Archived decisions

Decision Maker:

Executive Member - Environment

Date of Decision:

15 September 2008

Decision Title:

Environment Department Capital Programme 2008/09 - Progress and Amendments

Decision Reference:

227

Report From:

Director of Environment

Contact name:

Helen Ackerman

Tel:

01962 857806

Email:

[email protected]

1) Summary

The following decisions are proposed:

1.1. That the three schemes proposed for inclusion in the 2008/09 Integrated Transport Programme be approved, in order to progress with the design and ensure delivery within the current year.

1.2. That the proposal to add £600,000 Bus Rapid Transit preparation funding be approved for inclusion in the 2008/09 Transport Programme, in order to progress the full business case relating to the Community Infrastructure Fund bidding process.

1.3. That the deferral of three integrated transport schemes, proposed in section 7 of the report, be approved, until uncertainties relating to land ownership, legal negotiations and delivery timetables are clarified.

1.4. That amendments to the integrated transport programme 2008/09, as summarised in section 8 of the report and detailed in Appendix 1, be approved.

1.5 That the Director of Environment, in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment, be authorised to release high priority schemes within the held back Quality of Place maintenance enhancements which are time critical.

1.6 That the outturn costs of completed schemes in 2007/08, detailed in Appendix 2, be noted, as required by the County Council's financial procedures.

2) Reasons for the decision

2.1. To amend the capital programme to reflect changes in project circumstances since May 2008.

2.2. Authority to spend £600,000 of the County Council's resources on preparation costs for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is required.

2.3. Maintenance enhancements would be unable to progress if certain schemes remained held back.

3) Other options considered and rejected:

3.1. Option 1: Releasing all of the financial contingency in advance of the A3 funding resolution in order to deliver held back programmes remains a significant risk and has been discounted. However, some modest enhancement schemes within the QoP programme would be lost if this funding was not released now because the core maintenance scheme would have been implemented.

a) Risk Assessment: Should the A3 funding conclusion be inadequate to cover the shortfall, a contingency fund will still be required.

b) Risk Assessment: The held back Quality of Place (QOP) maintenance enhancements are unlikely to progress if the A3 decision is much later than September 2008. Though the basic maintenance schemes will go ahead as programmed this year, a long delay in releasing QoP funding is likely to result in an underspend of the QoP budget, as many of the planned schemes will already have been completed as part of the basic maintenance programme. However, releasing schemes now will add to the contingency risk above.

3.2. Option 2: Funding the BRT preparation costs from the LTP programme has been discounted because this would require the deferral of LTP funded named schemes within the 2008/09 programme, and potentially some of the following year also.

a) Risk Assessment: Deferral of schemes would be unwelcome across the County Council. Most named schemes have progressed to the detailed design stage, and will have incurred a significant proportion of their total costs to date.

4) Conflicts of Interest:

4.1. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision-maker:

None

4.2. Conflicts of interest declared by other Executive Members consulted:

None

5) Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee:

None

6) Any reasons for the matter being dealt with if urgent :

None

Approved by:

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Date:

15 September 2008

Executive Member- Environment

Councillor M J Kendal