To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Diana Toynbee and Cllr Elizabeth Foxton.

To receive details of any councillor nominated to attend the meeting in place of a member of the committee.

Cllr Justine Peberdy was present as the named substitute for Cllr Diana Toynbee, and Cllr Liz Harvey was present as the named substitute for Cllr Elizabeth Foxton.

To receive declarations of interest in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 12 March 2025.

The minutes of the previous meeting were received.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

Documents containing questions received from members of the public and the responses given, plus supplementary questions and their respective responses were published as a supplement to the published agenda and papers.

To receive any written questions from members of the council.

No questions had been received from councillors.

To provide an overview of the Herefordshire Cultural Strategy 2019-29, and to seek the views of the scrutiny committee on how priorities are being progressed.

The committee considered a report on the Cultural Strategy 2019-29. The principal points are noted below:

1. The Museum Lead noted that the cultural strategy was adopted by the council but not produced by the council. Instead, the cultural strategy is held by the Herefordshire Cultural Partnership.

2. It was added that at this stage, the council supports the cultural partnership which is an independent body of arts organisations and funders who work across the county. Although the partnership is unfunded, it has been supported by the council through grants from UKSPF funding in recent years.

3. The Chair of the Herefordshire Cultural Partnership noted that the genesis for the report written in 2024 was that that the partnership had reached a point with the strategy needing to be reviewed in light of changes since. The review therefore was to look at the state of culture and cultural activity and creative industries within the county. The consultants employed to carry out the report found that as part of its data, 4,000 new creatives were created in the county.

4. The Executive Director Meadow Arts added that traditional ONS data miss very small businesses which help form a significant part of the county’s creative industry.

5. In response to a question about whether the cultural strategy has ever been formally adopted by the council, the Museum Lead noted that he had been endorsed but not formally adopted.

6. The Chair of the Herefordshire Cultural Partnership added that the difference between endorsement and adoption is key because of the responsibility that exists with delivering the objectives of the strategy.

7. In response to a question about whether there is an implementation plan in place to deliver on the strategy, the Museum Lead added that the implementation is by the organisations on their own terms so where there is direction of travel in the strategy, each organisation will deliver that in their own way within the confines of the strategy. Therefore, there is no direct, single document that sets an implementation plan across the strategy.

8. The Executive Director Meadow Arts added that the first draft of the strategy had big ambitions but was not hard on a delivery plan. Part of the revamp now is for the partnership itself to scrutinise that aspect of delivery of the strategy. There is also an ongoing review of governance and setting up new terms of reference to establish who needs to be on the partnership without it becoming too large. 

9. In response to a question about whether the council has taken on enough of an active role in the cultural strategy, the Museum Lead noted that the council in recent years has made a huge effort in investment and culture. It was added that there has been a drive in direction based on the strategy that has not existed in the previous ten years.

10. The Executive Director Meadow Arts added that the Chair of the Herefordshire Cultural Partnership also sits on the council’s economy and growth board representing culture which reflects a positive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

To provide scrutiny the opportunity to review the draft Local Transport Plan.

The committee considered a report on the Local Transport Plan (LTP).

The slides presented by the Transport Planning Services Manager are outlined below (in italics), with the principal points noted below.

A The Transport Planning Services Manager introduced the presentation and welcomed the opportunity to update the committee on the Local Transport Plan.

a.1 The Transport Planning Services Manager noted that last year a lot of public engagement was carried out to see what the public wanted focusing on in the Local Transport Plan.

a.2 It was noted that the strategies have been split into two parts with one half focused on the city, and the other half focused on the rural market towns as both are unique in terms of their transport networks.

a.3 There are three action plans including, 1) the transport network as a whole; 2) the city and; 3) the rural market towns. This will help to put appropriate measures into the appropriate places.

a.4 It was added that an internal consultation was carried out with staff prior to going to the public including consultation with planning services, business development services, education etc. to ensure that the offer to the public was appropriate before going out to the public with the draft local transport plan.

B The Transport Planning Services Manager presented:

Age of respondents

b.1 The responses were compared to the demographics of Herefordshire and it was found that there was difficulty with engaging with younger residents. Some additional links have been established with the college to attempt to engage better with younger residents.

Transport options

b.2 A key question asked was whether people felt that they had good options for transport and the resounding response was no. A key focus of the LTP, therefore, is that those options need to be enhanced.

Support for Action Plans

b.3 The action plans are a list of projects that have been identified for the city, transport network, and rural market towns.

b.4 Overall, people are either very neutral to them or supportive of them. The actual opposition is quite low which helps to reinforce that the decisions taken by officers, reflect the right projects.

Priorities on LTP5 objectives

b.5 The main trend is that people do not support things like active travel, EV charging, and sustainable ways of transport. Instead, more car-dominant ones are very supported. This is a change to what the government trends are saying and it is important that a balance is struck within the LTP.

The principal points of the subsequent discussion are summarised below:

1. In response to a question about how many responses were received, the Transport Planning Services Manager noted that 110 were received.

2. In response to a question about the trend of responses that have been received and whether they will have an impact on the LTP, the Transport Planning Services Manager noted that there would have to be a review and would involve a mixture of whether the council are doing the right engagement with people to explain the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

To consider the draft work programme for the Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee until September 2025.

The Statutory Scrutiny Officer presented the draft work programme for the Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2025/26.

The committee unanimously agreed the draft work programme for Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved that:

a)    The committee agree the draft work programme for Connected Communities Scrutiny Committee contained in the work programme report attached as appendix 1, which will be subject to monthly review, as the basis of their primary focus for the remainder of the municipal year.

b)    The committee note the forward plan attached as appendix 2 and identify any opportunities for collaboration or alignment of work.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 8 July 2025, 14:00 pm.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 8 July 2025, 14:00 pm.