand the bid focused on an upgrade of the carriageway section and revalidation of scoot control sites along the a 1434 locally known as Newark Road and the a 57 corridor. So that's really good news for the service In terms of challenges and improvements. I think it's the workload that's really high within the colas contract So we've got a significant capital refurbishment program We've got some Western gross corridor development works We've got halogen lamp conversion underway at the moment switching out to LED to give us a bit more resilience We're upgrading Branston crossroads this summer and we've got eight crossings that we're installing as part of the councilor Crossing initiative and obviously that's on top of the day-to-day maintenance terms of complaints During quarter for the highway service received a total of sixteen thousand fix my street inquiries and two thousand six hundred calls and emails So the customer service center the customer relations team received a total of two hundred and three contacts within quarter for from individuals wishing to give feedback report issues or complain about the highway service which accounts for approximately 1% Which is which is a good position to be in The number of complaints entering the formal process had remained the same this quarter in comparison to previous quarter and has decreased 17% in comparison to the same quarter of previous year Which is I think is excellent given the the storms and inquiries that we dealt with during in relation to Babbit and Hank moving now on to An update that I bring annually. It's the condition of our roads So it's a corporate plan performance indicators The condition of our roads within Lincolnshire is collected and reported on an annual basis and reported to the Department of Transport LCC also utilized Utilizes this data as part of its corporate plan performance against success framework 22 23. So this measures the percentage of our network Where maintenance should be considered? Generally a lower number is better. So if I go through them one at a time condition of our principal roads So these are our A's the actual Result here is one point nine percent. We've got a target of three percent. We witnessed this year a 0.2 percent decrease in condition, but it aligns with sort of our historical value So we're not not surprised by that at all. And we think a lot of this is to do with sort of surveying accuracy There's always going to be slight increases and slight decreases year on year if you can see on page 238 the the historical trend sort of supports that so it's it's a good position there and when we compare ourselves to other Authorities on page 239 you'll see that our a road network is in a really good shape and that's where we want it to be it's where our Most use road users are throughout Lincolnshire and and are it supports our objective of remaining that keeping that one static The data there on page 239 is the benchmarked one from March 2023 And that will update next year when we get the other authority data Move now on to condition of none principal roads. So generally sort of, you know, the B's and C's There are actual result in condition is six point two and we've got a target of seven percent here We've witnessed this one again It's a zero point four percent decrease in condition and it whilst it aligns with our historic values We noticed this trend coming last financial year and we've allocated additional expenditure in year So we think the additional expenditure will will bring that condition background So we're we're sort of on top of it It feels like and but it is one to monitor going forward when you consider ourselves against other authorities I'd say we're in the middle of the bunch We would obviously like our B's and C's to be in a better condition. It's linked to funding but sort of Aligning with our strategy of holding that strategy and those asset groups in a static condition. I think we're accomplishing that in this position Final one the good news around condition of unclassified roads our actual performance is 25.5% and our target is 26 every year for the last three or four years now We've been reducing that target by 1% and we intend to do that next year in line with the funding levels that we've received So next year our target with 25. We've had a zero point six percent improvement And that's that's really positive when on a network that's so large it equates to something like 25 kilometers of road That is now taken out of requiring maintenance and obviously year on year. We've got degradation of that nested network So it does show a positive trend if you look on page 241 again probably supporting our strategy of doing accelerated improvement on this group We are moving upwards in terms of our comparison to other authorities and I think we've got a journey still to go on We'd like to be further up that sort of that element and for now Yeah, we're scoring 25.5. I think personally and part of our next strategy I think we should be targeting around the 20% mark going forward. That's where we'd like to be longer term So move now on to the final section the conclusion So linkage linkage his team and its strategic partners continue to deliver an efficient effective service during a challenging market conditions Performance reported in quarter for demonstrate the service has maintained a consistent level although there has been a small drop in three of the five reporting areas the service continues to pursue further initiatives to tackle areas of Low performance and is constantly striving to implement value for money savings across the service the funding position for 24 25 is in a positive place is likely to result in successful delivery of the infrastructure asset massive management strategy Funding beyond 24 25 remains a concern due to the lack of clarity However, there is optimism that the central government announced Network North and local transport fund that has been referenced today in terms of rail will Ease that budget pressure going forward the committee is asked to consider and comment on the detail of the performance contained within the report and recommend any changes or actions to The executive member for highways transport and IT. Thank you Thanks, Jonathan I'm just gonna come back to your points on the unclassified sections a Lot of my division falls into that category. I'll have some absolutely horrendous examples horrendous examples in fact of Two of them come to mind which is the actual one of them is an actual cycle route Which I wouldn't want to put a hook. I wouldn't put a lander over down like a loaner bicycle. I won't take your head off although some Brave souls do most negotiate it is the road has just disappeared with holes about this big And even going towards the other villages like sub what we've got church laying on sub book, which is just disintegrating But this isn't a new thing. They've been like this for years, but there's come a point now where they've gone over the top and I don't suppose there's going to be ever going to be any money to do something structurally with them other than to Do repairs that really aren't going to solve the problem Yeah, I mean for Lincoln sure it's it's a very challenging network we've got a lot of drought damaged areas We see a lot of impact of a hot summer and quicker degradation on our unclassified network in certain areas of the county We with the level of funding that we've got and the strategy going forward We are talking about a 10 to 15 year timescale to get the network Improved and as you can see there whilst we've you know, we've been doing the retread process. We've been doing a lot of Allocation of schemes in for those schemes in rural areas We are seeing a point six percent improvement. So it's it's small steps We we obviously can as an authority allocate further funds but that is a challenge given the priorities of the of the County Council, I think the there is some hope with the the the network north and Funds that potentially will be rediverted from HS to that that could be allocated for highway maintenance going forward And that's something that we're looking for from 2025 26 and and further into the future but it is worth me catching you if it's okay after just to get those specific locations and make sure we've We can at least communicate when in terms of our program when we're likely to be at those sites because we're we're now programmed out Up to you know, three or four years ahead of ourselves So we should have some sort of pipeline and be able to give some confidence at least that they are on a on a on a scheme list Thank You chairman, um, I'm just going to talk about the complaints around poor information and communication And I note that you've reviewed it and obviously sort of been able to get that down to basically fix my street updates and accuracies How are you doing that moving forward? Because obviously this fix my street is brilliant when it works and we've said there's a hundred times in here But when things are updated or not updated or sort of it's inaccurate information That's exactly what the problem is and it's interesting that that has caused such an upsurge on the number of complaints recently Thank you Yeah, I'll try and deal with that pencil Vernon We have got a paper coming back later in the year That's going to be talking through some of the improvements and work we're doing with fix my street So there is a lot of work underway. I think there's lots of different reasons for that communication issue some of the Inaccurate information might be a member of the public in incorrectly or by error selecting the wrong location that obviously caused a bit of confusion In the system because we send a you know An officer will raise a job and send alpha BT out who will try and fix but sometimes fail to locate it but equally something that we've we've realized during incidents like storm have Babbit and Hank where we sort of the service shifts into a sort of emergency response Sometimes our messaging doesn't reflect the narrative of that seriousness of the incident. So it might say thank you for the inquiry We're dealing with the response and we'll respond in ten days During an incident that doesn't sort of land Well, so we are looking at different sort of functionality and fix my street and almost having a an emergency We will shift that front-facing platform into an emergency scenario, which I think will help and there's always in terms of the Process flow through the through the variety of different ways in we've got as a service. There's always something we can improve So we're always looking at process mapping Looking up how we interact with offices and how we can schedule when I get a job goes to Balfour BT For example, or it moves from one status to another what information we could give back to the member of the public so I think it's always improving and whilst the there is a bit of an upsurge there in the sort of the the type of issue Overall, the complaints are dropping. So we're pleased in one element But obviously there's a bit more for us to do and we'll we'll we'll take that away or I'll take that away today as well No, I sort of would entirely concur that it's great that the number of complaints have dropped and I'm not in any way suggesting otherwise But I just found it very interesting that that's the area and I think that reflects more people using fix my street as well as More people going on to fix my street for updates on things that they've previously placed on there So that's yeah, that would be really useful But you're right sort of with these sort of emergency style events to have a message coming up saying yeah We'll get back to you within 21 days totally unacceptable And as you say changing the front face to sort of say right? This is our stock message. Don't worry We're looking at these things would be really helpful. Thank you Thank chairman Completely agree with Councillor Vernon on fix my street now. I asked when this was going to come in front of the committee And they said December so what I've done I've sent an email with the issues that I've got And I suggest other members do the same so in December We'll have a little party where everything will be rectified But I agree again when it works fix my street is wonderful but it's when you get the common one is when it says all we've been to it completes and You go to the job and it's got cone on it and that's complete But what I can understand that from the contractors That's their way of saying that we've done that but we'll move on but we don't get none of this We'll move on business just complete So forward to December As do I Yeah, I mean as I say the fix my street the work that we're doing is always improving it I think it's worth everyone knowing how much Fix my street costs for the for the authorities. It's about 20,000 So considering that we deliver, you know in highways alone about 110 million pounds worth. It's a service that is Is good value it could obviously get better I think we are developing it with the developers along with other authorities in the UK that use it in terms of the example You gave a counselor Clark. It's it's that's the classic one that we can fix ourselves. We can improve that So that's a gang going out and and completing that make safe sadly, that's instantly Issuing an automated status back to the resident saying with job complete, but it is complete and partially complete So it should be a selection of the gang That this follow-on work required and then that follow on work required is the one that should go back to the member of the public So it's sadly we can set the process right correctly We can obviously train it out, but there's still humans in this process that if a gang Unselect or deselect the wrong status it will Send a message back up to the member of the public. So as you say when it works really well It's it's seamless and efficient and there are some bits that we can focus on and work on and yeah We'll bring that back up to the next session in December Thank you, I've just got a quick once I don't want to draw this out any longer but it's about I've again fixed my street I have my parish actually advertise it as if it's there's you know, mainly they think it's brilliant It goes out all the time but the issue is I mean I've got on page 402 where we've got an explanation of what might be behind some of the complaints now, you know, and I know cuz my bit of my Book about the there was some work carried out that was meant to preserve the life Time of roads and it wasn't conducted very well in a certain part of my my not just my division But my village around the corner for me Now I know that a resident has logged that on fix my street because it's just been this has been the surface is just gone Now, I don't know that anything's gonna be done about it They don't know anything's gonna be done about it and will that report as it's left on fix my street Not not be an action whether I actually lead into a full Complaint or does it not make it onto that system because you know the resident is now clearly saying to me do I have to make a complaint about this because they don't think and I tend to Agree with them that it's not acceptable that the work that there was inconvenience by is the you know, the benefit has disappeared So so where do they go with it? And how do I know as the as the divisional? Member if that works actually going to be it's going to be rectified Yeah, I think that's one for me to probably take away as a little learning point if there's something that Well, I know the site and I know there is an issue that we had there with certain the surface dressing program what we Need to do there is is probably the resident will need to raise that as a formal complaint and so that it goes through The CSC and gets a response from us as a service But I can do that with yourself offline and make sure that that's followed up apologies that we haven't got it right on this occasion That's right Okay, if there's no further questions Then I moved that the report be received by the committee and that satisfaction report recorded on the performance achieved to date And we look forward to Councillor Clark's fix my party in December Yeah, I asked the comments raised by this committee be shared with the executive councilor for this consideration by relevant officers. Is that seconded? So it cancelled books all those in favor, sorry, that's carried Right item 12 is the committee work program this item is on pages 407 to 412 the agenda pack This item enables a committee to comment on the contents of its work program and the report will be presented by Simon Evans Thank you, excuse me, thank you, thank you chairman if I could ask the committee just to look at pages 409 Four hundred and ten that sets out the the items at the committee's four remaining meetings in this calendar year a total of 17 items across the four remaining meetings, so Quite a full work program. Thank you chairman Thank you, Simon Do we have any speakers any comments or questions on this you said a very full program No Okay, then I move that we note the report and approve the existing work program has detailed on said pages And does anyone dissent? No, thank you very much, thank you, thank you for that extensive reports I'm Okay, then therefore call the meeting to a close at the end of meeting and thank that concludes the business for today So thank you very much everyone for your attendance and for and for persevering me in being thrown into the fire today Thank you You You You You (people chattering)