Agenda item

On a motion from Councillor Lesley Mansell, seconded by Councillor Robin Moss, it was unanimously

RESOLVED that

1.  Council notes:

·  the campaign initiated by Unite the Union called: ‘Get me home safely’ to ensure safe home transport is widely available for night time economy and shift workers who often struggle to find and pay for transport home after midnight.

·  the campaign’s call on employers to take all reasonable steps to ensure workers are able to get home safely from work at night

·  that shift work is widespread in many industries, particularly hospitality, as well as health and care workers, retail, cleaning, security and porter staff, and can often entail late-night working;

·  and that many workers, especially women, are increasingly worried about their safety when travelling to and from work at night;

·  only 2% of victims report sexual harassment on public transport.

·  the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is the is the regional transport authority responsible for planning bus services, in cooperation with local bus operators.

2.   Council believes that:

·  while employers may feel their duty of care to staff ends when an employee finishes a shift, they should take into consideration journeys home, especially during unsocial hours;

·  the weakness of enforcement of the law against sexual assault, including up-skirting, on public transport is appalling, and

·  greater numbers of trained staff and stronger enforcement of the law against sexual assault and harassment on public transport are urgently needed;

·  Such a move would significantly benefit the safety and wellbeing of hospitality workers, particularly women, who often cannot afford, or access, safe transport options late at night and will also benefit our community. 

3.  Council therefore resolves to: 

1.  work through business and partnership forums to highlight safe travel home concerns and to encourage sharing of best practice, and call on the Licensing Committee to review opportunities to use appropriate licensing processes to include additional criteria when considering late opening applications from licensed premises, such as encouraging venues to provide free transport home for night shift employees;

2.  campaign for & encourage improvements to late night and off-peak transport service provision, as well the lowering of fares;

3.  oppose any cuts to public transport funding and for our elected officials to use their powers and political platforms to achieve this;

4.  reiterate its call for the WECA Mayor to develop a co-ordinated, long-term approach to public transport in our area, through bus franchising or equivalent, and to call on the Mayor to make better use of Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding in order to secure lower prices and improve service provision, including safety provision, especially for rural, night-time and off-peak services;

5.  call on our local MPs to make representation to the Government and other appropriate authorities at regional and local levels of governance to bring forward national minimum standards for taxis and private hire as per the recommendations of the Department of Transport independent Taxi & Licencing group, Unite’s Get Me Home Safely campaign, in support of this motion and its demands on behalf of our local community.

[Notes;

1.  The above successful resolution incorporates the underlined wording proposed by Councillor Manda Rigby and accepted into the substantive motion by the mover and seconder.]