Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Gary Hughes; Cllr Jan Warwick attended in his place as Conservative Substitute. Apologies were also received from Cllr Floss Mitchell, Cllr Michael Thierry and Cllr Bill Withers. The second Conservative Substitute Cllr Fred Birkett had been invited but also gave apologies.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

In relation to Item 8 on the agenda (T19 Modernisation of the On-Street Parking Service):

Cllr Jan Warwick declared a personal interest that she was Cabinet Member for a relevant portfolio at Winchester City Council, and therefore planned to leave the room while the item was discussed.

Cllr Graham Burgess declared a personal interest that he was a Member of Gosport Borough Council.

Cllr Michael White declared a personal interest that he was a Member of New Forest District Council.

Cllr Martin Tod declared a personal interest that he was a Member of Winchester City Council, and had a parking permit.

Cllr Rupert Kyrle declared a personal interest that he was Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport at Eastleigh Borough Council.

Cllr Stephen Philpott declared a personal interest that he was a Member of Gosport Borough Council. 

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Select Committee received four deputations regarding Item 10 on the agenda (Cycling Strategy Update) from:

·         Andrew McGill

·         Tim Pickering

·         Andy Key (on behalf of Cycle Winchester)

·         Paul Martin (on behalf of Cycle Gosport)

The deputees were critical of the impact of the Hampshire Cycling Strategy.

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman announced his intention to propose a working group on plastic waste and recycling, for further discussion under the work programme item.

To receive an update on the Cycling Strategy.

The Cycling Strategy Update was taken next, out of order compared to the published agenda for the meeting, to follow on from the deputations. The Select Committee received a report on behalf of the Director of Economy Transport & Environment, providing an update on the progress of the Hampshire County Council Cycling Strategy adopted in September 2015 (see Item 10 in the Minute Book).

Members heard that:

·         The County Council was interested in engaging with cycling groups, however sometimes there were opportunities to bid for funding for schemes with short timescales

·         The County Council was working on local strategies that would sit alongside the overall cycling strategy, for example the Winchester Movement Strategy, which would be out for consultation in November

·         Officers were willing to follow up with the deputees regarding examples they had identified where they had feedback about schemes that had been implemented

·         The County Council’s approach was to take a balanced view between the needs of cyclists and car drivers

·         Some funding for infrastructure projects was allocated via the Local Enterprise Partnerships

Members commented:

·         There was potential opportunity for a working group to look into the Cycling Strategy, given the feedback received from the deputations

·         Members were supportive of the County Council engaging with cycling groups on an ongoing basis

·         Policy prioritising cycling was needed at a national level

RESOLVED:

To retain the Cycling Strategy on the work programme for a further update in future, and to give consideration to setting up a Working Group or alternative method for Members to further discuss this topic.

To pre-scrutinise a report regarding proposals to make savings in passenger transport, prior to decision of the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in the afternoon.

The Select Committee received a report and supporting presentation on behalf of the Director of Economy Transport & Environment, regarding proposals to make savings in passenger transport (see Item 6 in the Minute Book). The report was due to be considered by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport at his decision day later that day.

Members heard that:

·         These proposals did not impact on home to school transport or social care transport

·         Savings were required from the passenger transport budget, and options had been considered to achieve this and consulted on

·         Consultation responses indicated a preference to maintain services on current days of the week and offer less journeys per day

·         Of 80 supported services 48 would need to be revised if these proposals were approved

·         In some cases, the operator was able to continue the service without the subsidy or with reduced funding

·         The biggest changes affected around 80 residents who were regular passengers on those services

·         It was proposed to cease providing funding to ferry services, and support bus services in those areas instead

Members commented:

·         Some Members indicated they were unable to support the proposals without the opportunity to understand the detail behind each service change

·         Other Members commented that the consultation had been good, with events held that provided detail on local impacts, and that the proposals offered the best way to make the required savings

·         A Member queried the level of detail in the impact assessment, including the potential impact on ambitions to encourage bus use instead of car use for environmental reasons

The Chairman proposed the recommendation as per the cover report, which was carried with eight in favour and three against:

RECOMMENDED:

The Economy, Transport & Environment Select Committee support the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in section 1 of the Passenger Transport Review 2018 report.

To pre-scrutinise a report regarding proposed savings from street lighting, prior to decision by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in the afternoon.

The Select Committee received a report and supporting presentation on behalf of the Director of Economy Transport & Environment, regarding proposals to make savings from street lighting (see Item 7 in the Minute Book). The report was due to be considered by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport at his decision day later that day.

Members heard that:

·         It was proposed to reduce street lighting between 1am and 4am in residential areas, and therefore town centres and major roads would not be affected

·         The lighting system in place enabled discreet areas to be switched on or off. Therefore, if following implementation of the proposals there were concerns about particular areas, the lighting times could be adapted, based on evidence of need. 

Members commented:

·         Some villages didn’t want street lights due to the light pollution, and there was no evidence that this impacted on accident rates in those areas

·         Street lighting had been reduced already, and there hadn’t been complaints on that occasion, so it seemed a logical area to seek to make savings with minimal impact on the public

·         A Member was concerned about the impact on students walking home at night

RECOMMENDED:

The Economy, Transport and Environment Select Committee support the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in section 1 of the Street Lighting T19 Savings report.

To pre-scrutinise a report regarding the on-street parking service, prior to decision by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in the afternoon.

The Select Committee received a report and supporting presentation on behalf of the Director of Economy Transport & Environment, regarding the on-street parking service (see Item 8 in the Minute Book). The report was due to be considered by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport at his decision day later that day.

Cllr Jan Warwick left the room for this item, as per her declaration of a personal interest in relation to this item. Other Members present remained in the meeting for this item.

Members heard that:

·         The Executive Member had previously approved to terminate the existing parking enforcement arrangements with the district/borough/city councils, which would mean this responsibility would return to the County Council from April 2020. This established the principle of managing on street parking at County level. The County Council, as highway authority, was ultimately responsible for on-street parking

·         This report proposed that when the county undertakes this service it would do so on a full cost recovery basis, and also to establish the principle of introducing pilot on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging bays

·         At present costs for on-street parking and levels of enforcement were variable across Hampshire

·         The County Council would work with those districts/boroughs/cities that wished to continue to deliver the service, or would take this on if they chose not to. In such cases the County Council was likely to outsource provision of the service as it did not have the capacity in house.

Members commented:

·         A Member from Winchester noted that in Winchester on-street parking demand was managed by requiring new developments to provide off street parking. Officers indicated that such arrangements could be accommodated in new agreements negotiated with districts that were interested in continuing to deliver the on-street parking service themselves.

·         Some Members expressed concern that operating the scheme at county level reduced the opportunity for local priorities, for example to allow free parking in town centres to support the local economy

·         If the fee for on-street parking permits was due to increase, care needed to be taken in how this was implemented to reduce the impact

·         Demand for controlled parking zones changed over time, as parking patterns change as new zones are implemented. Officers acknowledged this and indicated they would work closely with district colleagues with local knowledge on such issues.

The Chairman proposed the recommendation as in the cover report, which was carried with seven in favour and three against.

RECOMMENDED:

The Economy, Transport and Environment Select Committee support the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Environment and Transport as set out in the T19 Modernisation of the On-Street Parking Service report.

To pre-scrutinise a report regarding school crossing patrol policy, prior to a decision of the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in the afternoon.

The Select Committee received a report on behalf of the Director of Economy Transport & Environment, regarding school crossing patrol policy (see Item 9 in the Minute Book). The report was due to be considered by the Executive Member for Environment and Transport at his decision day later that day.

Members heard that:

·         In order to stop traffic, school crossing patrol officers need to be empowered to do so by the County Council as highway authority. The county therefore preferred to employ such officers rather than make it a volunteer position

·         The criteria for providing school crossing patrols had not changed, and was based on number of vehicle movements

·         The report was intended to consolidate and clarify existing policy

Members commented:

·         That it was good to see flexibility being built in to allow for a range of ways to fund school crossing patrols

RECOMMENDED:

The Economy, Transport and Environment Select Committee support the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Environment and Transport in section 1 of the Consolidation and Review of School Crossing Patrol Policy report.

To receive an update from the Director of the Economy Transport & Environment Department.

The Chairman invited the Director of the Economy Transport & Environment Department to provide an update, as an opportunity to update the Select Committee on developments outside of those items specifically on the agenda.

It was reported that national budget announcements were due shortly that were expected to include announcements affecting transport, waste and recycling. Further detail would be passed on when available.  

To consider the work programme of topics to be considered by this Select Committee in future.

The Chairman presented the future work programme for the Select Committee (see Item 12 in the Minute Book). The Chairman suggested that the Committee give consideration to establishing a Working Group to look in to plastic waste and recycling, as this was currently a topical issue. Cllr Warwick reported that she was Vice Chair on Project Integra the Waste Partnership in Hampshire, which had initiated a working group looking at recycling.

Cllr Kyrle requested an item for the work programme on the economy, as this was part of the Select Committee’s remit that had not been considered for a while. It was requested this cover consideration of the impact of Brexit.

Cllr Bennison requested a further report back on the Cycling Strategy be added to the work programme, and consideration be given to establishing a Working Group on cycling.

Cllr Tod commented that he would like to see a date for the update on the Walking Strategy that was in the work programme.

Cllr Philpott suggested inviting the bus companies that operate in Hampshire to a meeting, to hear their perspective and share the Member perspective with them.

Cllr Mellor suggested an update for Members on developments regarding electric vehicles would be useful.

RESOLVED:

The Work Programme was agreed, subject to any updates arising from items considered at this meeting.

The Chairman would consider the requests made by Members, and update the work programme for the next meeting. This would include inviting volunteers to take part in a Working Group on plastic waste and recycling, and a Working Group on cycling, to gauge interest and inform the best way forward on these issues.