To:                       Maidstone Joint Transport Board – 19 April 2017

Subject:              Amendments to the Joint Transportation Board agreement between Maidstone Borough Council and Kent County Council

Classification:   Unrestricted

1.         Background

1.1      In 2013 the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) requested that Parish Council representation at Joint Transportation Boards be increased to two members and that those two members be permitted voting rights.

1.2      Under the existing JTB agreement only one Parish representative may be appointed and although that representative may speak there are currently no voting rights attached to the appointment. 

1.3      The agreement was duly amended by officers at Kent County Council to include the KALC recommendation and to include any other changes made necessary by committee or governance changes that had occurred in the time since it was originally signed.

1.4      Each JTB was consulted on the matter as was the KCC Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee.  Despite the Cabinet Committee endorsing the proposed decision and amended agreement it was not taken by the KCC Cabinet Member for Environment and transport at that time as it was not possible to amend the agreement in such ways that would suit all JTB’s. 

2.         Developments

2.1      Maidstone JTB, through the Chairman, has requested that amendments to its individual agreement with KCC be made to adopt the recommendations of KALC as described in 1.1 above.

2.2      Nothing in the current agreement precludes amendments to individual agreements.

2.3      The amended document at appendix 1 reflects the recommendations of KALC but also makes amendments to the reporting and dispute resolution procedures to improve current practice and reflect changes to committee structures that have occurred since the original agreement was entered in to, eg. The decommissioning of the Highways Advisory Board and Maidstone Borough Council’s change in governance model to the Committee System.

3.         Financial Implications

3.1      There are no financial implications of the proposed amendments.

4.         Legal implications

4.1      There are no direct legal implications of the proposed amendments, however more clearly set out reporting and recording methods will strengthen any resulting decisions at both authorities.

5.         Equalities implications

5.1      There are no equalities implications resulting from the proposed amendments.

6.         Governance

6.1      Should the amended agreement be approved by the Maidstone JTB, Democratic Services Officers at MBC and KCC will ensure that the agreement is signed and sealed in accordance with the relevant governance requirements of each authority. 

7.         Conclusions

7.1      The proposed decisions and actions set out in this report will allow the wishes of the Maidstone JTB to be reflected within an individual agreement.  In addition the amended agreement corrects any factual inaccuracies that have occurred over time since the original agreement was signed and strengthens reporting and recording procedures.

10.      Background Documents

10.1   None

11.      Contact details