Decision Details

Metro Birmingham Eastside Extension (BEE) and Digbeth Public Realm Improvements Project Definition Document (PDD) – Cabinet 26/06/2018

On 21 July 2020, Cabinet:-

(i)       Acting on behalf of the City Council in its capacity as Highway Authority, approved the Full Business Case (FBC) as set out in Appendix A of the report and noted the route of the Metro BEE as set out in Appendix B of the report;

(ii)       Noted that Digbeth Public Realm (DPR) improvements, that fall within the proposed BEE works, will be the subject of separate GBSLEP and City Council Full Business Cases (FBCs) anticipated in Autumn 2020.  In the unlikely event that the DPR scheme does not obtain FBC approval, whilst the same level of planned public realm improvements could not be completed within the available budget an operational southern tram alignment will still be delivered;

(iii)      Delegated authority to the Assistant Director, Transport and Connectivity (ADTC), in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment (CMTE), to agree the final details of the scheme, including any additional highway measures (examples provided in Appendix D) that may be required with West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA)/Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), who are acting in their capacity as project sponsors/ key funders;

(iv)      Subject to WMCA having the necessary approvals and funding in place, delegated authority to the ADTC to prepare, and enter into, the associated Section 278 Agreements for the highway measures and Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) noting that the legal agreements are to be made without a bond being required from WMCA as detailed in paragraphs 7.3.5 and 7.3.6 of the report;

(v)      In order to ensure efficient progress of any scheme, approved that, where the costs for any additional highway measures are covered by alternative funding, the governance for these schemes will follow the delegated authority principles set out in the Transportation and Highways Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2025/26 Annual Programme Update report approved by Cabinet on 11 February 2020 as follows:

(a)  Delegated approval of all OBCs, FBCs and related reports including revised financial appraisals to the Acting Director, Inclusive Growth in conjunction with the Interim Chief Finance Officer and in consultation with the relevant portfolio holder, up to a maximum value of £2.000m.

(b)  Delegated approval of all OBCs, FBCs and related reports including revised financial appraisals to a report of Acting Director, Inclusive Growth and Interim Chief Finance officer to the relevant portfolio holder, up to a maximum value of £10.000m.

(c)  Delegated authority to bid for and accept external capital and revenue resources in line with City Council priorities and consistent with the policies and objectives of the West Midlands Strategic Transport Plan, Birmingham Development Plan and Birmingham Connected transport strategy to the Acting Director, Inclusive Growth, in conjunction with the Interim Chief Finance Officer, and in consultation with the relevant portfolio holder, up to a maximum value of £2.000m, noting that such bids are to be subject to initial Capital Board oversight;

(d)  Delegated authority to bid for and accept external capital and revenue resources in line with City Council priorities and consistent with the policies and objectives of the West Midlands Strategic Transport Plan, Birmingham Development Plan and Birmingham Connected transport strategy to a report of Acting Director, Inclusive Growth and Interim Chief Finance officer to the relevant portfolio holder, up to a maximum value of £10.000m, noting that such bids are to be subject to initial Capital Board oversight;

(vi)      Approved expenditure of fees and other costs up to a value of £0.900m for the City Council to complete design reviews, legal agreements, traffic regulation orders and site inspections, and agrees to the City Council being reimbursed by WMCA based on actual costs rather than a fixed fee percentage, subject to an agreed cap on overhead rates;

(vii)     Approved the principle of the implementation of an estimated eight proposed enforcement cameras as located in Appendix B of the report, at an estimated cost of £0.120m to be funded by WMCA, and delegated the award of the contract for the cameras and associated equipment to the Acting Director, Inclusive Growth, the Assistant Director Development and Commercial (or their delegate), the Interim Chief Finance Officer (or their delegate) and the Acting City Solicitor (or their delegate) in accordance with the Procurement Strategy set out in Section 7.4 of the report;

(viii)    Noted that following completion of the scheme the City Council will be responsible for the on-going operation of the Bus Lane Enforcement activity and the resultant income and expenditure including future maintenance obligations. Further details are given in Appendix A of the report;

(ix)      Noted that following implementation of the scheme, the City Council will be responsible for the ongoing maintenance resulting from the highway works at an estimated annual cost of £0.023m as detailed in Appendix A of the report and approved the estimated commuted sum of £0.700m to be provided by WMCA/TfWM to fund these costs;

(x)      Noted that should there be any significant changes to the scheme design, cost or funding a further report will be brought forward for approval, in line with the Council’s Governance Framework;

(xi)      Authorised the City Solicitor to negotiate, execute, seal and complete all necessary documentation to give effect to the above recommendations.