Venue: Sparkenhoe Committee Room, County Hall, Glenfield
Contact: Mr. S. J. Weston (Tel: 0116 305 6226) Email: sam.weston@leics.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2012 were taken as read, confirmed and signed. |
|
Question Time. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35. |
|
Questions asked by Members. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5). |
|
Urgent Items. Minutes: There were no urgent items for consideration. |
|
Declarations of Interest. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. Mr. R. J. Shepherd CC declared a personal interest in
respect of Item 8 entitled ‘Consultation on Home to School Transport Policies
on: (a) Faith School Transport, (b) 16+ School Transport and (c) Increased
Farepaying Charges and Withdrawing "Change of Address" Eligibility’ as
a School Governor. Mr. L.
Spence CC declared a personal interest that might lead to bias in respect of
Item 8 as he had children who accessed transport to a faith school. The following members each declared a personal interest in respect of the Item 9 entitled ‘Proposed Withdrawal of Discretionary Elements of the Concessionary Travel Scheme - Outcome of Consultation’ as holders of concessionary bus passes: Dr. R. K. A. Feltham CC Mr. M. J. Hunt CC Mr. P. G. Lewis CC Mr. K. W. P. Lynch CC |
|
Declarations of the Party Whip. Minutes: There were no declarations of the party whip. |
|
Presentation of Petitions. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 36. |
|
The
Cabinet Lead Member for Transportation, Mr. P. C. Osborne CC, has been invited
for this item. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Commission
considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport concerning the
outcome of the public consultation into proposals to change some elements of
the Mainstream Home to School Transport policy. A copy of the report, marked
‘Item 8’ is filed with these minutes. Following
circulation of the Commission agenda, a report of the Director of Environment
and Transport to the Cabinet meeting on 9 July outlining the proposals arising
from the consultation had been circulated to the Commission. In considering the
matter, the Commission had regard to a further supplementary Cabinet report,
which reported the complete findings of the consultation exercise which closed
on 30 June. A copy of both supplementary reports is filed with these minutes. The
Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Lead Member for Highways and Transport, Mr. P. C.
Osborne CC, to the meeting who was present to introduce the report and respond
to questions. As part of the
introduction to the item, it was reported that the proposals were part of the
agreed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) in 2012/15. The Council currently
spent £8.5m on mainstream home to school transport. A saving of £1.1m had been
identified from discretionary elements provided in the Home to School Transport
policy.. Arising from
questioning by the Commission on the timing of the consultation and the way in
which it had been conducted, the following points were noted: ·
Concern
was expressed that the consultation on Home to School Transport should have
been part of the planned consultation on the MTFS. In response, members were
advised that the Home to School Transport proposals were part of a previous
MTFS and there was a need to agree changes now in order that parents and pupils
were aware of the new policy ahead of making choices for entry in September
2014; ·
The
response rate, although disappointing, was still nearly 12% of those affected.
The majority of responses were in relation to faith schools. The consultation
was genuine in that the Cabinet would look carefully at the responses and
comments made, particularly if issues or concerns that had not been previously
identified were raised; ·
The
suggestion that the review be done in two stages: introduce the proposed
changes for 2014, but defer consideration of the proposed changes from 2015
onwards, would create an uncertainty, both in terms of parents and pupils
making informed choices and in terms of financial planning. The Commission then debated each element of the report, as outlined
below: (a) Faith
School Transport: £350,000 (affecting 900 denominational pupils) The Commission, in considering
this matter, had regard to the written submission of Father Colin Patey of the St Wilfrid of York Catholic Church, Coalville, which
briefly outlined the objection of the Catholic Church community to the
Council’s proposed removal of subsidy for denominational transport. A copy of
the comments is filed with these minutes. ·
September
2013: £252 contribution for transport capped at £504 maximum contribution per
family ·
September
2014: £450 contribution for transport – no maximum cap ·
September
2015 onwards: £640 full cost recovery for transport. No new transport agreed
for new applicants and existing transport phased out over the following 4
years. It was confirmed that, as part of the new proposals (from September 2014), the present cap of £480 per family would be removed and full cost ... view the full minutes text for item 21. |
|
The
Cabinet Lead Member for Transportation, Mr. P. C. Osborne CC, has been invited
for this item. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Commission considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport concerning the outcome of the public consultation into proposals to withdraw the discretionary elements of the Concessionary Travel Scheme. A copy of the report, marked ‘Item 9’ is filed with these minutes. Following circulation of the Commission agenda, a supplementary report of the Director of Environment and Transport to the Cabinet meeting on 9 July outlining the proposals arising from the consultation had been circulated to the Commission. In considering the matter, the Commission had regard to a further supplementary Cabinet report, which reported the complete findings of the consultation exercise which closed on 30 June. A copy of both supplementary reports is filed with these minutes. The
Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Lead Member for Highways and Transport, Mr. P. C.
Osborne CC, to the meeting, who was present to introduce the report and respond
to questions. As part of the introduction to the item, it was reported that the proposals were part of the agreed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) in 2012/15. The Council currently spent £5.26 million on the statutory English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) (£4.9 million on the Older Person’s Pass and £360,000 on the Disabled Pass). A saving of £270,000 had been identified from the discretionary elements provided, in addition to the main ENCTS from 1 September 2013. The ENCTS would remain unaffected by the proposals. The
proposed savings (which only related to the discretionary element of the
Scheme, funded by the County Council) were outlined as follows: o
Free travel for disabled concessionary pass
holders before o
Free travel after o
£33 of vouchers for use on local taxi and bus
services as an alternative to the statutory concession scheme if the applicant
is disabled or lives over 800 metres from a frequent bus service: £80,000 o
Half fare on community transport services:
£160,000 The proposals would affect 120,000 older person concessionary pass holders, 8,500 disabled person concessionary pass holders and 3,600 holders of travel vouchers.
·
Pre
9.30am free disabled transport – the alternative would be payment of a fare or
later travel when the free scheme was applicable; ·
Post
11.00pm transport – the alternative would be payment of a fare or earlier
travel; ·
Whilst it was recognised that the loss of taxi
vouchers would affect those in rural areas with no regular bus services and
those disabled persons who were unable to use less frequent buses, community
transport and Demand Responsive Transport (DRT)
would be available to such persons; ·
Concessionary travel passes could be used on DRT
and the ongoing review of the supported bus network was looking at an expansion
of DRT where it was uneconomic to operate a scheduled bus service; ·
Whilst the proposed changes to Community
Transport charges would have an impact; it was not thought that this would
affect the viability of the service; ·
Care would be taken in the communication of the
changes to those affected. RESOLVED: That the concerns and comments made in response to the proposed changes to Concessionary Travel Scheme be drawn to the attention of the Cabinet. |
|
2012/13 Provisional Revenue and Capital Outturn. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Commission considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources concerning the Council’s 2012/13 Provisional Revenue and Capital Outturn. A copy of the report, marked ‘Item 10’ is filed with these minutes. Arising from the debate, the following points were noted: ·
The Environment and Transport Departments’
financial position had been affected by the severe winter weather, which had
equated to a net overspend of £200,000. This was becoming a trend year-on-year
and it was reported that it might be necessary to top-up the budget to take
account of less predictable weather in future; ·
The net underspend relating to the work of the
Police and Crime Panel was largely due to the need to administer a complaints
process, which had yet to be required and to the early stage of development of
the Panel which had only just begun its work; · The risk assessment of the Capital Programme would be reported as part of a quarterly capital monitoring report to the Commission at its meeting on 4 September. RESOLVED: |
|
Corporate Complaints and Commendations Annual Report 2012-2013. Additional documents: Minutes: The Commission considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources concerning the Corporate Complaints and Commendations Annual Report 2012/2013. A copy of the report, ‘marked’ Item 11’, is filed with these minutes. Arising from the debate, the following points were noted: · The significant increase in the number of complaints relating to Highways issues. Most of these related to information flow and feedback to customers, rather than the quality of officers’ work. The Director of Corporate Resources had commissioned an “end-to-end” review of the way in which Highways matters were being dealt with, which some members would be involved in; · Better joint-working was taking place with partners in health to ensure that joint health and social care complaints were being dealt with efficiently and by the appropriate agency; · The Customer Relations Manager was taking a more active role at a higher level in dealing with complaints that had stalled in the system, acting as the 'Champion of the Customer'; · Commendations for Council staff were on the increase and the Customer Relations Team was working to further increase the visibility of the positive contributions staff made on a day-to-day basis. RESOLVED: (a)
That the contents of the third Corporate
Complaints and Commendations Annual Report 2012-2013 (covering the period 1
April 2012 to 31 March 2013) be noted; (b) That the positive steps being made in both complaints handling times and capturing commendations be supported. |
|
Date of next meeting. The
next meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place on 4 September 2013
at 2.00pm. Minutes: It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Commission would be held on 4 September at 2.00pm. |