Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Merrett declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 4 (Interim Report) as an honorary member of the Cyclists’ Touring Club and a member of Cycling England.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th September 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes from the meeting held on 25^th September 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Tuesday 11^th December 2007 at 5 pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Members considered a report which updated them on the work carried out for this scrutiny review.

Members considered a report which asked them to note the information provided and agree arrangements for finalising any further information to be included in the Table of Issues/Findings, Identified Solutions, Possible Impacts and Draft Recommendations. They were also asked to consider how to proceed with the investigation of objectives (vi) and (vii), how to proceed with the survey of residents and whether to request an increase in the scrutiny budget for this review.

Members discussed the revised forward plan which had been circulated at the meeting. The plan laid out the following timetable for future meetings

16^th January 2008 meeting

Committee to consider:

·        An interim report for Scrutiny Management Committee (SMC) to request an extension to the timeframe for this review

·        A briefing paper from the Assistant Director of City Strategy giving information on the City of York Council’s vehicle fleet and Quality Bus Partnership fleet

18th February 2008

Consideration of a briefing paper from the Assistant Director of City Strategy on the strategic options available to York, to cover:

·        Outer ring road

·        Demand management e.g. road pricing

·        Continuation of Local Transport Plan (LTP) approach

·        Network Management

·        Modal Shift/soft measures

The Scrutiny Officer would also arrange for an employee of Capita Symonds Road User Pricing Consultancy to attend this meeting to give a presentation.

10^th March 2008

Regarding the previous quote from consultants relating to objectives (vi) – Economic Performance and (vii) – Quality of Life; it was suggested that this approach would not be progressed. Instead, it would be arranged for an individual involved in social research (possibly from the University or the Joseph Rowntree Trust) to attend the meeting to present their insight into the affect of traffic congestion on York, in relation to objectives (vi) and (vii) and to facilitate a debate amongst the Committee.

In relation to the meeting scheduled for 10^th March 2008 some Members suggested that it might be useful to invite a representative of York Taxi Association to join the debate.

Members also discussed the need to update the Table of Issues/Findings, Identified Solutions, Possible Impacts and Draft Recommendations. Members of the Committee agreed to send their comments on this to the Scrutiny Officer who would then amend the table accordingly.

RESOLVED:             Members agreed to:

1.      Send their comments to the Scrutiny Officer for finalising any further information to be included in the Table of Issues/Findings, Identified Solutions, Possible Impacts and Draft Recommendations.

2.      Consider the way to proceed with implementing a survey of residents at the meeting scheduled for 16 January 2008.

3.      Consider, at the meeting scheduled for 16 January 2008, whether to request an increase in the scrutiny budget for this review.

4.      Consider the outstanding objectives (vi) and (vii) at the meeting scheduled for 10^th March 2008 and for an individual involved with social research person to facilitate the debate.

REASON:                  To ensure full consideration of all the objectives.