Agenda item

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

Further to Minute No. 53 of the meeting held on 1 September 2011, the Council considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning on the Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Robertson, which was deferred to this meeting for further consideration to enable the Chair of the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (MITA) to submit further information on the issues referred to in the Motion and to enable Members to make an informed decision on the content of the Motion.

The report set out the content of the Motion together with the response of the Chair of the MITA.

It was moved by Councillor Robertson, seconded by Councillor Dodd:

“(1)      this Council notes with disappointment the decision made by the controlling Labour Group on the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority to end immediately, without further reports, or the results of any business case study, the opportunity to take local control of the Merseyrail Electrics network from Network Rail;

(2)            Council notes that this process has been ongoing for many years, and that in 2005/06 a business case for Full Local Decision Making (FLDM) was prepared and submitted showing clear benefits for Merseyside.  This was endorsed by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority and was a Key Policy in Local Transport Plan Two (LTP2);

(3)            Council further notes that FLDM was re-launched as Localism for Merseyrail (LFM) in 2010 and that the imperative for greater local control over the network infrastructure remains and the commitment to developing the case for this was reiterated in Local Transport Plan Three (LTP3);

(4)            Council also notes that LFM has the support of the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Office of the Rail Regulator and the Rail Freight Industry;

(5)            Council believes that a fully integrated Merseyrail network would be in the best interests of Merseyside’s commuters and would enable local people and rail customers to have greater say in the decisions taken affecting the rail network in Merseyside;

(6)            Council notes that £1.5m was spent promoting this scheme.

Council therefore requests

(1)       that the Chief Executive write to the Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel, Neil Scales and to the Chairman of the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority (MITA), expressing our Council’s disappointment at the decision made at the Authority’s meeting on 27 June, 2011; and

(2)       that MITA reverse the decision made at its meeting of 27 June, 2011 and ask that Merseytravel Passenger Transport Executive commission a Business Case Study to determine benefits and risks of LFM.  The results of that study are considered by a future MITA Authority meeting before a final decision is made on whether to move this matter forward to the next stage.”

An amendment was moved by Councillor P. Dowd, seconded by Councillor Maher that the response of the Chair of the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority be noted.

Following debate, on a show of hands, the Mayor declared the amendment was carried by 39 votes to 19.

On a show of hands, the Mayor declared that the Substantive Motion was carried by 41 votes to 18 and it was

RESOLVED:

That the response of the Chair of the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority be noted.