Agenda and minutes

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Deaths of Past Chairman and Former County Councillor

The Chairman reported with sadness the deaths of former County Councillor and past Chairman, Mr Bill Liquorish, and of former County Councillor Mr Don Smart.

Mr Liquorish was a member of the County Council from 2005 to 2021.  He represented the Broughton Astley electoral division.

Mr Liquorish mainly served on the Development Control and Regulatory Board and on a variety of Overview and Scrutiny Committees, including a period as Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

He served as Chairman of the Council for the municipal year 2016 – 2017, where his easy-going and personable style did much to build new and lasting relationships whilst presenting the County Council in the best possible light.

Mr Don Smart was a member of the County Council from 1973 to 1981, representing the Melton Mowbray North electoral division.

He served mainly on the Policy and Resources Committee and the Education Committee, where he was Vice Chairman for a number of years.

Members stood in silent tribute to the memory of Mr Liquorish and Mr Smart.

Mr Geoff Welsh

The Chairman reported that Mr Welsh had recently resigned from the County Council due to health reasons.

Mr Welsh had been a member of the Council since 2013, representing the Blaby and Glen Parva electoral division.

He served mainly as one of the Group Spokesmen on the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  He was also a Member Champion for Children in Care and Care Leavers.

Members joined with the Chairman in wishing Mr Welsh well for the future; he would be missed in the Council Chamber.

Armistice Day

The County Council marked Armistice Day with a service and two minute silence on Friday 10^th November. The short and dignified service was conducted by the Chairman’s local vicar Ludger Fremmer. The Chairman thanked Leanne Plummer for playing the Last Post and Reveille so competently. He was also pleased to see that County Hall was illuminated in red for the duration of the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal. The Chairman thanked those Members who were able to attend local services on Remembrance Sunday and lay a County Council wreath.

It was moved by the Chairman, seconded by Mr Orson and carried:-

“That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27^th September 2023, copies of which have been circulated to members, be taken as read, confirmed and signed.”

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

Mr Phillimore declared a non-registrable interest in issues relating to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities discussed in the reports of the Cabinet due to his wife’s employment (minutes 32(a) and 32(b) refer).

(A)     Mr Hunt asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:

“1.  The Cabinet report on the Charnwood Local Plan 2021 -2037 in September 2022 stated that there would be “a proportionate and reasonable deterioration in traffic conditions in the Borough as a result of developments being permitted prior to the overall mitigation package being put in place.”

From a traffic management point of view, what should we understand to be a “proportionate” deterioration in traffic conditions, and how is it measured?

2.    Traffic conditions in the above report are also described as a “reasonable” deterioration in traffic conditions, Highways improvements in Hinckley are described in the Annual Performance Report as meaning “smoother and more efficient” journeys.  Cabinet members are apt to refer to roads as being “congestion-busting”.  All these may signify a level of congestion (or in the latter case the complete absence!) but the authority commits considerable resources to obtain reliable estimates of peak hour congestion to support business cases.  Why are members not provided with such proper estimates rather than these meaningless phrases?

3.    What were (a) our best estimates of the peak hour congestion at the beginning of the Charnwood Plan period and (b) what are now projected for the end of the Plan period?”

Mr O’Shea replied as follows:

“1.  What constitutes a ‘proportionate’ deterioration in traffic conditions will vary according to circumstances, and correspondingly there is no single, universal way to define this, as is the case for other key terms used within the planning arena (perhaps most notably the term ‘severe impacts’ as referred to within the National Planning Policy Framework). As with such other terms, it should instead be understood as a principle, to be applied on a case-by-case basis to Local Plan site allocations as they come forward individually as planning applications, based on professional judgement (and where necessary informed by the outputs of transport assessment work undertaken as part of planning applications).

In coming to a decision about whether the deterioration in traffic conditions arising from particular developments is ‘proportionate’ or otherwise, the Local Highway Authority has to consider a range of factors in the round. For instance, the scope for proportionate deterioration in traffic conditions is likely to be lower at locations (normally junctions) where such deterioration is likely to result in wider network impacts (e.g. congestion spilling over to other locations/junctions, or displacement of traffic to less suitable roads), significant impacts on accessibility to key services and facilities or adverse effects on key road safety hotspots. Conversely, the scope for deterioration is likely to be greater in locations where the opposite is true. Furthermore, the Local Highways Authority’s acceptance of proportionate deterioration in traffic conditions is conditional on securing proportionate (and reasonable in planning terms) contributions from development towards the delivery of the overall local plan mitigation package, which remains essential to ensure that the deterioration is addressed/minimised over the longer-term.

2.      The transport evidence and forecasts produced to inform the development of Local Plans, scheme business cases and other comparable work are typically very complex and multi-faceted (for instance, the North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road business cases, including modelling work, ran to several thousand pages). In most cases, it would therefore be impractical and potentially misleading to try and ‘cherry-pick’ selected technical outputs and figures from such work to utilise for the purposes suggested in the question. The terminology used in reporting to members (such as those cited in the question) seeks to articulate the broad objectives and principles underpinning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Leader gave a position statement on the following matters:

·       MTFS;

·       King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2023;

·       Devolution;

·       Hinckley National Freight Interchange Update.

The Leader also reported that Braunstone Town Council had been awarded Council of the Year by the National Association of Local Councils and extended the County Council’s congratulations to the Town Council for this achievement.

A copy of the position statement is filed with these minutes.

It was moved by Mr Rushton, seconded by Mr Breckon and carried unanimously:

“That the Annual Delivery Report and Performance Compendium 2023 be approved”

It was moved by Mrs Richardson, seconded by Mrs Radford and carried unanimously:

“That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2023 be noted with support.”

It was moved by Mr Breckon, seconded by Mr Bedford and carried unanimously:

“That the County Council’s Pay Policy Statement 2024/25, as set out in the Appendix to the report of the Employment Committee, be approved.”

It was moved by Mr Barkley, seconded by Mr Richardson and carried unanimously:

“That the revised Protocol on Member/Officer Relations be approved.”