Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest or other registerable interest they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests.

Members were asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests or any prejudicial or disclosable pecuniary interest that they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. In respect of agenda item 3 Digital Respark Report, Cllrs Kilbane, D Taylor and D’Agorne noted that they lived in repark areas. Cllr Daubeney noted that he had a minster card but did not live in a respark area.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have

registered to speak can do so. Members of the public may

speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the

committee. The deadline for registering at this meeting is at 5:00pm on Thursday 10 November 2022.

To register to speak please visit

www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill out an online

registration form. If you have any questions about the

registration form or the meeting please contact the Democracy

Officer for the meeting whose details can be found at the foot of

the agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this

public meeting will be webcast including any registered public

speakers who have given their permission. The public

meeting can be viewed live and on demand at

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It was reported that there were two registrations to speak on agenda item 3 Digital Respark Report  and one registration to speal under the general remit of the committee under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Jo Coles, a resident in a new digital residents parking zone raised a number of concerns about the scheme causing stress, anxiety and pressure for a number of reasons. This was because it was hard for residents to deal with permits for visitors when they were not at home. She expressed concern regarding the system for elderly and disabled residents and the additional pressure it could put on carers through it not being possible buy permits. She added that there was a lack of communication about the system and asked what the rationale and costs were for the introduction of it.

Andrew Mortimer explained that he lived in the Badger Hill repark zone, He expressed concern with the permits in relation to visitors and the ability for residents to check permits in other vehicles on their streets. He welcomed the proposals for the resident permit checker.

[Cllr Cuthbertson joined the meeting at 17.41]

Andrew Mortimer noted that the guidance online needed to work for people with access online and offline. He noted concern regarding elderly people accessing the system especially when arranging permits for visitors. He suggested that this could be forcing isolation on them. He was asked and he explained how this was different to other zones as it was all one parking zone.

Under the general remit of the committee Flick Williams spoke on the city centre action plan mitigation measures as discussed at the Customer and Corporate Services Scrutiny Management Committee meeting the previous week. She felt that the outdoor café licences were adding a further exclusion for disabled people. She questioned why the participants in the consultation for the report where not local. She concluded that a disadvantaged group was being further disadvantaged and that the situation needed proper scrutiny and oversight. In response to a question from a Member she noted that there needed to be proper scrutiny of the report from consultation in light of government guidance. The Director of Transport, Environment and Planning advised that the report to be presented to Executive on Tuesday 22 November 2022.

This report updates Members on Digital Respark (resident parking zone permit management).

Members considered a report that updated Members on Digital Respark (resident parking zone permit management). The Head of Highways and Transport advised that he could cover further information and questions from Members at a future meeting. The Chair added that this should include a review on how parking enforcement was operated and further questions on the financials for it.

The Head of Highways and Transport explained the background and reasons for the introduction of respark, detailing the timeline for the implementation of it. He apologised to residents experiencing with the system and he explained the issues experienced by customers as summarised in the table at paragraph 27 of the report. He reported that recently there had been some issues around web browsers and operating systems on macbooks. These issues were being worked through and it was hoped they would be resolved soo. He advised that the resident permit checker would be rolled out with the next version of the technology. A Member queried why the resident permit checker was not rolled out with the implementation of PSN compliance in March 2022. The Head of Parking Services gave an update on the residents parking hotline noting that the resident permit checker would be rolled out with the 2.31 update. It was noted that the customer password updated had been resolved with the supplier. The Head of Highways and Transport explained that there had been some compliments about respark and it was his understanding that call volumes were back at normal levels. A Member thanked the Head of Parking Services for his work.

Members then asked a number of questions to which officers and the Executive Member for Transport responded that:

Regarding procurement, they did engage with other LAs, and the system used by York was used in other London Boroughs. They had used specific case studies as well as the user group forum. It was noted that the scale of transition to the system was fast and in hindsight they could have looked at how residents could have been better supported.

They were aware of some problems with the system in other authorities.

For professional carers visiting residents homes, a paper permit was issued. It was noted that there was a need to review the permit system regarding family member carers parking at their relatives houses.

Regarding businesses being unable to select the customer type as business on the online form, Officers were not aware of this as a trend and a potential reason for the problem was that the business was marked as a residential business on the database.

The Chair asked the Executive Member for Transport for his reflections on the implementation of the scheme. The Executive Member explained that there were some things that the council didn’t get right, and in the first month there were problems with the level of support needed, particularly in relation to the interface and renewals. He added that officers had tried to work through systems to support customers to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider the work plan for the remainder of the municipal year.

Members considered the work plan for the remainder of the municipal year. It was clarified that updates on café licensing would be presented to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee.

Resolved:

                     i.        That the Democracy Officer check whether there was a scrutiny commissioned slot free during January/February 2023  to examine weed control and electric vehicle charging, with the attendance of the Climate Emergency Policy and Scrutiny Committee.

                    ii.        That city centre café licences be added to the work plan for the March 2023 meeting.

Reason:     In order to keep the work plan updated.