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The Committee considered report PSEG/28/16 concerning the Local Highway Panels (LHPs) Members’ Guide 2016/17 Consultation Draft.
The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Councillor Johnson attended the meeting together with Anne James, Essex Highways, to update the Committee on proposals to change the operation of the LHPs.
With particular reference to the new terms of reference (TOR) it was confirmed that they were still going through the governance process before their final approval could be confirmed. Once approved the TOR would be published as a public document.
At the beginning of the meeting (Minute 4 refers) concerns had been raised by a member of the public about the transparency of LHP meetings and the availability of associated papers, which made it difficult for residents to influence the way a scheme may be designed.
Councillor Harris was also in attendance for this item to offer his praise for the proposed new Members’ Guide. However, he also raised concerns about the transparency of LHP meetings. Not all County Councillors sit on their LHPs and there have been occasions where they had been unaware of schemes that would affect their local areas. While he felt that the scheme request validation forms were a positive way forward, he suggested that all local County Councillors should be party to sponsoring such schemes and positive steps should be made to make them aware of proposals affecting their divisions.
The Committee noted that there were different practices adopted by individual LHPs concerning their meeting arrangements, and whether or not members of the public were permitted to attend, ease of access to meeting papers, and issues for County Councillors who were not part of the formal membership of LHPs including the ability to keep track of scheme proposals.
It was apparent that there was some confusion on the different practices adopted by individual LHPs. All County Councillors are able to attend LHP meetings but unless they are appointed to a LHP’s membership they did not have voting rights. Similarly there was different practice in respect of enabling the public to attend meetings. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the new Terms of Reference once approved will supersede existing arrangements and will set out the new working practices. Nevertheless he reiterated that the LHP meetings were not intended to be formal public meetings.
With regard to the draft Members’ Guide Councillor Kendall took the opportunity to seek clarification on various points that he was proposing to submit into the current consultation including:
- Differences between budgets (revenue, maintenance, capital)
- Differences between vehicle activated signs
- Guidance on the use of Section 106 monies
On these above issues it was agreed that more clarity could be incorporated in the guidance to provide greater understanding of how schemes may be managed.
With reference to Section 106 Monies Councillor Johnson confirmed that following earlier discussion with the Committee in February, he had issued a directive to all LHPs that had the benefit of such monies to include a standing item on their agenda for a LHP to review at every meeting.
On behalf of the Committee the Chairman thanked both Councillor Johnson and Anne James for their contribution.