Agenda and minutes

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

The following substitutions were declared:

1)   Councillor Jim Meikle substituting for Councillor Tony Brown.

2)   Councillor Trevor Beckwith for Councillor Lisa Ingwall King.

3)   Councillor Cliff Waterman for Councillor Diane Hind.

4)   Councillor Jim Thorndyke for Councillor Terry Clements.

5)   Councillor Dawn Dicker for Councillor Paul Hopfensperger.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tony Brown, Terry Clements, Diane Hind, Paul Hopfensperger, Lisa Ingwall King and Richard Rout.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2019 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 June 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are welcome to speak and may ask one question or make a statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chair’s discretion.

There were no members of the public in attendance on this occasion.

The Chair informed members he attended Cabinet on 25 June 2019 to present the Committee’s report on items it considered on 13 June 2019 and drew relevant points from the report to the Cabinets attention. 

The report from Overview and Scrutiny was accepted and duly noted by Cabinet Members.

Report No: OAS/WS/19/005

[Councillors Simon Brown, Patrick Chung and Simon Cole all arrived at 5.15pm during the consideration of this item, and prior to the vote taking place].

[Councillor Ian Shipp arrived at 5.40pm prior to voting taking place on this item].

The Committee received Report No: OAS/WS/19/005, presented by the Service Manager (Operations) on behalf of the Cabinet Member for Operations asking the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to commission a review of parking in West Suffolk; and sought the establishment of a West Suffolk Parking Review Group and adoption of the proposed Terms of Reference.  

As in previous reviews, all car parks that were owned or managed by the council would be included within the scope and this time, the review would  also consider on-street parking capacity.  This was required given our imminent responsibility for Civil Parking Enforcement and our commitment to delivering local integrated parking plans.

The proposed Terms of Reference for the Review Group was to:

(1)        Review national/local trends and policy, and evaluate the current performance of the parking service across all locations, including usage, condition of the car parks, the quality of service delivery, enforcement, parking incentives and customer feedback.

(2)        Develop strategic aims and objectives for parking in West Suffolk with local parking plans aligned with on-street provision.

(3)        Consider the imminent service changes arising from the implementation of Civil Parking Enforcement and the impact on parking behaviour.

(4)        Consider current levels of occupancy, future capacity projections and any interventions that may be needed now and over the long term.

(5)        Assess park and walk and the flexible payment system currently being trailed in Bury St Edmunds.

(6)        Review car park tariffs for the period of the Medium Term Financial Strategy, backed by consultation.

(7)        Identify service improvement and efficiencies.

The review will deliver the following outcomes:

(1)        An overarching strategy for parking across West Suffolk; individual place based parking plans for Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket, Mildenhall and Brandon; and a plan for other rural communities.

(2)        An effective, efficient and quality service.

(3)        Infrastructure and delivery of service that will support the viability of our town centres and keep pace with our growth aspirations.

(4)        Income and saving opportunities

It was proposed that the Review Group would be set up to oversee this process and would comprise of two West Suffolk Council members; a representative from the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee; a member representative from Suffolk County Council; the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and would be supported by the Cabinet Member for Operations and relevant officers.

The Review Group would present its findings to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14 November 2019.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions of officers, to which comprehensive responses were provided.  In particular discussions were held on the night time parking economy; park and ride schemes; resident permit schemes; flexi-park; blanket charging for parking across West Suffolk; rural perspective on parking, in particular Clare as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Report No: OAS/WS/19/006

The Committee received Report No: OAS/WS/19/006, which informed Members on forthcoming decisions to be considered by the Cabinet for the period 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2020.

The Committee considered the Decisions Plan and requested further information on how the National Health Service (NHS) intended to meet demand for GP services from new development in Thurston, and specifically what reliance was being placed on health provision that may be available in the new Western Way Development from 2023 or later.  Officers agreed to seek a written response from the NHS.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2020 Decisions Plan.

Report No: OAS/WS/19/007

The Committee received Report No: OAS/WS/19/007, which updated Members on the current status of its rolling work programme of items for scrutiny during 2019-2020 (Appendix 1).

Then Committee was informed that Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, Cabinet Member for Housing would be in attendance at its meeting on Monday 2 September 2019 to present the West Suffolk Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.  The Chair and Vice-Chair felt it would be good opportunity to also ask questions of the Cabinet Member on a wider basis about housing delivery. 

Therefore, to enable the Cabinet Member to prepare in advance of the meeting, the Democratic Services Officer (Scrutiny) following the meeting would email Overview and Scrutiny members requesting that any questions be sent to her by a specified date. 

The Committee noted it would receive a report from the West Suffolk Car Parking Review Group on 14 November 2019.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the update.