To receive a verbal report from Councillor Ed Potter, Chair of the Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairman of the Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee provided a verbal report on the committee’s scrutiny to date of the Levelling Up project around the gyratory station in Shrewsbury which it had added to its work programme in response to public concern, including a petition with over 6,000 signatures.  

The committee had heard from Portfolio Holders and officers about the scheme's background and the challenges it had faced. The committee had decided to conduct a deeper dive into the project, aiming to hear from a wider range of witnesses, such as members of Shrewsbury Town Council, local businesses, blue light services, WSP, Shropshire Council Highways Officers, Economic Growth Officers, and relevant portfolio holders.  A rapid task and finish group was planned for the following Monday, with the intention to report back to Cabinet with firm recommendations as soon as possible, ideally for the December Cabinet meeting.

The Committee had already outlined three initial recommendations from the scrutiny committee which were:

• Commission an independent safety audit review of the current proposals to ensure risks like congestion and emergency access are robustly addressed.
• Cabinet should review the council's strategic partnerships.
• Lessons learned from this process should be applied to future and existing schemes to assure robust governance and prevent similar issues.

The Committee wished to emphasise the importance of scrutiny, transparency, and learning from the process to strengthen oversight and promote best practice across ongoing programmes.

Cabinet members welcomed the rapid work of the committee,  supported the recommendations made to date and confirmed that officers had already begun commissioning an independent safety review.  It was hoped that it would be possible to receive a further report at the next meeting.