Issue - meetings

Councillor McLean to Councillor Turrell, Executive Member for Planning and Transport

Residents of Warfield, and surrounding areas, have suffered considerable inconvenience and disruption of late, as a result of unauthorised works encroaching Harvest Ride and adjacent roads.  What steps is the Executive Member for Planning and Transport taking to prevent re-occurrences of such unauthorised activities and can he make the fines applicable commensurate with the inconvenience they cause?

Councillor Temperton to Councillor Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing

Can the Council have an update on the numbers and wellbeing of the Refugees and Asylum seekers supported by Bracknell Forest?

Have any of the Refugees registered as homeless, and if so, what support is given to them?

Councillor McLean to Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection

Following the introduction of the Elections Act 2022, what steps will the Council be taking to prepare residents for the need to provide photo identity documents in order to be able to vote?  What system will be in place to allow those without suitable documents to apply for an 'electoral identity document'?

Councillor Brown to Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection

In the May 4^th Local Elections, photo ID will be needed for the first time by all residents voting at the polling stations.

Will the Bracknell Forest e+ card be acceptable as an alternative to a driving licence or a passport?

Councillor McLean asked Councillor Turrell, Executive Member for Planning and Transport, the following published question:

Residents of Warfield, and surrounding areas, have suffered considerable inconvenience and disruption of late, as a result of unauthorised works encroaching Harvest Ride and adjacent roads. what steps is the Executive Member for Planning and Transport taking to prevent reoccurrences of such unauthorised activities and can he make the fines applicable commensurate with the inconvenience they cause?

In response, Councillor Turrell said the following:

“Thank you for the question. It is worth noting that a number of organisations beside the Council, usually utilities, have powers to work on Bracknell Forest's highway network. Since November 2014, the Council has operated a Street Works Permit Scheme as an extension of its powers granted by legislation including the Traffic Management Act 2004. Most highway authorities have set up such schemes. The objectives of the scheme are primarily to regulate occupation of the public highway by statutory undertakers and their contractors.  

Schemes are required to deliver parity of treatment across works promoters. Importantly, this includes local highway authorities and their contractors. Whilst all works promoters require a permit to be granted prior to occupying the highway, there are limited grounds upon which the Council can refuse. In dire emergencies the procedure is different: the statutory undertaker must notify the Council within two hours of starting work, in order to obtain a permit. It is rightly the case that in dangerous circumstances, public safety comes before red tape.

Fundamentally, the permit scheme cannot unreasonably withhold access to the highway and must instead seek to facilitate works through co-ordination and the application of prescribed permit conditions. Fixed Penalty Notices can be issued for breaches of scheme conditions or the absence of a valid permit. These penalties are fixed in statute. As an example, the absence of a valid permit would incur a penalty of £500, subject to discount for prompt payment. It is not acceptable for a contractor to plead ignorance of a permit scheme or to proceed with non-urgent work without a permit: it is well known that highway authorities operate permit schemes. Having obtained a permit, the contractor should display the permit reference at the site, together with telephone and digital contact details. 

Residents with concerns can either use these details, or in case of difficulty, contact customer services at the Council. If these details are not visible, I would strongly urge residents to contact the Council to report this, so that the highway network team can take appropriate action as soon as possible.

During December 2022, the period to which this question relates, there were two incidents of unauthorised access to the public highway by contractors in the Warfield area. One case involved a fibre-optic telecommunications provider operating without a valid permit and the other was a Council contractor who failed to update their application for re-programmed work. An FPN was issued in both cases.  

Pre-pandemic, the scheme processed approximately 6,500 permits per year with this having since  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38