To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor DW Greenow and Councillor J Jarvis Cabinet Member (Environment and Strategic Housing).

To receive details any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor G Lucas substituted for Councillor DW Greenow.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2009.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held 14 September 2009 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

A suggestion was received by e-mail from Mrs K Johnston that the Committee review the implementation of traffic calming measures.  She also raised a number of questions regarding: the policy on the enforcement of speed limits? When was the policy adopted and by whom? Has it ever been reviewed?  Her suggestion and questions were circulated at the meeting.

The Head of Planning and Transportation responded that the questions were linked to agenda item 6 - Road Safety Partnership and Speed Limit Review Update. A number of the issues would be considered as part of the review of the Local Transport Plan 3.   A Written response had been prepared by the Transportation Manager and this was circulated at the meeting and is attached to the minutes.

The Committee noted the written response and agreed that a number of the issues raised should be considered as part of the LTP3 review.

RESOLVED: That the various aspects of traffic calming raised by Mrs K Johnston be considered as part of the LTP3 review and the written response be communicated to Mrs Johnston.

1. To provide Members with an overview of the work of the West Mercia Safer Roads Partnership and its role in helping deliver Herefordshire Council’s road safety strategy;

2. To update Members on progress for a workshop on the review of the road safety strategy; and

3. To provide an update to Members on the progress of the review of Speed Limits and respond to specific questions raised following the report on this subject to the 23 March 2009 meeting.

The Chairman referred to the following question from Mrs J Wadge, Ross-on-Wye:

Following a traffic count made at 2 crossings to Morrisons - one at Millpond Street and one further along Station Street in Ross-on-Wye, it was reported in the local paper in February 2008 that both crossings had been approved, and funding was being sought. What is the latest position regarding the provision of these pedestrian crossings? Will they be installed by Spring 2010?

Written response from: Lead Engineer (Traffic) | Local Government - Amey

Further to your enquiry re the crossings in Millpond Street and Station Street, Ross on Wye, talks are ongoing with Morrisons who are currently planning to extend their store and as part of the section 106 agreement have agreed to provide the two crossings along with a number of other improvements in the area.  Unfortunately I am not aware of the time scale although I understand that it may be in the New Year.

Mrs Wadge thanked the Committee for the response.

The Committee were provided with: an overview of the West Mercia Safer Roads Partnership (SRP) and its role in helping deliver Herefordshire Council’s road safety strategy; an update on proposals for a workshop on the review of the road safety strategy and an update on the progress of the review of Speed limits, and responses to specific questions raised on this subject at the meeting held 23 March 2009.

The agenda report set out the partnership members and outlined the work of the partnership, including its role in helping the Council deliver the Council’s road safety strategy.  To take into account the emerging national strategy, the report also identified a need to review the road safety strategy and proposed a workshop for all Council Members to contribute to the review process.

At the meeting a supplementary paper was issued based on answering a number of questions raised at the March 2009 meeting concerning: the review of speed limits in accordance with Department for Transport Circular 1/2006; issues around setting a whole estate urban speed limit and new traffic calming initiatives in Hampshire.

Mr R Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer for the West Midlands Safer Roads Partnership provided the Committee with an update on the work of the SRP in Herefordshire and progress on implementing recommendations arising from an Audit Commission review of the SRP.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

• Two community concern sites had so far been identified for Herefordshire as part of the new community concern pilot scheme.  An outline of the criteria used for identifying these sites was given.
• There is a need to create a greater culture of speed compliance and one aspect of the work of the SRP was to co-ordinate education work with other services and ensure a joined up approach between Councils and partners through the Local Area Agreement (LAA).
• To ensure a coordinated approach the SRP had established the Operations Forum which included representatives from all of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To update the Committee on current highway maintenance standards and the plans that are in place to improve the long term condition of the highway network and better satisfy the needs and desires of Herefordshire’s communities in regard to roads maintenance.

The Committee received a report on the current highway maintenance standards and the plans that are in place to improve the long term condition of the highway network and better satisfy the needs and desires of Herefordshire’s communities in regard to roads maintenance.

The Highway Network Manager reported on the current condition and targets; the approach to improving highway conditions; the operational standards for repairs and the impact of the Statutory Undertakers’ Works on the condition of the County highways. 

He highlighted that national statistics indicated that rural roads were resurfaced on average every 109 years.  Herefordshire had about £40m worth of known maintenance against a £8m budget.  While the County had half the national average of ‘statutory undertaker works’ this still incurred associated follow on inspections and works.  Planed maintenance works were programmed against a set of criteria.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

• Agriculture is a major contributor to the economy of the County, however, the size and weight of agricultural vehicles had dramatically increased over recent years with resultant increased damage to roads and drainage ditches.  The Highway Network Manager reported that in the majority of cases the farmer was responsible for the maintenance of the drainage ditch with the Council having powers to do so.
• Continuing the agriculture theme it was suggested that, while not in the ownership of the Council, if unofficial passing places or lay-bys were maintained this may reduce the damage to road edges and ditches.  Major land owners or large rural businesses could be approached about donating these small areas to the Council for this purpose.  The Head of Planning and Transportation thought this could be looked at as part of the LTP3 review.
• While road standards were important to the County the condition of footpaths were also of concern to people.
• A number of instances where mentioned where large vehicles using Satellite Navigation Systems had used inappropriate roads.  The Committee were informed that Ordinance Survey were working with Sat Nav manufacturers to improve their systems, however, this relied on users updating their systems and using the roads sensibly.
• In view of last weeks major road disruption in Hereford due to the Highways Agency works on A49 Ross Road/Holme Lacy road junction, with the intelligent traffic management system being set to the default, the Committee questioned the level of liaison between agencies.  The Committee were informed that the Highways Agency had informed the Council that resurfacing works were to be undertaken but had not been informed of the consequences or the likely effects.  The Committee was also advised that less disruption may have occurred if the works had been undertaken in a different way.  The Highway Network Manager reported that while the Council had a duty to manage the network the Highways Agency similarly had a duty to liaise fully with the Council and inform the public of major works.  The Assistant Director Environment and Culture agreed that liaison could be better, particularly where major traffic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

To inform the committee of the make up of the council fleet and highlight opportunities being considered to improve the management and environmental performance of the fleet.

The Committee were informed of the make up of the Council’s vehicle fleet and opportunities being considered to improve the management and environmental performance of the fleet.

The Assistant Director of Environment and Culture clarified that the Council’s vehicle fleet at July 2009 had been 248 and not 284 as shown in the key points summary. This had been the best available data at the time.    While the table on page 22 of the agenda - ‘total mileage and CO2 for vehicles’ indicated that school travel and refuse disposal generated the highest levels of CO2 this was due to the stop start nature of their use.  As part of the changes to waste collection, 34 new, more environmentally friendly, collection vehicles were now being operated by Focsa.  The Council was working, through the school travel contracts, to improve buss fleet efficiencies. 

Mr K Lloyd, Amey Herefordshire, informed the Committee about the number and types of vehicles in the Amey fleet and how the vehicles were managed.  He highlighted that: the vehicles cover nearly 2m miles per year; were on average only 2 years old therefore ensuring that they were technologically efficient; vehicle tracking systems had been installed in all vehicles thereby enabling data to be collected to optimise work planning and assess driver behaviour, and speed limiters had been fitted to lories.  He also highlighted that driver awareness training was given to ensure correct diving behaviour and a new small fleet of electric Smart cars was being procured for use by staff on local journeys – one of which would be on loan for the Council to trial.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

• A number of vehicles, principally highway maintenance vehicles, had since transferred to Amey under the service delivery partnership MAC arrangements.
• While the Council had set Amey a CO2 reduction target under the MAC arrangement of 1.25% per annum, Amey had set itself a higher reduction target of 10% a year.
• The Director of Environment and Culture reported that he was due to present a report to Joint Management Team on fleet management which would include CO2 issues.
• In view of questions raised at previous meetings concerning the Council’s fleet, a number of members expressed their deep concern that a more rigorous vehicle management system wasn’t in place and suggested that a central database of Council vehicles should be established as soon as possible to ensure that all relevant information on this valuable resource (e.g. type, age, annual mileage, mpg, emissions rating) was properly recorded, made available and managed.
• Based on the information in the report and appendix the Committee thought the Key Issues highlighted by the Energy Savings Trust Green Fleet Review contained many good points and, subject to clarification of a number of points and the possible setting of more stringent targets, supported the options for improvement as a basis for moving forward.
• A point was made that 3 or 4 year old vehicles should not be scrapped just because  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

To consider Cabinet’s response to the recommendations made to it in the Scrutiny Review of On-street Parking.

The Committee considered Cabinet’s response to the recommendations made to it in the Scrutiny Review of On-Street Parking.

The Committee’s On-Street Parking Review Group undertook a review of on-street parking and completed a report into its findings. The report, which made a number of detailed recommendations on policy and operational matters relating to car parking, was considered by Cabinet on 29 October 2009.  Cabinet’s response, together with an action plan, was included in the agenda for consideration.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Review, Cllr MAF Hubbard, thanked Cabinet for their measured response to the findings, many of which would be actioned or incorporated into the Local Transport Plan 3 review.  However, three recommendations had not been accepted and he reiterated a number of points from the review concerning Rec. 4a – Visitor Permit Scheme; Rec. 4c – parking by tradesmen while working at a property, and Rec. 4k – Use of Commercial Loading bays.

The Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation) commented that while the current system was not perfect Rec. 4a had not been accepted as the current system did provide residents with a degree of parking flexibility. He also highlighted that a reasonable proportion of properties within parking scheme areas did have driveways. As with Rec. 4c petitions from local residents indicated there may not be wide support for the recommendation.  Rec.4c he acknowledged that parking by tradesman was controlled on an adhoc basis and this would be tightened by establishing formal procedures.  Referring to Rec. 4k he acknowledged the difficulty for small businesses and reported that a pilot scheme was being trialled in Ross. 

It was commented that the review had focused on the City and a Member questioned whether the review group should be reformed to look at the wider issues of on-street parking in the County as originally intended.  The Head of Planning and Transportation reported that many of the issues covered in the review were common to the county and therefore would be considered when the LTP3 was reviewed.

RESOLVED: That

a)      Cabinet’s response to the findings of the Scrutiny Review of On-Street Parking were noted; and

b)     A further report on progress against the actions be made after nine months with consideration then being given to the need for any further report being made.

To advise the Scrutiny Committee on progress of the 2009/10 Environment Capital Programme within the overall context of the Council’s Capital Programme.

The Committee were advised of progress of the 2009/10 Environment Capital Programme within the overall context of the Council’s Capital Programme.

The Director of Resources representative presented the report and highlighted that the total of the Capital programme had reduced to £16,717,000 from the figure of £16,755,000 previously reported to Committee.  This net reduction of £38,000 and the main variances were described in the report.  Appendix 1 to the report set out in summary the capital budgets for 2009/10 with funding arrangements in overall terms.

Responding to questions concerning the delays to the Park and Ride scheme the Cabinet Member (Highways and Transportation) reported that having assessed various potential sites the Racecourse had emerged as the favoured site.  Acknowledging that any scheme would not be self financing, a business case was being formulated to ensure that all costs were anticipated.

RESOLVED: That

a)      the report be noted and while appreciating the need to ensure value for money the Committee expressed its concern regarding the delay in implementing the Park and Ride scheme and;

b)     a report on progress of the Park and Ride scheme be presented to the March 2010 meeting.

To advise the Committee of the financial position for the Environment budgets for the period to 30 September 2009. The report lists the variations against budget at this stage in the year and the projected outturn for the year.

The Committee were advised of the financial position for the Environment revenue budgets for the period to 30 September 2009. The agenda report listed the variations against budget at this stage in the year and the projected outturn for the year.

The Director of Resources representative reported that the total environment revenue budget for 2009/10 had reduced to £25,904k from the amount reported to the previous meeting, which had been £26,204k.  This was a net decrease of £300k and related to the Management Agent Contract (£243k) the Waste Reserve (£500k) and one-off transfers (£43k).  Further detail on the budgets was contained in the agenda report and its appendix.

The Committee noted that the anticipated underspend in the environment budget would be used to offset the Councils anticipated overspend.

Questioned on the budget position for planning the Head of Planning and Transportation reported that, as set out in the report, the number of planning applications between April to September had increased by 16% over the same period in 2008. Despite this an overspend of £300k was forecast.  While the new Civica system had been introduced the need for IDOX document scanning continued and this was forecast to be a budget pressure of £70k. He still hoped to resolve the document scanning issue by mid 2010 if not earlier.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To update Members on the progress towards achievement of targets for 2009-10 relevant to the Environment Scrutiny Committee and contained within the Environment & Culture and Regeneration Directorates’ Plans.

The Committee received an update on the progress towards the achievement of targets for 2009-10 relevant to the Environment Scrutiny Committee and contained within the Environment & Culture and Regeneration Directorates’ Plans.

The Improvement Manager presented the report and commented that this was the first report to Committee using the integrated corporate performance report format, an explanation of the rating was contained in Appendix A.  Appendix B gave details of the indicators.  A summary of the Customer Contact Satisfaction Survey June 2008 to March 2009 was contained at Appendix C.

Questioned on the ‘Respondents satisfaction cross referenced with whether they had the outcome they wanted’ on agenda page 91, it was thought that, overall, customers had been satisfied with how they had been dealt with on initial contact, however, their satisfaction levels had probably fallen on being informed of the outcome of their enquiry e.g. that their planning application had been refused.

Questioned further on Appendix C and whether comparisons could be made against other local authorities, the Improvement Manager reported that not all authorities undertook the surveys and those that did undertook them at different times with variations in the questions asked.

Concern was expressed by a member regarding the current delays in telephone answering times for the Streetscene service.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted

To consider the Committee work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme.

Arising out of the external healthcheck of the scrutiny function Strategic Monitoring Committee requested that this Committee give priority to the scrutiny of transport issues which had been identified from the Herefordshire Quality of Life Survey 2008.  It had also requested that all the scrutiny Committees re-examine their work programmes to ensure that matters listed for future consideration remain appropriate.

The Committee noted that two of the four issues identified (road safety and road and pavement repairs) had been addressed on this agenda.  The Chairman suggested that he and the Vice-Chairman meet with the Head of Planning and Transportation and the Transportation Manager to consider: what work had already been done on Public Transport and Traffic Congestion, the most appropriate method of scrutinising the issues of concern and where they should be placed in the work programme.

RESOLVED: That

a)      subject to the inclusion of items identified earlier in the meeting namely:

1.      Road Safety Partnership – Update

2.      Highway Maintenance Standards - Update

3.      Council Vehicle Fleet  - Update

4.      Update on Action Plan following the Scrutiny Review of On-Street Parking

5.      Progress with the Park and Ride Scheme;

the work programme be approved;

b)     The Chairman and Vice Chairman discuss with the Head of Planning and Transportation how the issues of public transport and traffic congestion, identified by Strategic Monitoring Committee can best be addressed; and

c)      The Committee work programme be reported to Strategic Monitoring Committee.