Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mal Donoghue and Matthew Trafford.

Members are requested to indicate at this stage in the proceedings any items on the agenda in which they intend to declare an interest. Members are reminded that if the interest is a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (as defined in the Members’ Code of Conduct) they must leave the room for the whole of that item. If the interest is not a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, but is such that a member of the public could reasonably regard it as being so significant that it is likely that it would prejudice their judgment of the public interest (as explained in the Code of Conduct) then they may make representations, but then must leave the meeting for the remainder of the item.

Councillor Will Adams declared a personal interest on item 5 - Penwortham Masterplan and item 6 - Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Emergency Cover Review Consultation as a ward member in Penwortham.

Councillor Michael Green declared a personal interest in item 8a - Lancashire County Council Health Scrutiny Committee Update as a County Council Cabinet Member.

To be approved as a correct record.

The Committee requested an update on the following points raised under item 56- Community Wealth Building at the last meeting:

·       Pension contributions for the waste colleagues transferring over to the Council.

·       An indication of the areas in which waste colleagues transferring over to the Council live.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, held on Tuesday, 12 July 2022, be approved as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

Report attached.

Members received an update on recommendations made at previous meetings of the Scrutiny Committee.

Members noted progress on previous recommendations and unanimously resolved to remove any completed actions from the Matters Arising Sheet.

Report of the Director of Planning and Development attached.

The Chair welcomed Councillor James Flannery, Cabinet Member for Planning, Business Support and Regeneration, Jonathan Noad, Director of Planning and Development, Steven Brown, Head of Development Management and Anson Forrester from consultants GL Hearn to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Planning, Business Support and Regeneration provided an overview of the masterplan and the history around the plans.

Originally part of the City Deal going back to 2013, plans to progress the masterplan had been reviewed and paused some years ago, partly to allow for the construction of the bypass in Penwortham to be completed.

Following the elections in 2019 the new administration identified a budget to progress and develop the Penwortham Masterplan design concepts and undertake consultation. A tender was won by Hemingway Design who have undertaken the work and produced the masterplan included within the report.

In response to a query, it was confirmed that the original scope of work when the masterplan was part of the City Deal was centered around the Liverpool Road corridor but with the construction of the bypass in Penwortham a lot of traffic had been directed away. The project had been re-scoped by the new administration and expanded to incorporate the two additional local centres of Middleforth and Kingsfold.

Members were advised that this stage of the masterplan process had largely been completed with officers now just applying final touches following the consultation period earlier in the year. The next step would be for approval from Cabinet which was expected to be discussed at the next meeting in November. If there was any additional decisions around the final budget this would be for Full Council to decide.

Asked when residents may see the projects come to fruition, the Committee were advised that this was dependent on budgets or other funding streams. Members heard that the concept plans were currently at RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) stage two. More work was needed to complete stages three and four, consisting of further consultation, surveys, detailed designs and other agreements such as with local landowners. The masterplan could then advance to a stage where planning approval and subsequent construction could commence. In line with the next steps included within the report, construction was anticipated to begin in 2024.

At the request of Committee, clarification on the different RIBA stages was provided. RIBA stage two, where the Penwortham masterplan is currently at is a concept design, RIBA stage three a more detailed outline design and RIBA stage four was the final stage with a full technical design including all the detail a contractor requires to complete the work.

The Director of Planning and Development confirmed that the project had been managed throughout by both himself and the Head of Development Management. The Committee heard that he was more than happy with the work of Hemingway Design and GL Hearn and noted the vision and ideas they had contributed, including a strong commitment to comprehensive consultation with residents.

Further procurement processes would be undertaken for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

Head of Service Development at Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service, Tony Crook will give a presentation and answer questions to assist the Committee.

The Full Consultation document can be found on the link below.

https://www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ECR-LFRS.pdf

The Chair welcomed Tony Crook, Head of Service Development and Chris West, Station Manager at Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service to the meeting.

The Head of Service Development provided an overview of the consultation with the key themes and with specific reference to aspects that would affect Penwortham Fire Station. This largely centered around the proposed change from the day crew plus duty system to the flexi day crewing system. The twelve week consultation was drawing to a close with over a thousand responses received so far. It was stressed that the changes within the review were proposals and whilst still open to feedback were driven by data and statistics around attendance times and targets, areas of risk, incident frequency and staffing levels with the goal of identifying how best to deploy resources within a limited budget.

In summing up, the Head of Service Development highlighted why Penwortham and St Anne’s Fire Stations had been identified for a change in duty system, namely lower activity and lower critical fires. There was also considerations around the resilience of the day crew plus system in responding to large or multi-pump incidents where crews required recovery time. This impacted on the service’s ability to recycle and keep sending appliances to these critical incidents- with a shift system fresh crews could be sent out.

Councillor James Flannery, who referred the consultation to the Scrutiny Committee highlighted concerns over response times not only for Penwortham but for the wider area and the huge impact just one significant fire could have.

Members queried how Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service had undertaken the consultation process, the Committee heard that key stakeholders had been identified in previous community engagement activities and mapped out by areas and wards. These stakeholders had been contacted directly. In line with the services’ consultation strategy, staff have been consulted, Lancashire Resilience Forum contacted, campaigns on the website and social media, notices in libraries and attending neighborhood forums had been undertaken to engage with a wide demographic.

Following the close of the consultation period on 14 October, a report including feedback will be produced culminating in final approval by the Combined Fire Authority Committee meeting in December 2022.

Referring back to comments about Preston Fire Station’s ability to meet attendance targets and with the proposed downgrade of Penwortham Fire Station, members sought clarity on whether Preston had been upgraded. In response, it was noted that there had not been any changes in staffing or appliances at Preston but that the risk in the area to the south had reduced with the closure of several factories. Improvements in equipment and technology had also made the service more efficient, in addition the modern station at Bamber Bridge also provided increased coverage in the area.

Members queried whether future housing and business developments across the borough had been factored into the risk assessment for South Ribble. It was confirmed that risk was calculated using a Fire Risk Methodology formula that considers demographic data, deprivation and numbers of fires.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

Report of the Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer attached.

The Committee noted the report.

The Council’s representative on Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Lou Jackson, agreed to provide a written update and circulate to Scrutiny Committee members after the meeting.

Councillor Kath Unsworth reported on the last meeting of the North West Strategic Scrutiny Network and undertook to share key points raised during the session.

The latest version of the Forward Plan can be found on the Council’s website by clicking here.

Given the number of questions and time spent on item 5 - Penwortham Masterplan and item 6 - Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service Emergency Cover Review Consultation it was agreed to consider the Cabinet Forward Plan at the next meeting.

Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan attached.

The Committee agreed to schedule an additional meeting before Christmas in order to consider two items that were rearranged to accommodate the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Emergency Cover Review Consultation on this meeting’s agenda.

A date and time will be arranged with items on Employee Survey Results and the Leisure Company Progress Report to be included on the agenda.

The Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan was noted.