Leicestershire County Council

The meeting was largely procedural, but agenda item 9 exposed a dispute over a proposed public footpath diversion at Butt Lane, Blackfordby/Ashby de la Zouch. Officers recommended making a diversion order to move the path out of a domestic garden and onto a new estate footway, while an objector alleged the route had been obstructed illegally and that the application relied on inaccurate drawings. Members debated land ownership, waymarking, safety, indemnity, and the risk of challenge, then ultimately approved the officer recommendation to proceed with the order and statutory advertisement.

The committee reviewed ESPO’s strong 2025/26 outturn and discussed procurement-related operational priorities including fleet replacement, vehicle electrification, marketing spend, cyber security, accreditations, and the emerging use of AI. Members probed the commercial case for electric vehicles, future fleet replacement to meet 2030/2035 deadlines, cyber resilience measures, and whether additional accreditations could help win tenders. ESPO also set aside budget for AI and automation initiatives while developing governance and staff training.

The board heard updates on a wide range of prevention, integration and care pathway work, including health in all policies, healthy placemaking, food systems, physical activity, the Better Care Fund, carers support, hospital discharge improvement and health protection. Several items implied future procurement or commissioning work, particularly the new carers support service, the physical activity framework refresh, voluntary sector partnership arrangements, and ongoing discharge improvement work. The meeting also confirmed continued investment in health-related partnership programmes and noted strong performance in public health and community support activities.

The commission reviewed the provisional 2025/26 revenue and capital outturn, noting a £7m underspend offsetting significant demand-led pressures, especially SEND and children’s social care. Members also discussed capital rephasing, the use of underspend for debt repayment, highways, and transformation. A major part of the meeting focused on customer service modernization through AI and website improvements, and a lengthy debate considered the future of traded services, including the closure of school food services and the longer-term business case for Bow Manor Hall.

The Environment, Flooding and Climate Change Overview and Scrutiny Committee received an update on the Leicester Air Quality and Health Partnership. The year-one findings show cross-department collaboration (Public Health, Environment, Transport) with two main subgroups and data-driven activity including health impact assessments, school-based interventions, and active-travel messaging. Questions focused on modeling methods and potential procurement for monitoring, data analysis, and school travel initiatives, with opportunities identified around enhanced monitoring, data services, and planning requirements.

The committee considered major transport and waste service pressures, with significant attention on home to school transport costs, market capacity, safeguarding checks and future procurement frameworks. Members also discussed bus service changes and consultation, a new enabling travel choice strategy under LTP4, and the rollout of food waste collections with associated treatment contracts and savings. Several items highlighted ongoing operational change, potential contract variations and future procurement activity rather than immediate awards.