Agenda item

Minutes of the following meetings of outside bodies, received since the last meeting of Council, have been made available for Members to view via the Council’s website at

http://sql003.york.gov.uk/mgListOutsideBodies.asp?bcr=1

Copies may also be obtained by contacting Democracy Support Group at West Offices, York (tel. 01904 551088)

·        Fire Authority – 13/02/13

·        Safer York Partnership – 06/12/12

·        Quality Bus Partnership – 10/12/12

·        Yorkshire Purchasing Org – 30/11/12

·        Without Walls – 19/12/12

·        NHS – 17/10/12

Members are invited to put any questions to the Council’s representatives on the above bodies, in accordance with Standing Order 10(b).

Minutes of the following meetings had been made available for Members to view on the Council’s website:

·        Fire Authority – 13/02/13

·        Safer York Partnership – 06/12/12

·        Quality Bus Partnership – 10/12/12

·        Yorkshire Purchasing Org – 30/11/12

·        Without Walls – 19/12/12

·        NHS – 17/10/12

Notice had been received of six questions in respect of the minutes, submitted by Members in accordance with Standing Orders. The first five questions were put and answered as follows and the Members agreed to receive written answers to the remaining question, as set out below:

To Cllrs Merrett and Steward as appointed Council representatives on Quality Bus Partnership – Minutes of 10/12/12

From Cllr Reid:

(a)“At December’s Council meeting the Cabinet Member told Cllr D’Agorne, in reply to a written question about the sales of “All York” bus tickets, that “This is a commercial product of the operators. It is commercial data that belongs to the operators and the operators view is that this is commercially sensitive information. It's disclosure could have a negative impact on both the future development of all York products and on general operations.”

It now appears from the minutes of the above meeting (para 3.2), which have been made publicly available on the Council website, that you were told at the Partnership meeting (which had taken place 3 days before the Council meeting) that 10,000 of the tickets had been sold in the first quarter. Why has there been such secrecy about these figures and will you now agree to make the total number of tickets sold available to residents and bus users via the Councils web site on a monthly basis? 

(b) As part of the bus improvement work (para 6.0), will the Cabinet Member agree to publicise all bus service reliability information that the Council has access to?

(c) The minutes of the above meeting say (para 7.1.2) that a Green Bus Fund bid “will be submitted by 26^th March 2013”. The bid was being constructed by ARUP consultants. How much has this consultancy work cost, who has paid for it and in what ways were Council Members, taxpayers, bus operators and bus users consulted on the content of the bid before it was submitted?”

Reply:

Cllr Merrett confirmed that a figure had been quoted in reply to a question at the last Council meeting, however the information was still commercially sensitive. It was understood that the original agreement had been to allow publication of annual cumulative totals, which would be continued. Information regarding reliability was also subject to similar restrictions.

It was reported that the cost of the Green Bus Fund bid had been borne by First.  Work was ongoing regarding the new Park and Ride site and further information would be provided on this cost when the relevant Officer returned from leave. Information from the Bus Improvement Study had informed the bid prior to submission.

(i)           From Cllr D’Agorne:

“Is the reported 10,000 'All York' bus ticket sales for the first quarter of availability accurate, and why was this considered to be 'commercially sensitive information... whose disclosure could have a negative impact on the future development of all York products and general operations' when I asked for the same data three days later in questions for full council (para 3.2, p55)?

Reply:

Cllr Merrett confirmed that personally, he supported the reporting of this information more regularly however this was in the hands of the bus operators.

To Cllrs Aspden, Barnes, King & Steward as appointed Council representatives on the Fire Authority – Minutes of 13/02/13

(i)           From Cllr D’Agorne:

"What are the likely costs and benefits of the proposed joint Fire-Police pilot scheme to test routine pairing of fire and police staff (para 265)?

Reply:

Cllr King, congratulated Cllr D’Agorne for asking the first question of the authorities representatives on the Fire Authority at Council. As a representative since 1994 he confirmed his willingness to answer questions, however, as this particular question related to an item considered in a confidential session, he was only able to provide public information. He went on to comment on the joint pilot scheme in both rural and urban areas, which had been at a minimal cost, explaining the benefits, and confirming that an update on progress was due to be reported back to the Authority in June 2013.

To Cllrs Alexander, Runciman & Gillies as appointed Council representatives on Without Walls –  Minutes of 19/12/12

(i)            From Cllr D’Agorne:

“Can you report any progress on the proposal to carry live stream CCTV footage of Coney St / Parliament St on Visit York and the Council website during floods to demonstrate that we are still open for business?”

Reply:

“No.” (Cllr Alexander)