Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 November were taken as read, confirmed and signed subject to an amendment to the reply to Mr Bret Jackson’s supplementary question (question 14 at minute 26) to include specific reference to the pipe being referred to in light of comments received from the Stoney Stanton Flood Action Group.  The relevant minute to now read as follows:

‘At the request of the Chairman, the Director of Environment and Transport responded that, this had been raised again with the technical expert who was carrying out the re- modelling study about the particular pipe referred to and he had suggested that this was being taken into account. Additionally, the ponds issue referenced, were also being considered as to how they could best be utilised and enhanced as part of the flood scheme. It was noted that in respect of the decision of the local planning authority, as suggested previously, no action would or could be taken against the local planning authorities decision but the County Council had taken on board what had happened and was working with partners to see how the situation could be improved going forward.’

The Chief Executive reported that a number of questions had been received under Standing Order 35.

Question asked by a member of the public regarding flooding in Sileby and Cossington in 2024.

“Please would you be able to update on the specific actions that LCC have taken to reduce flooding on back of the flooding that occurred on 2 January 2024 which effected residents across Leicestershire and specifically Sileby and Cossington

With Leicestershire again being hit with devastating floods on the 6 Jan 2025 what actions are you putting in place so this event doesn’t repeat for a third year in a row.”

Reply by the Chairman

“As you have alluded to, the County has been significantly impacted by the floods on 6 January, with over 600 properties being internally flooded across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The Council is aware that Sileby and Cossington were two of the many communities impacted by this event as they were a year ago during Storm Henk and we fully sympathise with those who have been affected.

Flooding can come from a range of different sources and there are many different responsible bodies, organisations or individuals and flood risk management requires a partnership approach between agencies and the community, as detailed in the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. www.leicestershire.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/flooding-and-drainage/flood-risk-management.

In its role as Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA), as the Council did and continues to do following Storm Henk, the Council will collate information from those flooded to aid investigation and understand what happened in more detail. Please report any incidences to the Council’s flooding@leics.gov.uk mailbox. As with Storm Henk, and also Storm Babet a few months prior, the high volumes of impacted communities across the County has generated a significant amount of investigative work for the Council’ Flood Risk Management team, which will take some time to get through.

As such, there is still investigative work to do following Storm Henk and clearly there will be more following events this month, but actions taken so far include:-

·       Seven public drop-in sessions being held throughout Leicestershire, including in Loughborough and County Hall, where all of the responsible agencies were represented to allow any member of the public to discuss any flooding concerns and to also learn how they could become flood ready.

·       The assessment of a potential bridge removal at Cygnet Close, Sileby in partnership with the Environment Agency. This will take time including modelling and review of output to ensure that removal does not exacerbate flooding and creates betterment and then identifying and securing funding.

·       The identification of works required to a Severn Trent Water sewer in Cossington.

·       The administration of the £5,000 Property Flood Resilience Repair Grants on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Some property owners in Cossington and Sileby have been able to benefit from these grants. There is still time for residents whose properties were flooded during Storms Babet or Henk to apply for this grant at the following link: www.leicestershire.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/flooding-and-drainage/property-flood-resilience-repair-grant.

·       The promotion, recruitment and training of local flood wardens to help promote local resilience.

While there is work to do to understand the impacts and what happened during the latest event in more detail, what the Council is aware of is that there was a prolonged and intense level of rainfall, compounded by snow melt on the already saturated, and also in some places, frozen ground. This led to the highest ever river levels being recorded (Storm Henk being the second highest recorded), which subsequently overwhelmed tributary watercourses and other drainage systems. 

Unfortunately, with Sileby and Cossington being in close proximity to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

There were no declarations of the party whip.

The Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 35.

Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025/26 – 2028/29

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Environment and Transport and the Director of Corporate Resources which provided information on the proposed 2025/26 to 2028/29 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as it related to the Highways and Transport side of the Environment and Transport department. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item ‘8’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. O. O’Shea CC, Cabinet Lead Member for Highways and Transport, to the meeting for this item.

Arising from discussion, the following points were noted:

Growth

(i)    Street lighting reactive maintenance jobs had increased by 257% since 2022/23 due to aged assets. Aged Assets referred to columns and cables that had a life expectancy and needed maintaining. Members queried whether any scoping exercises had been carried out to see if alternative sources of power could be utilised which were more sustainable. In response, Officers explained that the current approach was to switch to LED lighting and that replacement programme was underway on what was a large scale. Assets needed to be reliable and alternative sources were taken on board as the technology improved over time.

SEN Transport

(ii)  Assisted Transport was a significant part of the department’s budget due to many factors and the spend on it was continuing to increase. A member acknowledged that the money needed to be spent and forecasts and provision for the future needed to be made. However, Members suggested that as this was an issue affecting local authorities across the country it should be addressed nationally by government.

(iii) The Council had a statutory duty to deliver the SEN Transport service and the department’s growth would continue to be dominated by increased demand for SEN Transport. Members noted that the Council was able to increase the Adult Social Care precept by 2% without requiring a referendum and submitted that until the government addressed the SEN Transport issue nationally the County Council would have to keep increasing the precept by the maximum amount each year.

Savings

(i)    A Member raised concerns about a lack of lighting in urban areas and suggested whether increasing the amount of lighting was a cost worth paying. In response it was explained that  a substantial saving had been made as a result of dimming street lighting and the saving would have to be made elsewhere were it not made from street lighting, but The department was aware that dimmed street lighting might not be suitable for all areas and would take feedback from the ongoing pilot scheme and address the concerns where necessary.

(ii)  As many electric vehicles were heavier than other vehicles on the road network due to the weight of the battery, Members queried whether this resulted in more deterioration of the roads. In response it was acknowledged that there had been an acceleration in deterioration on the strategic network in recent years and that there were many factors that impacted this such as weather. The fact that EV’s were heavier and heavier vehicles had an impact on the road network was an area that would need addressing nationally.

(iii) Members raised concerns regarding high volumes of traffic around Junction 21 of the M1. It was suggested that the government’s requirements of local authorities to increase housing growth should come with additional investment in the transport infrastructure as the existing road networks would not be able to cope with additional growth.

Capital Programme

(iv) In response to a Member query about the Zouch Bridge highlighted in the report it was noted that the bridge had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport, the purpose of which was to provide an update on Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Projects.  A copy of the report marked ‘agenda item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion the following points were made:

i)                 In line with the Council’s Environment and Net Zero Strategies, the Department’s was seeking to move its operations towards net zero. In line with current intelligence from industry and the technology available the Department was currently planning the upgrade of its infrastructure to support electric vehicles which the Department was working towards converting to. It was noted that in future it would be possible that new technologies would become available and the Department was aware of the need to be ready to consider all opportunities such as hydrogen energy to power its heavy fleet if this became feasible and appropriate.

ii)                A member suggested that developers should have the responsibility of installing electric vehicle charging points and solar panels to roofs on new developments, as this would be an ideal opportunity to prepare for the future.

iii)              Members noted that the County Council would fund the installation of Electric Vehicle infrastructure through grant funding and that contracts would be managed as part of a consortium with other local authorities. The charge points themselves would be operated and maintained by the commercial charge point operator.  It was acknowledged that the pilot project underway would help identify risks, but that in any event the infrastructure itself would need to be well maintained.

iv)              It was noted that the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure scheme pilot for which the Council had secured external grant funding, had helped to kick start the delivery of infrastructure for electric vehicles, providing for a number of public charging points to be installed across Leicestershire.  Members noted that those using the charge points would pay a fee which paid for the energy consumed.

v)                A Member noted that Blaby District Council had delivered a similar project to install charge points across Blaby and that a service provider had now been put in place to continue the scheme. The Member suggested that this model had worked well and was a good programme for encouraging behaviour change.

vi)              In response to a Member’s concerns regarding blackouts on the grid, it was noted that discussions had taken place with energy suppliers and that the choice of location for charging points would be driven by energy capacity. If there was insufficient power, there would be a risk of blackouts on the grid and this was therefore acknowledged on the Departmental risk register.

AGREED:

That the update report on the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Projects be noted.

The date of the next Highways and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee is scheduled for 6 March 2025 at 2.00pm.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 6 March 2025 at 2.00pm.