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 4th 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?
Minutes:
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 risen to around 8,500 due to the roll-out of digital fibre installation supported by the Government. During 2021/22, 138 fixed penalty notices were issued. Total PCN and fines averaged £64,000 annually in the four years to 31 March 2022, and have been £78,000 between 1 April and 31 December 2022.
In the last published annual scheme evaluation report, the overall benefits of the permit scheme were demonstrated through the 178 calendar days of impactive works which were avoided through the co-ordination and collaboration with works promoters.
At any time, residents or businesses, along with wider stakeholders can view the status of planned or on-going road works via the publicly available website “one.network” which provides details of the works promoter, the type of work and its duration.
So, we have an established scheme with clear sanctions and enforcement, keeping our roads as clear of works as practicably possible.”
Councillor Ingham asked the Executive Member a supplementary question on what pressure could be applied to ensure reinstatement of grass verges to an acceptable standard following unauthorised works.
The Executive Member explained that grass verges had to be reinstated to how they were before the unauthorised works took place – using the same materials. Councillor Turrell explained that hard reinstatement was fairly straightforward, whilst restoring verges could be slightly more problematic because the weather could throw up difficulties.
After the meeting, Councillor Turrell provided further detail to his response to the supplementary question. The additional information is set out below:
“Each undertaker has power to conduct works in the public highway under the relevant act for their sector i.e. Gas Act, Water Act, Telecoms Act etc. Under the New Roads & Street Works Act 1991 the standards of their works are prescribed under sections 65 (Safety) and section 71 (Reinstatement) and the details are contained in the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321056/safety-at-streetworks.pdf and the Specification for the reinstatement of openings in highways https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/977196/specification-for-the-reinstatement-of-openings-in-highways-fourth-edition.pdf.
There is provision for an undertaker to complete an interim reinstatement whereby an alternative material is used than that of a permanent reinstatement but the reinstatement must be made permanent after 6 months. Between the Act & the Specification it is determined that a reinstatement guarantee period is 2 years from the date of permanent reinstatement or 3 years if it is a deep excavation (>1.5m depth of cover). The street authority has the power to inspect but has no duty to inspect although our internal policy is to over inspect at Category A (works in progress) and Category B (undertaken within 6 months of interim or permanent reinstatement). The street authority may be paid a fee of £50 for a sample of inspections (up to 30%) although the current consultation on new regulations would change this percentage based on the performance of the individual undertaker but ultimately the street authority can perform as many inspections as it likes at its own cost. (It is however, important for the street authority to only inspect the works and not supervise them).
There is one piece of case law (British Telecommunications PLC v Nottinghamshire County Council) that in summary found that the guarantee period cannot be relied upon by the undertaker if it can be proven that the reinstatement never complied with the specification at the time. Thus a defective reinstatement is a continuing offence until discovered by the street authority after which the utility must repair the reinstatement or the street authority must lay information for summary trial at the magistrates court within 6 months. This often requires investigatory works in the form of coring the reinstatement if the core determines that the reinstatement fails the undertaker has to pay the costs of the core and reinstate to the specification if however, the core proves that the reinstatement is compliant all costs must be borne by the street authority and the undertakers liability for the reinstatement ends.
Verges are inspected along with all other reinstatements but the specification allows for a period of up to 12 months for sufficient growth to be established. On inspection we will ensure the ground is level, or as it was found, and any stones larger than 20mm nominal size removed, adequately seeded and if not will call back the undertaker to make good. Also if growth does not establish we can and will call back the undertaker at any time. If any verges are not picked up in the sample inspection regime any concerns can be reported to the council and we will inspect and follow due process, but in the first instance sufficient time should be given to allow regrowth to establish.”
Councillor Temperton asked the following question to Councillor Bettison, Executive Member for Council Strategy and Community Cohesion:
“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 being given to them?”
In response, Councillor Bettison said the following:
Refugees and Asylum seekers directly supported by Bracknell Forest Council
The council is directly supporting approximately 230 Refugees and Asylum Seekers across the schemes outlined below:
- 165 people have arrived on the Homes for Ukraine Visa Scheme, 149 are staying with Host families and 16 people are now living in private rented properties.
- 40 Afghanistan nationals who are either on the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Visa scheme. 13 are here long term with housing allocated and 27 are here in temporary accommodation secured by the Home Office until longer term accommodation options are found.
- We are anticipating 28 unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in the borough under the National Transfer scheme.
- 2 Syrian families under the vulnerable persons resettlement scheme who are in long term accommodation.
Initial Welfare Support
Each adult refugee on these schemes is welcomed on arrival to Bracknell Forest by a Family Link worker from Early Help. The Link workers give them and their hosts guidance on how to set up life in the UK such as applying for bank accounts, universal credit, Biometric Residence Permits, NHS Healthcare checks and applying for school places. They also receive:
· A sim card
· A Three Month bus pass
· Welcome packs from our Voluntary and Community sector.
· Free 12 month Leisure pass.
Ongoing Welfare Support
The refugees on these schemes have check in conversations and visits with Early Help’s link workers at least once per month but increased frequencies for those with higher needs, they also have access to:
· Housing advice (including rematching to new hosts on Homes for Ukraine Scheme or advice on private rental properties). This includes support from a Moving On officer post to support families to access the private rental sector.
· Opportunities to learn and practice language through language cafes or volunteering through our Voluntary and Community Sector.
· Careers advice and support with applying for jobs.
· Access to mental health services
· Support for our schools such as English as an Additional Language (EAL) provision.
· Community activities (Such as through the Vzi Razom Community hub in Princess Square).
· We also have fortnightly communications updates to guest and hosts with the latest news and updates.
· Link workers are also very responsive and actively look for any safeguarding concerns amongst the refugees during their work to ensure safety of our Refugees and Asylum seekers.
Indirect Support
We are also indirectly supporting refugees on the following schemes with community engagement and signposting of support. We are not in direct contact with arrivals under these visa schemes unless they contact us, as we are not given data or contact details for them.
- Ukraine Family Visa Scheme
- Ukraine Visa extension scheme
- Hong Kong British Nationals Overseas Visa scheme
Homeless Registrations and Support
From these schemes we are aware of the following being registered as homeless:
|
Homelessness application accepted |
25 |
|
Housing prevention or relief duty accepted |
18 |
|
Number of families in Temporary Accommodation |
6 |
These individuals currently receive statutory homelessness support where they are entitled under the terms of their visa. This support involves:
· Offer of advice on housing options available
· Where assessed as having a reason to believe they are Homeless, Eligible and in Priority Need they will be provided with emergency housing,
· Supported to find longer-term housing or help where appropriate to stay/return to their home or host
· Registered with Homefinder and Help 2 Rent – private sector options in and out of area
· Registered on the Housing Register – social housing in area
· Personal Housing Plan to support them self-resolve their homeless situation
· Allocated a Tenancy Sustainment Officer if support is required to maintain their Temporary Accommodation
Councillor McLean asked the following question 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 Harrison responded by explaining that from the 4th May 2023, voters would need to show photo ID at polling stations. The Electoral Commission had launched a public awareness campaign. Their website set out all of the information regarding voter ID, including what ID is acceptable and what to do if someone does not have an acceptable photo ID.
The document must be the original – it cannot be a photocopy. Out of date photo ID could be used as long as it looks like the person it is supposed to be and the document showed the correct name.
The Electoral Services team was receiving training in the administration of the process and that was to cover whether local ID documents such as the Council’s E+ card will be acceptable in time for the launch of the Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) portal.
The Council was supporting the national campaign with its own communications plan which was going to provide information regarding the requirement for photo ID through all available channels between the end of January and election day.
Residents without an accepted photo ID could apply for a free VAC through the gov.uk website. Applications for the 4th May 2023 election could be made from late January until 5pm on 25th April 2023. There was an option to complete a paper application form for those who could not do so online. You must be registered to vote before you can obtain a VAC.
The Bracknell Forest Website was to provide links to the VAC portal once it had become available.
Councillor Brown had submitted a question similar to that submitted by Councillor McLean. She noted that the previous answer given by Councillor Harrison sufficiently answered her question but asked that the Executive Member make it clear whether the E+ card would be accepted when that information was available. Councillor Harrison confirmed he would let members know once the document had been verified properly.