Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Environment which advised Members of the general progress made towards securing the authority required to commence the procurement process.

The Board was advised at the meeting of the last Mersey Gateway Executive Board on 24 September, that the formal procurement process for a Mersey Gateway concession contract could only commence once the Council had secured the planning decision by the Secretaries of State and for Ministers to grant Conditional Funding Approval.

The Board was further advised that the timing of an announcement of the planning decision by the Secretaries of State was linked to when the Department for Transport received the Inspector’s Public Inquiry Report.  Although the Authority had been advised that the Inspector’s Report was expected to be with the Department towards the end of November, the Minister had recently advised that this was now expected in mid-December.  The Minister gave this information in his response to an oral question in Parliament raised by Derek Twigg MP.  The response by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan was as follows:-

         “The Inspector’s report following the recent public inquiry is not expected to be received until the middle of December and its recommendations will need to be considered carefully before the Secretary of State can announce the decisions.  A further decision on funding will be taken after that.”

In addition, the Minister’s reference to a further decision on funding related to their consideration of the Conditional Funding Approval submission.  The Minister in his response also acknowledged the hard work of the Council and our representations received which explained the benefits of an expeditious decision.  The Minister reaffirmed that the timescale for a decision was linked to when the Department expected to receive the Public Inquiry Inspector’s report and pointed out the scheme’s complexities. The Minister did however assure Mr Twigg that he had taken on board the points made and the sense of urgency that he had expressed. 

It was reported that it was encouraging to receive the positive comments from the Minister but the legal due process leading up to planning Decision would determine the timescales to a great extent.  There was still an opportunity to announce the Decision before the end of March 2010 but the recent delay puts this outcome at greater risk.

It was also reported that the second requirement prior to commencing the procurement process was to secure Conditional Funding Approval from DfT Ministers and work towards this aim is progressing as planned.  The first draft of the Outline Business Case was due to be discussed with the DfT Major Projects Team at the progress meeting on 19 November 2009.

The Board noted the recent work that had been undertaken on the bridge by United Utilities and the impact of the lane closures on the Borough in respect of traffic.  It was also noted that the problem had been exacerbated because of weather conditions and an accident on the motorway.  In addition, repairs had been undertaken in the evening to minimise the disruption. It was reported that the lane had been closed to ensure the safety of the workforce.

RESOLVED: That the Board note the progress made and the outlook for commencing procurement next year.