(Public Pack)Agenda Document for Economy, Environment And
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Worcestershire County Council Agenda Economy, Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel Wednesday, 20 May 2015, 10.00 am County Hall, Worcester All County Councillors are invited to attend and participate This document can be made available in other formats (large print, audio tape, computer disk and Braille) on request from Democratic Services on telephone number 01905 728713 or by emailing [email protected] DISCLOSING INTERESTS There are now 2 types of interests: 'Disclosable pecuniary interests' and 'other disclosable interests' WHAT IS A 'DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTEREST' (DPI)? Any employment, office, trade or vocation carried on for profit or gain Sponsorship by a 3rd party of your member or election expenses Any contract for goods, services or works between the Council and you, a firm where you are a partner/director, or company in which you hold shares Interests in land in Worcestershire (including licence to occupy for a month or longer) Shares etc (with either a total nominal value above £25,000 or 1% of the total issued share capital) in companies with a place of business or land in Worcestershire. NB Your DPIs include the interests of your spouse/partner as well as you WHAT MUST I DO WITH A DPI? Register it within 28 days and Declare it where you have a DPI in a matter at a particular meeting - you must not participate and you must withdraw. NB It is a criminal offence to participate in matters in which you have a DPI WHAT ABOUT 'OTHER DISCLOSABLE INTERESTS'? No need to register them but You must declare them at a particular meeting where: You/your family/person or body with whom you are associated have a pecuniary interest in or close connection with the matter under discussion. WHAT ABOUT MEMBERSHIP OF ANOTHER AUTHORITY OR PUBLIC BODY? You will not normally even need to declare this as an interest. The only exception is where the conflict of interest is so significant it is seen as likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest. DO I HAVE TO WITHDRAW IF I HAVE A DISCLOSABLE INTEREST WHICH ISN'T A DPI? Not normally. You must withdraw only if it: affects your pecuniary interests OR relates to a planning or regulatory matter AND it is seen as likely to prejudice your judgement of the public interest. DON'T FORGET If you have a disclosable interest at a meeting you must disclose both its existence and nature – 'as noted/recorded' is insufficient Declarations must relate to specific business on the agenda - General scattergun declarations are not needed and achieve little Breaches of most of the DPI provisions are now criminal offences which may be referred to the police which can on conviction by a court lead to fines up to £5,000 and disqualification up to 5 years Formal dispensation in respect of interests can be sought in appropriate cases. Simon Mallinson Head of Legal and Democratic Services July 2012 WCC/SPM summary/f Economy, Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel Wednesday, 20 May 2015, 10.00 am, County Hall, Worcester Membership Councillors: Dr K A Pollock (Chairman), Mr G J Vickery (Vice Chairman), Mr A A J Adams, Ms P Agar, Mr W P Gretton, Mr I Hopwood, Mr M E Jenkins, Mr J W R Thomas and Mr P A Tuthill Agenda Item No Subject Page No 1 Apologies and Welcome 2 Declarations of Interest and of any Party Whip 3 Public Participation Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 19 May 2015 ). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below. 4 Confirmation of the Minutes of the previous meeting (previously circulated) 5 Passenger Transport 1 - 12 6 Superfast Broadband 13 - 16 Agenda produced and published by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester WR5 2NP. For general enquiries: 01905 763763 Worcestershire Hub: 01905 765765 Email: [email protected] To obtain further information or hard copies of this agenda, please contact Stella Wood telephone: Worcester (01905) 76 6619, email: [email protected] All the above reports and supporting information can be accessed via the Council’s website at http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/info/20013/councillors_and_committees Date of Issue: Tuesday, 12 May 2015 This page is intentionally left blank Economy, Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel 20 May 2015 Item No. 5 PASSENGER TRANSPORT Summary 1. The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways, the Head of Community and Environment, and the Transport Planning and Review Officer, have been invited to provide an update on the effects of the revised bus network following subsidy reductions in September 2014. Background 2. On 6 February 2014 Cabinet had considered the outcomes of the consultation on removing bus subsidies. As a result of the responses it was concluded that some key public transport services should be maintained to ensure access to schools, work opportunities, healthcare and shopping facilities. 3. On 9 June 2014 Cabinet considered and agreed the proposed revised network of services receiving subsidy. The Council's net bus expenditure (in 2013/14) was £3m per annum. The revised proposals would deliver savings of £1.6m (Minute 1590 refers). 4. This Panel also discussed the revised network on 6 June, and made the following comments to Cabinet: The Panel acknowledged the consultation and proposals as a rigorous piece of work and it was clear that each route had been carefully considered over a period of time. It was welcomed that Cabinet had halved the amount of savings needed in response to the consultation. It was noted that the majority of responses to the consultation were from bus users, but there may be an impact on non-bus users. With regard to the Equality Impact Assessments, it was clear that some people would be worse off, but the Equality Impact had been fairly examined and the mitigations put in place were acceptable. Update 5. The Panel felt that the impact of the changes to the bus network needed to be carefully monitored. It was agreed that the Panel would receive an update on how the revised network was working after 6 months of operation. As part of this, an update is attached at Appendix 1 which includes: The original proposals made to Cabinet in June 2014, by service Additional notes to explain what was actually implemented in September 2014, and any subsequent changes to those services (including the reason) Any notable issues experienced with the implementation of the service changes Before and after figures for bus usage (where information is Economy, Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel – 20 May 2015 e:\moderngov\data\agendaitemdocs\4\5\9\ai00001954\$gbn20d3p.doc Page 1 available), and Where information is not available for a direct before/after comparison, this is due to one of the following reasons: The service was previously subsidised and is now operated entirely commercially The service was previously subsidised and elements are now operated commercially, and some parts still subsidised. It is therefore not possible to make a direct before/after comparison The changes to the previous version of the service were so significant that it is not possible to make a direct comparison with the new service(s) operating post Sept 2014 Due to the introduction of new ticket machines, no return was received from the operator in October 2014. WCC receives operator returns in March and October each year, so the next return is due by the end of March 2015 and it is therefore not possible to include the data with this report. 6. The most significant change to the public transport network since the bus review was implemented in September 2014 was the cessation of operation by Whittles Coaches, who operated a number of commercial and contracted bus services in the Wyre Forest area. Whittles partly allege the decision to cease operations was due to the reduction in public funding and the effect on their contract base. The loss of Whittles as a major operator in the Wyre Forest area may impact upon the provision of services in the future and the competition for tendered services in that area of Worcestershire. Although WCC worked with a collection of other transport providers in the area to replace those services previously operated by Whittles, it did result in significant changes to the local bus network in the Wyre Forest, with some negative effects. Community 7. There have been significant developments in service provision Transport in cooperation with the Community Transport Partnership in Worcestershire. A number of bus services proposed for withdrawal as part of the bus review were taken over (perhaps with some amendment) by Community Transport (CT) organisations. 8. CT schemes, as well as running voluntary car services throughout the county, are currently operating 9 Community Bus routes which provide passengers (who must book their journey in advance) from rural locations the opportunity to travel into a town to access the services they need. In addition, several CT operators also run registered local bus routes. All these can be found on WCC's bus timetables webpages. Worcestershire CT schemes have recently launched a collaborative website which gives details of all the various services available and the areas they cover. This can be found at www.communitytravel.org.uk Economy, Environment and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel – 20 May 2015 Page 2 Park & Ride 9. Some Panel Members were concerned about the impact of the removal of the Park and Ride, particularly on the environment and health of residents.