Purpose

Report for acceptance of GFA from
LCRCA.

Decision

For the reasons set out in this report, the
Corporate Director has decided to:
1)   
Accept additional grant funding provided by Liverpool City Region
Combined Authority (LCRCA) to cover increased traffic management
costs and additional pole upgrades. The additional funding has a
value of £568,372.52.
2)   
Enter into a Short
Form Grant Funding Agreement with LCRCA in letter format
recording the terms and conditions on which LCRCA makes the grant
of additional funding of £568,372.52 to the Council.

Alternative options considered

The option of seeking an alternative source of
funding was discounted, as it was not considered cost-effective for
Liverpool City Council (LCC). Exploring external funding
opportunities would have required significant time, resources, and
administrative effort, with no guarantee of success. In addition,
many alternative funding streams include restrictive eligibility
criteria, lengthy application processes, or conditions that may not
have aligned with the objectives of the RetroLED Upgrade Programme.
As such, the potential costs and delays outweighed any financial
benefit, making this option unsuitable for LCC.
 
The option to ‘do nothing’ was
also discounted, as the Council has already incurred the additional
expenditure and the works have been completed. Choosing not to
proceed at the time would have  resulted
in continued operation of obsolete halogen equipment, escalating
maintenance costs, and reduced reliability of the city’s
traffic signal network. In addition, the Council would have risked
non-compliance with Government energy efficiency objectives and
lost the opportunity to benefit from the long-term cost savings
delivered by the LED upgrade programme.