CITY of York councillors will not have the chance to scrutinise the Lendal Bridge closure, after a key committee voted against the idea despite a damning report made public today.

The Economic and City Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee met this evening to debate whether the cross party committee should launch its own review of the controversial trial.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Waller had made the request for a review in his first meeting in charge of the committee, saying there were lessons to be learnt from the affair.

But Green councillor Andy D'Agorne sided with the ruling Labour group to make sure the close four-three vote went against proposals made by other opposition members.

Cllr Waller showed the committee members a report - commissioned by the council and produced by Crown Management Solutions in June - which is highly critical of the trial.

 

>>> Read the report in full here

 

Labour committee members Anna Semlyen, Neil Barnes and Stephen Burton all voted against a review, saying it would inevitably become a political football and would not be a good use of the limited scrutiny time before the elections in May.

But opposition members, like the Labour Independent David Scott, argued a scrutiny review could look into the objectives of the botched scheme, and whether its aims were met.

Cllr D'Agorne, who held the deciding vote between the two camps, said he believed any review needed to be a learning experience not to cast political blame, and speaking outside the meeting he said he too wanted answers.

He added: "In the run up the election, I just don't believe a formal scrutiny is the best way to go about it."

After the vote, Cllr Scott said the decision did not reflect the view of the full council, adding that the Lendal Bridge controversy "will not go away."

Conservative Joe Watt said: "I think the folks at home will be interested to see why the Green party leader has voted against scrutiny for what is an environmental issue."

Cllr Waller said he was disappointed with the vote, after the change in the political makeup of the council had ended Labour's ability to outvote all its opponents, and added: "I am sure there will be people working together to get to the bottom of this."

Damning report on “poor governance” of bridge closure

This evening’s meeting was the first time many committee members had seen the external report – which was begun in April after the bridge reopened.

In it, consultants Keith Lumley and Frances Adams say the project to close Lendal Bridge "suffered from a lack of governance and robust project management from the very start" while its development was largely driven by political ambition.

The report was compiled after one-to-one interviews with the council staff who ran the trial, and the cabinet member for transport at the time.

The consultants also report that staff had to develop the Lendal Bridge trial during a major downsizing exercise; and when the number of fines issues began to rise dramatically above what was expected the senior managers ignored technical officers' advice on how to fix the problems out of political fears, and worries the council could face legal challenges.

The document makes a series of recommendations – including better communications between politicians and senior staff before they make manifesto promises.

In an update briefing issued this month, the council say they have brought in new protocols for governance and project management, but say it would not be appropriate for officers at the council to get involved with manifesto pledges made the politicians.

The update also says they do not accept the CMS findings that Lendal Bridge didn’t have the same proper consultation process as other council projects.

Read the report in full here Final Review of Lendal Bridge08.pdf

And the council update briefing here LB Review implementation update November 2014.pdf