Agenda item

To question the Leader and/or Executive Members in respect of any matter within their portfolio responsibility, in accordance with Standing Order B11.

Members were invited to question the Leader or Executive Members. Questions were received from the floor from the following Members, and replied to as indicated:

Questions to Cllr Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport

From Cllr Nichols: Is there any possibility of a one-way system around South Bank to try and prevent the standoff between lorries and buses?

Response: I appreciate that there are problems with the number 11 bus, and we are recognising that, and First Bus are recognising that. The reliability is poor so I have asked officers to review and check the reliability figures and we will also look at measures to overcome some of the pinch points and the congestion in the city. What we are learning is that most of the unreliability of our bus services across the city is due to congestion. The city centre sustainable travel corridor that we will be consulting on in the new year is that first step towards really addressing the congestion and that is important in the longer term, but we still have to do things in the shorter term too. We need to look at some of the pinch points on the route such as that South Bank loop and we have some funding as part of our BSIP award to do exactly those kinds of measures. We can ask officers to look at this and I am very happy to continue working with you to improve that route.

From Cllr Widdowson: Council finances continue to be reliant on parking income and the ongoing budget consultation includes a proposal to further increase city centre parking charges. Can you please set out what assessment has been made to the likely impact on council finances if this were to lead to significant decreases in parking income and whether alternative sources of revenue have been identified?

Response: This is a budget consultation, and we are looking for feedback from people about their thoughts and feelings on the measures in there. It is currently far cheaper to drive into York and park then catch the bus into York. Our transport strategy wants to enable people to use sustainable means of travel, so we have taken the approach of matching a family bus ticket cost with the first two hours of parking in the city centre. If you are coming into York for two hours or more, it is cheaper to catch the bus into the city than to drive and park. When we look at other cities where parking prices are similar or higher we are seeing from their evidence that it did bring about some behaviour change and not necessarily a drastic income change. It is a suggestion, and we will wait to see what the public feedback is.

Questions to Cllr Kent, Executive Member forEnvironment and Climate Change  

From Cllr Fenton: The ongoing second phase of the budget consultation seeks views on a proposal that could see some local recycling banks removed but others retained. Can you provide an understanding on what is being proposed and how those banks that serve a specific community need would be identified so that residents can provide informed feedback to the consultation. Is there anything you can say about how those recycling banks will be identified?

Response: This is a specific community need as opposed to general recycling because the principle is that across the city everybody does have kerbside recycling. This is looking to see if there are areas which do not need an additional site. It will also be looking at geographies so that if you have multiple sites close by each other maybe there can be some rationalisation in that sense. Not all are council owned many of them are run by supermarkets and maybe there’s duplication there but those would not be part of the consultation, it is only the council owned ones that are being looked at. I would be happy to answer questions about more specific sites and see if they are part of the review following the meeting.

Cllr Fenton: Clarification around recycling banks in supermarkets would be helpful, particularly Morrisons which serves a specific community need for people who may not have access to a car to go to the tip.

Supplementary from Cllr Steward: Is the council looking to recycle blister packs?

Response: The difficulty with it is the expense. There have been multiple attempts at this with doctor surgeries and pharmacies across York, but most have withdrawn it due to the expense. We do not have the facility to separate the foil from the plastic and I have not seen any examples within any other local authority. Some of the supermarkets and Boots recycle old make-up and more bespoke recycling is going on within stores.We are looking at increased recycling across the city with the Sustainability Clinic at York University. The waste group of York Climate Commission is also trying to set up more varieties and more information spreading about where you can recycle different items which we cannot recycle as a council.

Questions to Cllr Pavlovic, Executive Member for Housing, Planning and Safer Communities

From Cllr Crawshaw: I understand that you have recently agreed to consult on implementing a public space protection order (PSPO) to tackle public urination, defecation, and dog fouling. Public urination can be a problem in the Micklegate Ward associated with race days and people drinking and I just wondered what this PSPO would mean in reality for residents affected by this behaviour?

Response: Urination in the streets and shop doorways is a vile thing to happen and in the last year alone there were over 4,000 incidents in the city centre. The public protection order will give the council powers to impose on spot fines as opposed to the previous policy which involved summonsing somebody to court and consequently it rarely happened. Council staff, BID Rangers and the police will now have the opportunity when they come acrosssomebody urinating in the street to get their name and impose a fixed penalty notice. I hope it is going to make a difference.

Supplementary from Cllr Healey: On a very personal level, I would strongly commend any enforcement action you can do in Micklegate particularly on race days and at the weekends and particularly in St Martin’s Lane.

Response: The racecourse themselves have been very proactive in supporting this initiative. It is behaviour modification as opposed to money raising. As I said at the Decision Session, it is about changing people’s behaviour and understanding of just how unacceptable this is for residents, householders, shop owners and tourists. We want to see it stop.