Councillor Maney introduced the report and stated that this was a new exercise to explain the Department for Transport (DfT) funding allocation for both the Integrated Transport Block and Maintenance Block. He stated that the Integrated Transport Block would receive £971,000 from the DfT, and the Maintenance Block would receive £1.938million. He added that it was largely at the Council’s discretion how this funding was allocated, as long as it was within Thurrock’s Transport Strategy. He asked Members to note the Safer Routes to School scheme that had been included in this report, as lots of work had gone into this. He mentioned that this was a five-year scheme that prioritised work for those schools that needed Safer Routes to School. He summarised and stated that this report was approved at overview and scrutiny, and their only statement for Cabinet had been to request an additional recommendation asking for in-year variations in the programme to return to Cabinet before approval.

Councillor Watkins started discussions and commented that the Safer Routes to Schools scheme had been talked about for some time and felt it was positive to see it come before Cabinet. He felt that although not all schools could have this implemented this year, all schools would have the scheme in place within five years. He stated that it was good to see the highest priority schools receiving the Safer Routes to School scheme first. Councillor Maney added that schools with a Travel Plan had also been prioritised as this document helped the Council, and encouraged all schools to design a Travel Plan.

The Leader added that this report allowed residents to see the scoring mechanism behind the Safer Routes to Schools scheme, so they could understand why some schools had been prioritised over others, although by the end of the five-year scheme all schools would be part of the scheme. Councillor Little then asked if new schools being built would become part of the scheme automatically. The Interim Director Place replied that as part of negotiations with schools, the Safer Routes to School scheme would be included as new schools should have a Travel Plan and S106 agreement.

The Leader asked for an additional recommendation to be added based on the comments from overview and scrutiny committee, and asked for recommendation 1.2 to be clarified that this came under Councillor Maney, rather than Councillor Watkins, remit.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

1. Approved the Integrated Transport Block Capital Programme and the Highway Maintenance Capital Programme for 2019/20 (as detailed in Appendices 1 and 4)

2. Noted and approved the process by which the Safer Routes to School and Road Safety Engineering programme (as detailed in Appendix 2 & 3) is assessed and prioritised for implementation over the next 5 years through delegated authority held by the Director of Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport.

3. Delegated the authority to the Director of Place and the Director of Environment and Highways, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, to review and make local changes to these programmes during the course of the year taking into account local views and priorities.

4. Recommended that any changes made under Recommendation 1.3 will be sent to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee to note.

Reason for decision: as outlined in the report
This decision is subject to call-in