The Place Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss its work programme, the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, and the Local Speed Limit Policy. The committee will review its work programme to ensure it is focused on the correct areas, scrutinise upcoming items, and confirm the membership of the streetworks scoping board. Councillors will also receive an update on the progress of the East Sussex Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), and the action plan from the Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy report.

Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)

The committee is scheduled to discuss the East Sussex Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The report pack includes a recommendation that the committee notes recent project development and delivery associated with the LCWIP, alongside other active travel schemes, initiatives and training.

Councillors will also note the council's response to Active Travel England's (ATE) Local Authority Capability assessment, and current activities associated with the review of the East Sussex LCWIP.

The report pack states that engagement with the Place Scrutiny Committee, with an invite circulated to all Councillors, on the draft East Sussex LCWIP will take place through a workshop in early November 2025, prior to a public and stakeholder consultation in early 2026.

According to the report pack, Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIP) are strategic plans developed by local authorities to improve walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure over a 5-10 year period. The overarching aim is to make walking, wheeling and cycling an easy choice for journeys by setting out network and investment priorities.

The national policy context for LCWIPs is the Department for Transport's (DfT) Gear Change strategy, published in July 2020, which sets out a bold vision for cycling and walking, and outlines DfT's plans to revolutionise active travel.

Complementary to Gear Change is the DfT's second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS2), published in March 2023. CWIS2 sets out an ambition for 'walking, wheeling and cycling to be the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of longer journeys'.

Active Travel England (ATE) was established in August 2022 as an executive agency of the DfT, to support the delivery of these policies, and specifically to drive up the standards of active travel infrastructure delivered by local authorities through undertaking annual assessments.

The East Sussex Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), adopted at the County Council's Full Council meeting in October 2024, embraces a planning for people and places approach focusing on enabling and encouraging integrated journeys and reducing the need to travel through land-use and planning policies that support sustainable travel.

The current East Sussex LCWIP was approved by Cabinet in September 2021. It sets out an ambitious proposed network of preferred cycling and walking routes and measures in specific areas of the County.

The report pack also contains details of funding streams available for active travel infrastructure, initiatives and training. This includes funding from Active Travel England, East Sussex County Council's annual Capital Programme for Local Transport Improvements, development contributions, and project/programme specific capital infrastructure funding.

The County Council currently has a local authority active travel capability rating of 1 which is defined as 'some local leadership and support with developing plans and isolated interventions'. The County Council's response to the assessment is summarised within Appendix 2 - ESCC Local Authority Active Travel England Assessment.

Appendix 3 - Active Travel initiatives activities and scheme project development and delivery includes examples of active travel schemes, initiatives and activities that have been developed and delivered over the last four years funded in part or full by capital and/or revenue funding secured and received by the County Council. Examples of these schemes include School Streets and the design of measures to support the journey to school, Peacehaven & Telscombe Active Travel scheme – active travel neighbourhood approach, Eastbourne Town Centre and Hastings Green Connections, which is re-prioritising road space for people walking, wheeling, cycling and using public transport alongside inclusive placemaking. This is complemented by active travel behaviour change initiatives (as outlined in Appendix 4 - Travel behaviour change initiatives) and active travel training to enable the county to embrace national guidance and ATE's scheme development tools to enhance active travel scheme design.

The draft vision of the LCWIP aspires to promote healthy and active lifestyles by delivering a safe and inclusive walking, wheeling and cycling network that connects communities and local destinations.

The review of the LCWIP includes a series of key stages, which are in alignment with the DfT's LCWIP technical guidance. These include the following which is set out in more detail in Appendix 5 LCWIP review process 2025: -

• Stages 1 & 2 Project Inception & development of evidence base (June 2025)
• Stage 3 Review and update of walking and cycling network plans (September 2025)
• Stage 4 Development of walking and cycling concept design work (November 2025)
• Stage 5 Prioritisation and appraisal of potential schemes (December 2025)
• Stage 6 Public consultation of the East Sussex LCWIP (January 2026)

Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy

The committee will receive an update on the action plan from the Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy report dated November 2024.

The Place Scrutiny Committee agreed to establish a Review Board to undertake a Scrutiny Review of ESCC's Local Speed Limit Policy at the meeting on 12 July 2024.

The scope of the review included:

• Consideration of the purpose of a local speed limit policy and examining how local speed limits are reviewed, assessed and delivered by East Sussex County Council (ESCC).
• Examining whether the ESCC local speed limit policy PS05/02 is in line with national Department for Transport (DfT) guidance.
• Reviewing examples of other local authority speed limit policies (e.g. our nearest neighbours and those with similar road networks to ESCC).
• Reviewing national and local evidence on the impact and effectiveness of lower speed limits and zones (including 20mph limits).
• Exploring other measures local authorities and developments are bringing forward to deliver low speed environments in both urban and rural areas.
• Exploring how ESCC currently communicates the local speed limit policy and wider policy context to residents and considers potential improvements.
• Reviewing the amount of officer time spent carrying out assessments of road safety concerns and preparing petition reports.

The recommendations of the Scrutiny Review were presented to Cabinet for comment on 28 January 2025 and were accepted at Full Council on 11 February 2025.

The Department's response to the Review's recommendations and an update to the action plan are set out in Place Scrutiny Appendix 1 - Action Plan 6 month update. A copy of the original Scrutiny Review of Local Speed Limit Policy report is also included in the report pack.

The scrutiny review highlighted several areas of focus for the department regarding the Local Speed Limit Policy. Progress has been made against each of the recommendations as highlighted in Place Scrutiny Appendix 1 - Action Plan 6 month update.

One of the recommendations was that the Council regularly reviews Policy PS05/02 Local Speed Limits when there is a change in national guidance. The report pack states that there have been no changes in relevant government guidance over the past 6 months. Once the new Government Road Safety Strategy is published this Autumn, the policy and any associated guidance will be reviewed to consider whether any amendments are required.

Another recommendation was that the ESCC website pages are updated to provide clearer information on the purpose of local, county wide speed limits and the wider policy context they are applied in. The following web pages are currently being updated and will go live early October:

1. The purpose of speed limits
2. A step by step process of how we assess requests for new speed limits, including the length of time it can take
3. LTP4 Prioritisation – approved at the LMTE in September
4. Case studies with images of different speed limits
5. Speed limit enquiry page
6. Information on Community Speed Watch

Work programme

The committee will review and agree the latest work programme, review upcoming items on East Sussex County Council's Forward Plan, and confirm the membership of the streetworks scoping board.

At its meeting on 22 July 2025 the Committee agreed to hold an initial scoping board on Streetworks to consider issues including the Council's approach to permitting road closures, communications with the public, diversions and lane rental, to determine whether to conduct a full scrutiny review. The scoping meeting will be held on 20 October 2025 with proposed membership of Councillor Julia Hilton, Councillor Ian Hollidge, Councillor Philip Lunn, Councillor Steve Murphy and Councillor Paul Redstone.

The Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) Reference Group, made up of Members of both Place and People Scrutiny Committees, held its second meeting on 23 July 2025. The Reference Group considered and commented on the latest position with both the devolution and LGR processes. The Reference Group met again on 11 September 2025 to review and provide comments to Cabinet on the East Sussex LGR proposal, as well as the latest developments in relation to devolution and proposals to establish a Mayoral Combined County Authority for Sussex.

The LTP4 Reference Group, which was established to provide input into the development of the LTP4, reconvened to receive a briefing on the updated request assessment process ahead of it being considered and agreed by the Lead Member for Transport and Environment on 8 September 2025. Another briefing meeting for the Reference Group will be held in November 2025 to consider and comment on the review of the East Sussex LCWIP.

The committee's input into the Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) process is ongoing, both through specific RPPR reports and through more detailed scrutiny of specific issues through the wider work programme.

The committee's RPPR Board will then meet on 16 December 2025 to agree detailed comments and any recommendations on the budget and emerging updated portfolio plans to be put to Cabinet on behalf of the committee in January 2026.

An annual awayday is planned to follow the meeting on 29 September 2025 for the committee to undertake a more in-depth review of its current work programme in light of the latest priorities and to discuss any key issues and the committee's approach to scrutiny in further detail.

A briefing on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Council is being arranged for the committee in November 2025.

A copy of the Council's Forward Plan of executive decisions for the period 1 September to 31 December 2025 is included in the report pack.