Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Councillor Kevin Guy, welcomed everyone to the meeting and made the following statement:

“This meeting is being held as part of the contingency arrangements put in place, recognising the need to remain cautious. For this reason, there is only a quorum of Cabinet Members in the Chamber this meeting. A virtual ‘informal’ meeting of the full Cabinet took place last night to inform voting at this meeting. That meeting is available to view on the Council’s YouTube channel.”

The Democratic Services Officer read the Emergency Evacuation Procedure.

There were no apologies for absence.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

The Chair made the following statement: “I am giving notice that I intend to call a special meeting of Cabinet (rule 4D, 7) in late January to agree the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement before it is submitted by WECA to the Department for Transport.  In so doing, I am also using rule 4D, 20 to suspend the necessary rules so that no public or councillor questions are permitted at this meeting, and only statements on the agenda item.  This is to enable a focussed debate on the issue, and the usual public and councillor opportunities to engage with Cabinet will operate at the next scheduled meeting in February.  Please can I have a seconder for this proposal and then ask Cabinet to indicate their support.”. Councillor Sarah Warren seconded the proposal.

RESOLVED that rule 4D, 20 be used as outlined above regarding the January 2022 meeting of the Cabinet.

It was noted that Councillor Alison Born made a statement at the virtual meeting on 15^th December 2021 regarding the sale of Virgin Care to the Private Capital company Twenty20 Capital. A copy will be in the minutes of that meeting.

Councillors and members of the public may register their intention to make a statement if they notify the subject matter of their statement before the deadline.  Statements are limited to 3 minutes each.  The speaker may then be asked by Cabinet members to answer factual questions arising out of their statement.

The Chair explained that members of the public and Councillors who wished to make a statement did so at the virtual meeting on 15^th December 2021. Their statements, where provided, are attached to the minutes of the meeting.

Questions submitted before the deadline will receive a reply from an appropriate Cabinet member or a promise to respond within 5 days of the meeting.  Councillors may ask one supplementary question for each question they submitted, up to a maximum of two per Councillor.

The Chair stated that the Question and Answer sheet (with any supplementary questions) will be published with the minutes of the 15^th December 2021 meeting of the Cabinet.

The Cabinet is asked to approve  the minutes of the virtual meeting held on Wednesday 10th November 2021 and the physical meeting on Thursday 11^th November 2021 as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on Wednesday 10^th November 2021 and Thursday 11^th November 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

This is a standard agenda item, to cover any reports originally placed on the Weekly list for single Member decision making, which have subsequently been the subject of a Cabinet Member requisition to the full Cabinet, under the Council’s procedural rules

This is a standing agenda item (Constitution rule 14, part 4D – Executive Procedure Rules) for matters referred by Policy Development and Scrutiny bodies.  The Chair of the relevant PDS Panel will have the right to attend and to introduce the Panel’s recommendations to Cabinet.

There were none.

A list of Cabinet Single Member decisions taken and published since the last Cabinet meeting to note (no debate).

The Cabinet agreed to note the report.

To achieve compliance with Ministerial Directions, on 15 March 2021 a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was launched in Bath, the first charging CAZ outside of London.

Whilst many of the monitoring measures, including air quality, are ordinarily reported on an annual basis, this report is the second in a series which provides an indicative view of the performance of the Clean Air Zone in Bath from July-September 2021.

On a motion from Councillor Sarah Warren, seconded by Councillor Tom Davies, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1.1  Note the performance report and the ongoing progress which has been made towards improving air quality and associated public health outcomes, together with the ongoing increasing proportion of compliant vehicles entering the CAZ and achieving success with the Ministerial Direction.

1.2  Note the continued performance of the scheme against the scheme’s financial model, ensuring it covers its costs of operation and avoids placing an additional burden on the Council and local taxpayers.

1.3  Note that after assessing over 2,500 applicants who applied to the financial assistance scheme and finding 1,495 vehicles eligible for replacement or retrofit treatment, the current round of funding for the financial assistance scheme will be concluding. However, a waiting list is being held, should further funding become available.

1.4  Note the success achieved at key hotspot monitoring locations in reducing nitrogen dioxide levels e.g. Gay Street, acknowledge the risk that more intervention may be required at some locations, e.g. Wells Road and note the work that Officers have already been doing in anticipation of this outcome.

1.5  Request an options appraisal for making further improvements to air quality in the city, as part of our next published report about the Clean Air Zone.

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This report provides a progress update on actions requested of officers at the September 2021 meeting of the Cabinet and some proposed recommendations.

On a motion from Councillor Manda Rigby, seconded by Councillor Richard Samuel, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1.  Note that in the absence of a solution to restrict HGV movements over the bridge which has been agreed with the haulage trade associations, neighbouring authorities, National Highways and the Secretary of State, all unilateral options carry high degrees of risk of a PRN appeal and/or a legal challenge.

2.  In light of the resolution made at the 9 September Cabinet Meeting (E3303) to adopt recommendation 2.1 in the corresponding Officer report, recognise the need to maintain good working relationships with the Council’s neighbouring authorities and National Highways so as not to undermine the investment being made into a wider, strategic study into north-south connectivity between the M4 and the Dorset Coast with an aim of making the A350 the strategic route and thereby limiting HGV use of Cleveland Bridge as part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy 2 (2020-25).

3.  Consider strengthening the Council’s transport policies to: protect the amenity of the Bath World Heritage Site setting, continue to improve air quality standards, reduce vehicular demand on road space, and respond to the climate and ecological emergencies already declared by the Council. This could include, if necessary, the introduction of further restrictions and/or increased charges on vehicles entering Bath. In line with the legislation, note that any net revenues generated from any proposed charging scheme would be applied to facilitate the achievement of these policies.

4.  Consider early engagement with the haulage trade associations, neighbouring authorities, National Highways and the Secretary of State with a view to exploring a variation to the Bath Clean Air Zone Charging Order 2021 so that all Euro VI diesel powered vehicles with weight exceeding 12 tonnes[1] become chargeable under the scheme, for the benefit of air quality and the amenity of the CAZ area (including the Grade II* Cleveland Bridge) and the wider Bath World Heritage Site setting. As part of this and with a view to protecting local SMEs and their supply chains that may have recently invested in Euro VI diesel vehicles, explore the option of also introducing a time-limited exemption to complement the existing exemptions for hybrid, electric and alternatively fuelled vehicles. Subject to undertaking further feasibility work and being able to develop and implement a workable scheme, this would have the net effect of disincentivising all diesel-powered HGVs weighing over 12 tonnes from using the CAZ area as a through route.

5.  Noting the high risk of appeal and/or legal challenge, and the resource implications highlighted in the report below, do not proceed with the TRO option at this time.

The BBSC (Bristol to Bath Strategic Corridor) seeks to improve travel between Bath and Bristol through better bus services, improvements to bus infrastructure, and develop facilities to enable more cycling and walking services and along the A4 route, as well as to the A4 route from neighbouring communities.

We want to provide better and more sustainable transport to help people move around more easily, reduce congestion, lower carbon emissions and improve the environment we live in.

The Strategic Outline Case (SOC) establishes the potential scope of the transport proposal. This sets out the rationale for intervention (the case for change) and confirms how the investment will further our priorities and wider government ambitions (the strategic fit) to determine the ‘preferred way forward’.

On a motion from Councillor Sarah Warren, seconded by Councillor Manda Rigby, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1.  Note that WECA Joint Committee on 28^th January 2022 will be asked to delegate authority to approve the Strategic Outline Case to Chief Executives on 17^th February 2022 for progression to Outline Business Case.

2.  Note early public engagement will be carried out Spring/Summer 2022 if the Strategic Outline Case is approved.

This report is presented using the Council’s Integrated Reporting Framework (IRF). It updates Cabinet on the progress made against a key set of strategic performance measures which assess our progress on delivering the Corporate Strategy and key aspects of service delivery.

On a motion from Councillor Richard Samuel, seconded by Councillor Kevin Guy, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1.  Note progress on the delivery of key aspects of the Council’s service delivery, details of which are highlighted in section 3.7 and Annex 1.

2.  Indicate any other key service areas to be highlighted and included in the strategic indicator report.

3.  Agree to receive update reports on a quarterly basis