27 09 2004

 

Apologies for inability to attend the meeting were received from Councillors Bone, Edgar, Jacobs, Kimber and Train.

 

 

There were no declarations of interest.

 

 

The Chairman stated that although there was no provision in the Council’s Constitution for deputations, he had received requests from two members of the public to speak at the meeting. 

 

Prior to consideration of the Agenda items, the Committee agreed to hear views from Mr Bowles and Miss Agar on the Introduction of Car Parking charges.

 

Mr John Bowles addressed the Committee and made the following points:

 

§                                 that he ran a business in the Town Centre;

§                                 that he had no objections to car parking charges per se;

§                                 he urged the Council to be asked to review the overall charges and the financial implications on Council Tax, the Town traders, residents and visitors;

§                                 there were major concerns about the “out of towners” who arrived early, parked all day, travelled to Portsmouth and contributed nothing to the economy of the town.

 

He submitted the following proposals for car parking charges: i.e.

 

§                                                   Residents be asked to pay £35 per annum;

§                                                   Non-residents working in the town - £200 per annum;

§                                                   Non residents – long stay - £1000 per annum;

§                                                   Short stay car park to remain free for up to two hours;

§                                                   Residents should be invited to apply for permits.

 

Mr Bowles was thanked for providing the Committee with the information tendered to the  Policy and Organisation Board on 21 September 2004.

 

Miss Agar then addressed the Committee and made the following points:-

 

§         She was speaking as a resident and as a shop worker in the Town Centre;

§         She could not afford to pay for a permit for parking at the proposed charges;

§         She was in agreement with the suggestions offered by the previous speaker;

§         Lower paid employees may not be able to obtain a pay rise to compensate for having to pay for car parking;

§         Standard of living would be affected;

§         Alternative means of transport, especially buses, were not a viable option;

§         She objected to having charges imposed on her in order to maintain her present job.

 

Miss Agar was thanked for expressing her views.

 

 

 

The Committee considered the following request for scrutiny:

 

“Car Parking charges, Policy and Organisation Board meeting – 21 September 2004 and Chairman’s Decision List.”

 

In accordance with Standing Order 5.4.2, three Members had submitted a request for the above issue to be scrutinised and, in particular, the reasons to differentiate between different parts/areas of the Borough for charging.  Councillor Wright addressed the Committee.

 

Councillor Wright referred to the previous report that had been considered by the Policy and Organisation Board in respect of car parking charges and expressed concern that there had been no opportunity for the matter to be scrutinised before a decision was taken to introduce the charges.

 

Initially, there had been assurance that there would be no discounts and now it had been decided that reduced charges would be available for those residents living in the town centres of Gosport and Lee-on-the-Solent.  Councillor Wright questioned the need to differentiate between different parts of the Borough. 

 

Councillor Wright also alluded to a report being considered by the Joint Staff and Employers Committee on 29 September, which proposed that there should be discounts for certain categories of staff.  He also questioned as to how the charges had been calculated, as there did not seem to be value for money. 

 

Councillor Wright expressed the view that the issue regarding the introduction of car parking charges should be fully scrutinised before implementation.

 

Following discussion and decision under Minute no. 24, it was agreed that the request for scrutiny already formed part of the scrutiny to be undertaken by full Council.

 

 

The Chairman proposed that the Committee agrees to refer to full Council for them to carry out a review and scrutiny of the decisions of the Policy and Organisation Board of 25 July 2004 – ‘Introduction of Car Parking Charges’ and 21 September 2004 – ‘Introduction of Car Parking Charges – consideration of objections’ and for full Council to decide whether or not to ask the Policy and Organisation Board to reconsider their decisions.

 

Before considering the Chairman’s proposal, a full debate ensued in respect of the introduction of car parking charges, including the implications of charging, the work undertaken by the Scrutiny Working Group and the options available, under legislation, to review or scrutinise the decisions taken by the Policy and Organisation Board but not yet implemented.

 

A summary of the areas discussed follows:

 

§         some Members felt that it was difficult to assess the affect of the charges before implementation;

§         Members emphasised the need to maximise the Council’s income stream;

§         an in-depth survey and feasibility study on potential effects for traders, residents, visitors, people living outside the Borough, staff, etc, should have been undertaken before decisions and implementation;

§         data should be collected on current and potential use of car parks;

§         traffic impact assessment should be carried out;

§         financial effect on Council Tax should be fully assessed;

§         discrimination for residents and staff should be addressed;

§         review of Chief Officers/Councillors car park at the Town Hall.

 

With Members agreement, Mrs P Cook, Branch Chairman of Unison, was permitted to address the Committee.

 

Mrs Cook informed the Committee that there were approximately 400 members of staff employed at the Council; 297 of which were Union members.  She explained that there were Local Agreements with the Council as an Employer in place and, as a result, there were contractual issues for “essential” and “casual” car users.  At present there were 69 employees classed as “essential” and 72 as “casual”.  Mrs Cook further pointed out that discounted car parking charges for some staff could prove to be derisive.  Members acknowledged that the Council was probably the largest employer in the Borough and had a duty to both their staff and the electorate and they would need to be able to justify free parking. 

 

Mrs Cook was thanked for showing her concerns for Union staff members.

 

The Borough Solicitor had tabled a briefing note for Members explaining the powers of Overview and Scrutiny Committees, as related to statute, together with an outline of the options open to the Committee as follows:

 

1.

Agree the proposal, which meant that full Council would review and scrutinise the decisions and decide whether or not to ask Policy and Organisation Board to reconsider their decisions.  The Committee’s Working Group on Car Parking would no longer be involved;

 

2.

Decide not to ask full Council to undertake the review and scrutiny which meant the Committee would continue with their review and scrutinise of the decisions but at the end of the review and scrutiny their decision was whether or not to recommend to Policy and Organisation Board that they reconsider their decisions;

 

3.

Decide not to continue with the scrutiny, which meant that the decisions of Policy and Organisation Board could be implemented.  It would then be open to the Committee to decide to monitor the implementation of Car Parking charges.

 

Following further consideration and discussion, it was proposed by Councillor Philpott and seconded by Councillor Allen, that all existing scrutiny functions with regard to the introduction of car parking charges be closed and that the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee undertake a review and scrutiny of the scheme and report back within six months of its implementation.

 

Accordingly, the Motion was put to the vote and subsequently declared LOST.

 

The Committee then took a vote on the action proposed by the Chairman of the Committee, the outcome of which was that the recommendation was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee agrees to refer to full Council for them to carry out a review and scrutiny of the decisions of the Policy and Organisation

Board of 26 July 2004 – ‘Introduction of Car Parking Charges’ and 21 September 2004 – ‘Introduction of Car Parking Charges – consideration of objections’ and for full Council to decision whether or not to ask the Policy and Organisation Board to reconsider their decisions.

 

 

There was no other business to discuss.

 

 

The meeting closed at 7.50pm.