Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Guildhall, Bath. View directions

Contact: Michaela Gay  01225 394411

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

2.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6.

 

Minutes:

The Chairman drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

 

3.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Minutes:

Councillor Alan Hale gave his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Paul May.

 

Councillor Ian Gilchrist gave his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Richard Samuel.

 

Councillor Martin Veal, Cabinet Member for Community Services gave his apologies.

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

There were none.

5.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor John Bull made two announcements:

 

1.  That item 10 ‘20mph Zones – Review’ would be deferred until the 17th July 2017 meeting of the Panel on the advice on the Monitoring officer due to the pre-election period restrictions (Purdah); and

2.  At a previous meeting there was some discussion around Bath Transport Police and their presence in Bath, the Chair confirmed that their Bath office is not closing.

 

 

6.

ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC OR COUNCILLORS - TO RECEIVE DEPUTATIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS OR QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE BUSINESS OF THIS MEETING

At the time of publication no notifications had been received.

 

Minutes:

David Redgewell made a statement calling for improvements and maintenance at Bath bus station. He also mentioned that there were disability access issues at Keynsham and Ashton Way. Martin Shields, Divisional Director Environmental Services confirmed that emergency work will be undertaken to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. Councillor Butters mentioned that the possibility of a working group was mentioned at a Council meeting to look at the bus station issue.

 

Councillor Lin Patterson made a statement regarding the 6-7 bus route, she stated that that there is still a lack of connection with London Road, Fairfield Park and Larkhall and felt the decision should have been a key decision and been consulted upon. She informed the Panel that the Council debate triggered by a petition on this issue has been deferred due to the purdah periods for the recent elections. She asked what input the Council’s transport department has had in planning, transport and parking under the devolved authority and what future plans are in place to ensure these local issues are addressed. Councillor Samuel asked if she felt the decision making was incorrect, Councillor Patterson replied that that is what she seems to be finding. The Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Clarke stated that he had every sympathy that the issue had not yet been discussed at Council due to the extensive purdah period. He added that the Bus Act and the Combined Authority are coming into being which will affect bus services. Andy Strong, Team Manager Public Transport added the responsibility will be the Combined Authority and this authority but the bus network will remain commercial.

7.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Minutes for approval from the following meetings:

 

23rd February 2017 (Call in meeting)

 

13th March 2017 (Ordinary meeting)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meetings as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chairman:

 

·  23rd February 2017

·  13th March 2017

8.

Parish Charter pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Paul Myers Cabinet Member for Policy, Localism and Partnerships and Rosemary Nash, BANES ALCA Group, gave a presentation to the Panel which covered the following:

 

·  Background

·  51 Parish town and village councils

·  Aim

·  The review

·  Shared and common issues

·  Draft revised Charter

·  Our Core Commitments

·  Joint Principles for the devolution of services to parish and town councils

·  Making it Happen

·  Parish Charter Toolkit

·  Next Steps

 

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

 

Councillor May congratulated the Council and ALCA for the work on this document which is a positive step forward for both. He asked how the Charter would work if some Parish Council’s do not sign up to it. Councillor Myers explained that the Charter is a facility and basis for partnership which people can sign up to if they wish. Rosemary Nash added that there is bound to be some things that some parishes may not wish to sign up to but there is likely to be general sign up.

 

Councillor May asked if this system could be used instead of the many forums. Councillor Myers explained that there is a difference in the work done by Parish Councils and Forums.

 

Councillor Butters stated that Parish clusters could be revisited as some forums are not working as well as the clusters.

 

Councillor Samuel stated that he would welcome the principles in the Charter applied in his ward (Walcot) as he would like to know about things in the pipeline in his ward and be more informed. Councillor Myers referred to the Bath City Forum and added that the spirit of the Charter could be taken on. Councillor Bull suggested that a Charter for ward Councillors may be a separate piece of work.

 

Andy Thomas, Strategic Manager Communities, Strategy and Performance explained that the working group pulled together many existing commitments and working area service standards. He also stated that there are some differences between Parish Councils and Ward Councillors but the partnership approach of the Parish Charter has resonated. Regarding the comment about clustering of Parishes, he explained that these could be supported to achieve economies of scale and joint working whilst maintaining localness. He concluded that he would investigate whether some service standards in the Parish Charter can be used more widely.

 

Councillor Goodman (Bath City Forum Chair) explained that he is trying to expand the Forum. He explained that it is intended to make the forum Bath centric

 

Councillor Myers explained that because of the two systems (parish and non parish areas) it is hard to know what it is like to be in the other situation – he stated that Bath Councillors may have more access to officers but no access to resources as they do not raise a precept.

 

Councillor Butters stated that he has had some problems with a highways scheme where the Parish Council were not informed. The Divisional Director explained that he has talked to highways officers about what does and doesn’t work, budgets are under  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Terms of Reference - Scrutiny Inquiry Day on Community Safety pdf icon PDF 82 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Donna Vercoe, Senior Scrutiny Officer introduced the report on the Terms of Reference for the Community Safety Scrutiny Inquiry Day. Councillor Bull explained that it was a good time to have a thorough enquiry into Community Safety particularly due to the changes in funding arrangements. He noted that the session would be invite only.

 

The Panel approved the Terms of Reference.

10.

20mph Zones - Review pdf icon PDF 283 KB

Minutes:

Following advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer, this item was deferred to the next meeting of the Panel on 17th July 2017.

11.

Cabinet Member update

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Clarke updated the Panel on the following issues which would be progressed after the purdah period:

 

·  Parking Review

·  Transport delivery plan/getting around Bath strategy

·  Comprehensive plan to reduce pollution (High Court decision)

·  Combined authority – the new Mayor has signed up to the Spatial Plan and Transport Plan and the first tranche of money has arrived.

·  Officers decision on the East of Bath Park and Ride.

 

Councillor Butters asked about the working group regarding the bus station which was suggested at Council. Councillor Clarke stated that nothing has been planned yet (the meeting was on 18th May).

 

 

12.

Panel Workplan pdf icon PDF 108 KB

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting senior officers.

Minutes:

Councillor Bull explained that, as agendas for this Panel were getting too long, some updates will be send to Panel members via email. The following items were discussed:

 

·  Metro West – report to be sent to Panel members after the purdah period

·  Bus Bill – has been circulated

 

·  Councillor Butters asked that an item on BTP be included on the workplan.

 

·  Trams

 

·  Councillor Samuel explained that the deadline for consultation on the Clean Air Paper is 31st July so it would be good to have an item on this at the July meeting. Councillor Bull stated that the DEFRA paper should be circulated and the item put on the agenda if the Panel can add value.

 

·  Taxi’s – July or September 2017 (this issues crosses two portfolios and would need to involve Licensing)