08 12 2004

 

Apologies for inability to attend the meeting were received on behalf of Councillors Bone, Edgar and Mrs Salter and the Borough Solicitor.

 

 

Councillor Dickson declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item no. 4(i) – ‘Concessionary Travel/Dial-a-Ride Working Group’.

 

 

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 July and the special meeting held on 27 September 2004 be approved and signed by the Chairman as true and correct records, subject to it being noted that at the latter meeting Councillor Chegwyn was present and that substitutions were as follows: Councillors Allen, Carr, Carter, Cully and Philpott replaced Councillor Edgar, Bone, Jacobs, Train and Kimber.

 

 

 

 

The Committee received the action plan and an update on the progress that had been made by the Working Group.

 

The Committee were reminded that at their meeting on 27 July 2004, it had been decided not to include issues relating to Dial-a-Ride with those of concessionary travel, as the remit would have been too wide; therefore, that element had been withdrawn from consideration.

 

The Working Group had met on 14 September to consider further information that had been provided by MCL Consultants but Members felt that the papers forwarded to them did not reflect the estimated calculations of the options requested.  MCL had now provided the required information and the estimated figures on various options, compared to the current scheme, were tabled at the meeting.

 

The Committee were informed that the Working Group were keen to offer ‘better than half fare’ concessionary travel.  Officers had pointed out the implications of offering a free bus pass scheme from the age of 60 years, which had the potential of increasing costs if more residents took their entitled bus pass and increased the number of journeys undertaken.  MCL based their charges to Hampshire local authorities on the total annual usage.  Whilst the Committee were generally in favour of a free bus pass to residents over 60 years of age, Members appreciated the potential implications for the budget.

 

 

The Committee discussed the high cost of the current scheme for the provision and allocation of tokens and acknowledged the problems of devising a scheme that would take account of the ‘need’ for tokens without means testing.   Officers considered that the administrative cost of means testing would result in being higher than any savings. Tokens gave flexibility inasmuch that they could be used on buses and taxis, anywhere in the country, and could also be used for travel on Gosport ferry.  Members felt that tokens should be available for use where there were no bus routes and for those people who were disabled or were unable to cope with bus travel.

 

Members acknowledged that it was logical to encourage the public to use buses but that could only be justified and promoted with any degree of confidence if there were adequate bus services available.

 

Members expressed the view that there should be consultation with the local bus operators and that a Working Group should be set up to explore the possibilities of providing additional bus services, alternative routes, subsidies and assessing passenger usage.  In answer to a Member’s question, it was reported that electronic card technology (i.e. introduction of Smartcard) was being explored by MCL although this facility was a longer-term initiative.

 

Following a full debate, the Committee considered the options that detailed (i)  the estimated cost of the current concessionary travel scheme, which included concession for disabled people, and (ii) the proposed option for the introduction of a free bus pass at age 60+ years and the disabled, with the choice of tokens at age 70 years.

RESOLVED: That

 

(a)  the progress of the Concessionary Travel Working Group be noted;

 

(b) the Policy and Organisation Board be recommended to consider the following options for the provision of concessionary travel:

 

(i)  that the Council maintains its current concessionary travel scheme policy by providing the statutory half fare bus pass, with the option of tokens, for residents at age 60 years and for those residents who are registered as disabled and that the scheme be reviewed following the outcome of consultation with bus operators;

 

(ii)  that the Council revises its concessionary travel scheme policy to provide free bus passes for residents at age 60 years and for those residents registered as disabled, with the option of receiving tokens instead at the age of 70 years;

 

(c)  a Working Group, comprising Councillors Kimber, Redrup and Mrs Salter,

be established to undertake consultation with the bus operators with a view to improving bus services.

 

 

At the special meeting on 27 September 2004, the Committee had resolved that scrutiny in respect of the introduction of car parking charges should be referred to full Council and for Council to determine whether or not the Policy and Organisation Board should be asked to reconsider their decisions.

 

At its meeting on 6 October 2004, Council resolved that the scrutiny process should be concluded forthwith and that the Policy and Organisation Board would not be asked to reconsider the decisions of 26 July and 21 September 2004.

 

The Borough Solicitor had confirmed the end of the review and scrutiny of the Policy and Organisation Board’s decisions and that the decisions taken could subsequently be implemented.

 

RESOLVED:  That the conclusion of scrutiny in respect of the introduction of car parking charges be noted.

 

 

The Head of Economic Regeneration advised the Committee of the statutory process being undertaken to produce a Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy 2005-2008 for Gosport.

 

The Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy was one of the policy framework documents that needed to be approved by full Council, following consideration by this Committee.

 

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 placed statutory obligations on all local authorities, the police and other agencies to work in partnership to prepare and implement a ‘Community Safety Strategy’.   The aim of the strategy was to create safer communities and, working with other partners, each local authority was expected to carry out the following action every three years:

 

 

The 2002 Police Reform Act amended the 1998 Act by bringing in local Fire and Rescue Services, Primary Care Trusts and Police Authorities as part of the relevant agencies group to develop crime and disorder strategies.  There was a further obligation to carry out an annual self-assessment to identify strengths and areas of improvement for partnership working.

 

The draft Gosport Crime and Disorder Audit carried out earlier in the year would now form the basis of a consultation exercise and, as this process was being undertaken, the draft Strategy was being prepared.

 

The Committee were requested to decide how they wished to undertake the overview and scrutiny of the Strategy.  Members indicated that they would be satisfied for the officers’ working group that had been formed to consider the Crime and Disorder Audit 2004 and develop actions that would contribute to the Strategy, ensuring that as far as possible crime and disorder issues would be integrated into the Council’s corporate priorities and service improvement plans.

 

Once it was available, the draft Strategy would be circulated to Members of the Committee, prior to their meeting on 10 February 2005.  If there were any major concerns about the draft strategy, it was suggested that the Chairman of the Committee be contacted.

 

RESOLVED:  That the process being undertaken to produce a Gosport Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy 2005-2008 be noted and that the draft strategy be considered at the meeting of the Committee on 10 February 2005.

 

 

It was reported that there had not been any written requests submitted for matters to be scrutinised.  However, some Members expressed concerns in relation to the introduction of car parking charges and the impact and effect that the charges might be having on traders and town centre residents in Gosport.

 

Members were informed that the Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board had indicated that the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be requested to consider the wider spectrum, implications and effect of the introduction of charges during the early part of next year.

 

It was noted that the next meeting of the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee was due to be held on 27 January 2005.  Nevertheless, it was suggested that the members of that Committee should be contacted as soon as possible to establish whether or not they wished to consider undertaking an urgent scrutiny investigation of the matter on a date some time before 27 January.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee be advised of the request to consider an investigation, as a matter of priority, of the effect of the Council’s policy of charging for car parking on traders and Town Centre residents and whether a special meeting of that Committee should be held before 27 January 2005.

 

 

The Committee reviewed and revised the work programme as follows:

 

1.

Council’s long-term Corporate Plan

Begin  Sept 2004

2.

Best Value Performance Plan

January – March 2005

3/4

Asset Management Strategy } Officer Working

**

3/4

Capital Strategy                     }         Group

**

6

Crime & Disorder Reduction Strategy

 – Officer Working Group

Draft Strategy to Committee 10 Feb 2005

6

Plans and strategies which together comprise the Development Plan

November 2004

7

Community Strategy 2003-2006

Begin July 2005

 

**  Financial Services Manager reported on the use of the Capital Strategy Proposal Form to date and would report further once the effectiveness of the  Form is known.

 

1.

Constitution Working Group

(including Overview and Scrutiny Handbook)

Meeting tba

2.

Concessionary Travel/Dial-a-Ride

Recommendation to Policy and Organisation Board – January 2005

3.

Asset Management/Capital Programme

Officer Working Group

4.

CPA (Public Toilets)

Meeting to be arranged

 

 

There was no other business to discuss.

 

 

 

The meeting commenced at 6.00pm and concluded at 7.15pm