Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Time Square, Market Street, Bracknell, RG12 1JD. View directions

Contact: Louise Connelly  01344 354047

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED that Councillor Porter be elected Chairman of the Panel for the Municipal year 2019/20.

 

2.

Appointment of Vice Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED that Councillor McKenzie-Boyle be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Panel for the Municipal year 2019/20.

 

3.

Minutes and Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 170 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Environment, Culture and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 5 March 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: that the Minutes of the Environment, Culture and Communities Overview & Scrutiny Panel held on 3 July 2019 be approved as a correct record, and signed by the Chairman.

 

4.

Declarations of Interest and Party Whip

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests and the nature of that interest, including the existence and nature of the party whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

 

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

 

Any Member with an Affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest relating to any items on the agenda, nor any indication that Members would be participating under the party whip.

 

5.

Urgent Items of Business

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent.

Minutes:

There were no urgent items of business.

6.

Public Participation

To receive submissions from members of the public which have been submitted in advance in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

Minutes:

No submissions had been made by members of the public under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

 

7.

Directorate Overview

Members will be provided with an overview of the Directorates that relate to Environment, Culture and Communities.

Minutes:

Kevin Gibbs, Executive Director: Delivery, Damian James, Assistant Director: Contracts and Neil Matthews, Head of Highways and Transport provided members with an overview of the teams that fed into the Panel.

 

8.

LED Lighting Task and Finish Group Update

Cllr Porter, Chairman of the LED Lighting Task and Finish Group will provide a verbal update on the work of this group.

Minutes:

The Chairman of the LED Lighting Task and Finish Group, Cllr Porter, informed members the report would take the form of a short video. All members involved in the LED Lighting Task and Finish Group would be invited to be part of the video which would be made available to members and to the public via social media.

9.

Houses in Multiple Occupation Task and Finish Group Update

Cllr Brossard, Chairman of the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Task and Finish Group will provide a verbal update on the work of this group.

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Houses in Multiple Occupation Task and Finish Group, Cllr Brossard, informed members the report would take the form of an animation with a voice over. It would be available to members and via social media once completed.

 

10.

Parking Strategy pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Members are asked to discuss and consider the headlines from the Council’s parking strategy. 

Minutes:

Damian James, Assistant Director: Contracts informed members the Chairman had requested a new reporting format from officers designed to generate debate. The report had a number of questions throughout the report to allow scrutiny Members to help shape the Parking Strategy which would be put forward to the Executive for decision.

 

It was explained that Bracknell Forest Council was responsible for parking enforcement under the Traffic Management Act 2004. Members were being asked to discuss the new Parking Strategy which would run 2019-2024 and the Strategy would inform the new contract for parking which was due to expire next year and last up to eight years. The objective of the new Parking Strategy was to enforce parking fairly and encourage off street parking.

 

Members asked for the following points to be taken into account in relation to the Strategy:

 

Question 1.1 ‘Is wholly outsourcing parking enforcement to SABA (formerly known as Indigo) the right model in the future?’

 

·         Consider using Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 to address nuisance parkers.

·         The definition of nuisance parking needed to be clearer in the Strategy. E.g. parking on pavements and walkways.

·         Data highlighting areas density of parking problems around the Borough should be included in the Strategy.

·         Clarification of the proportion of parking fines issued but not collected would be useful.

·         Action should be given to consider how the Council worked with external partners, such as Silva Homes. E.g. identification of grass verges big enough to turn over to parking without detriment to the green space.

·         Asses training for parking enforcement staff, especially around enforcement of the Blue Badge scheme.

·         Consider subterranean parking and other options, particularly in new developments and community hubs, where space is precious.

·         The Council should work more closely with DVLC on enforcement.

 

Question 1.2 ‘What are the Panel’s views for cost v quality?

 

·         The Strategy needs to take account of a perceived reduction in customer service if people do not see parking enforcement officers on the street.

·         Use of new technologies was good because it would ‘free up’ parking enforcement officers in town and enable them to work out of town more often.

·         Have a contingency of extra resources, (currently 17) should occasion require.

·         The Strategy should analyse data about whether people were having difficulties using ANPR or other technologies.

 

Question 1.3 ‘What is the Panel’s view on the use of technology in improving the customer’s experience?’

 

·         The Strategy should take into account the different parking pressures in different areas, i.e. residential v business needs and future proof according to build density in different areas.

·         Cashless system not appropriate at this point in time as a number of residents still used cash although it was recognised this had a cost impact in terms of collecting cash from pay points.

·         Offer as wide a range of payment options as possible including cash, debit/credit card, online portal and apps.

·         Build in flexibility to incorporate new technologies as they come on stream during the life of the contract.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Quarterly Service Report (QSR) pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the QSR for the fourth quarter of 2019/20 (January to March 2019) relating to Environment, Culture and Communities. 

 

Panel members are asked to give advance notice to the Governance and Scrutiny Team of any questions relating to the Quarterly Service Report where possible.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was agreed that due to questions being submitted on the day officers would respond to the questions following the meeting and answers would be published with the minutes.

12.

Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 123 KB

To consider scheduled Executive Key and Non-Key Decisions relating to Environment, Culture and Communities.

Minutes:

Members received and noted the scheduled Key and Non-Key Executive Decisions relating to Environment, Culture and Communities.

 

Contact Information

Democratic services

Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk