Infrastructure and Energy Overview and Scrutiny Commission

10:00 a.m. – 11.55 a.m. Wednesday, 11 September, 2019, Room 77, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, HU1 2AA

Present: Councillors Abbott, Akbar (Chair), Dad, Drake-Davis, Herrera-Richmond, Langley, Petrini (subbing for Gardiner), Pritchard (subbing for Greenhill) and Wareing (Deputy Chair).

In attendance: A. Burton (Assistant Director, Streetscene) S. Adams (Business Improvement Manager, Streetscene) R. Stephenson (Group Manager - Highways Design & Development, Major Projects) Ben Gilligan (Area Director, East ) Tom Betteridge (East Yorkshire Graduate) Matt Cranwell (Managing Director, Stagecoach) Rob Foster (Chief Executive Officer, East Hull Community Transport.) Joanne Staves (Operations Manager, East Hull Community Transport.) F. Harbord (Scrutiny Officer) Apologies:

Apologies were received from Cllr Gardiner, who was subbed by Cllr Petrini, and Cllr Greenhill, who was subbed by Cllr Pritchard.

Minute Number Action to be Taken by

13 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST No declarations of personal interest were received in regard to the following agenda items.

Recommendations: Reasons for Recommendations:

N/A N/A

14 MINUTES OF THE ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE OSC a) Scrutiny Officer MEETING HELD 11 SEPTEMBER 2019 The Scrutiny Officer submitted the draft minutes from the meeting held on Wednesday, 11 September, 2019.

Councillor Herrera-Richmond, not having been in attendance at the meeting of 11 September, raised the issue of high insurance costs in the City, which would be discussed with officers and the Chair to agree a way forward, and that there was land to the west of Makro on the banks of the River Humber which could potentially be used as sacrificial land.

Recommendations: Reasons for Recommendations:

a) That the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 11 a) N/A September 2019, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and correctly recorded.

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NON EXEMPT ITEMS a) Andy Burton / Steve Adams 15 BUS THEMED DISCUSSION b) Andy Burton / Steve Adams c) Andy Burton / Steve Adams / Ruth Stephenson d) Andy Burton / Ruth Stephenson e) Fiona Harbord f) Fiona Harbord / Louise Hawkins / OSMC A. Burton (Assistant Director, Streetscene), S. Adams (Business Improvement Manager, Streetscene) and R. Stephenson (Group Manager - Highways Design & Development, Major Projects) attended the meeting to support a discussion in relation to strategic issues involving the local bus companies. Also in attendance were representatives from the bus companies: Ben Gilligan (Area Director) and Tom Betteridge (East Yorkshire Graduate), East Yorkshire, Matt Cranwell (Managing Director), Stagecoach, Rob Foster (Chief Executive Officer) and Joanne Staves (Operations Manager), East Hull Community Transport.

The external attendees were asked to introduce themselves, and then give a brief update on progress within their companies over the previous year. Matt Cranwell informed the Commission that Stagecoach in Hull had, since their previous attendance at a Scrutiny meeting: i. Since July started to roll out 31 brand new vehicles with Euro 6 engines at an investment cost of £5.7m, and £1.1m had been invested in existing vehicles to make them Euro 6 rather than Euro 5. ii. Employed a new a marketing manager. iii. Launched a 12 month apprenticeship for drivers. iv. Extended the ticketing range - introduced a duo ticket, buy one get one half price, and a student £10 bundle. v. The cost of Megariders had been reduced. vi. Improved services 99 to connect with Park and Ride and the 25 to Humberside Airport. vii. Staff surveys had been repeated. viii. Linked with charities such as McMillan and breast cancer charities.

Ben Gilligan updated the Commission on developments at East Yorkshire: i. 7 new coaches for National Express and 2 new buses for East Riding had been invested in.

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ii. 11 new double-deckers were to be introduced in the next couple of weeks and would include WiFi, USB chargers and next stop display. iii. 320 people were working from Hull, plus those in the East Riding. Staff were to receive new uniforms, and would reap the benefits of East Yorkshire being part of a PLC rather than part of a group. iv. New IT systems and a new maintenance system were to be invested in. v. A head of operations had been employed. vi. The depot had been closed in July and the staff had been moved to other depots, and a pay deal had been secured. vii. From September fares had changed, and there was a new child weekly ticket available for £9.50. viii. Changes had been made to the network which meant routes were more sustainable.

Rob Foster informed the Commission of the work of the East Hull Community Transport service: i. EHCT had been operating since 2001 and was currently the only community transport service in Hull. ii. The service supplied with transport for vulnerable clients, and this service generated a small profit which then enabled the EHCT to deliver a Dial a Ride service that offered door to door transport for the elderly and vulnerable. iii. Austerity had hit the organisation financially. iv. The demand for the Dial a Ride service had increased year on year. v. CASE was a major client, where previously over 19s could not access transport. vi. Almost 75,000 clients were serviced in 2018. vii. Transport services for hospitals, local community groups and charities were offered.

Steve Adams (Business Improvement Manager, Streetscene) advised the Commission that Hull as a City had good transport times in comparison to other Cities and nationally; that the Quality Bus Partnership was to change to become more strategic and dynamic; and, the Digital Platform would totally change public transport.

Ruth Stephenson informed the Commission of strategic work taking place to address modal shift and other transport issues: i. Strategic work was on-going and the Commission had spoken at length about cycling, congestion and other issues. ii. Work was on-going in terms of the cycling network, including along the Stoneferry Corridor, and in regard to road safety, and both of these topics would be covered in-depth at future Scrutiny meetings. iii. The Local Transport Plan was being reviewed and updated.

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iv. A feasibility study in regard to a Northern Park and Ride was very new but had been contracted out. v. Pinchpoints were being addressed, including that at Derringham roundabout. vi. The strategic changes to the Quality Bus Partnership would improve its outcomes.

The Commission discussed: i. Whether East Hull Community Transport would consider a rebrand and improved marketing; that the service could be sold to the whole City and the East Riding; whether there was the possibility that the Council could contribute to the funding of the service; that an advert in the local paper had resulted in an oversubscription; that East Hull Community Transport had originally been part of a community transport network and only serviced the East Hull area; that it could be put to the Board that EHCT could become Hull Community Transport; that Hull City Council had supported the service with a small grant that had been reduced year on year due to austerity; the service supported charities and groups in need; and, every pound from HCC for the vulnerable was ploughed back into the service. ii. What customer training and staff and passenger surveying took place from Stagecoach and East Yorkshire; that Stagecoach staff were given 16 weeks of initial training, plus customer service and disability awareness, and were given remedial training if their standards slipped; Stagecoach completed a staff survey and the annual Passenger Survey, and in 2018 achieved an 87% satisfaction level; random areas were surveyed on a bi-annual basis; East Yorkshire offered a similar training programme to Stagecoach; EY had a 92% satisfaction rating through the Passenger Survey; both Stagecoach and EY levels were high and Hull was at the top end of national satisfaction; the team random sampled all routes at varying times of the day to assess delivery; and, an NHS stakeholder survey was about to be carried out to assess what the organisation needed. iii. Whether the two major companies would be able to cover the gaps in services left by EHCT; that the gaps were being covered where possible; large buses from the large companies could not cover built up areas; that the companies were run on a commercial basis and some services, such as rural ones, lost a lot of money; and, it would not be possible to run a service that could lose up to £100k. iv. Pinchpoints that were being looked at, and whether that included the pinchpoint at Beverley Road; that that pinchpoint had not been looked at specifically; a number had been flagged up and as soon as the time and resources were available all pinchpoints would be addressed following prioritisation; and, whether short term policies could be put in place, such as limiting the time vehicles could park whilst unloading, and long term plans could be made for when railway bridges were replaced to ensure they were wider. v. That, although the companies had reported positively in regard to employment, investment and greening buses, the City was still failing to achieve modal shift; whether there was anything that the Council could do to support the companies; that the issue most flagged up in surveys as being key was punctuality; 95% of journeys were punctual at their start point, but road issues impacted on that

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punctuality; bus lanes worked very well, but the low pricing of parking in the City centre impacted on bus use; the Park and Ride worked well but the signage to it on the A63 needed improving; the signage needed to physically show the Park and Ride details, so digital improvements were needed; weekly tickets for buses were very cheap in comparison to parking charges combined with the cost of running a car; contactless payments could be made on all buses, with no lower cost limit; the partnership between the Council and bus providers and other stakeholders was essential; partners needed to work as one to promote bus travel; and, they were committed to working together and attracting increased investment, and keen to work together on carbon neutral targets. vi. Concerns about the lack of bus services running at night, and the need to serve the night time economy and encourage people out of cars; that this was a chicken and egg situation, where the companies would not want to run extra services only to have to take them off again; that if the demand for leisure travel was increasing then talks could be held; and, employees in the leisure and catering industries might also welcome increased bus services. vii. The cost and marketing of Hull Cards; that if a Hull Card was lost or stolen then passengers had to go to the Interchange to renew it; the need for increased marketing of the KAT Card and Hull Card; that the cost of the Hull Card was based on agreed increments; there were discussions to be had regarding the Hull Card; the use of the KAT Card had increased; the KAT Card was advertised on buses and on posters; and, the users who qualified for KAT Cards were due to increase from 5% to 15% of the population. viii. How the companies aligned with the HCC carbon neutral plan; how to improve Hull’s position in the city leagues; that major investment had been made by both companies in Euro 6 vehicles, which were the nearest thing to carbon neutral; the use of electric vehicles in other areas was increasing, but there were issues around a charging network that would be able to cope with constant starting and stopping, including extra sub-stations; that electric vehicles cost 30% more than standard to purchase, so decisions would need to be made about companies buying or leasing them; that the East Yorkshire network was different to Stagecoach in that some buses covered 500 miles in a day; hybrid buses were still expensive but better; the buses being bought now were intended to last to 2034; the Federation of Passenger Transport was recommending that only zero or low emission vehicles be bought after 2025, but this would be reliant on government investment; and, the QBP was driving the green agenda. ix. How to get more people moving across the City and deal with congestion; that congestion was worse in the current year than previously; in Hull there were 30,000 bus journeys made per year as opposed to a national average of 26,000; that once the Platform was live the data gathered would be used to analyse journeys and the number of passengers and give an overview; analysis would have to be careful not to breach any data protection rules; and, that consideration of exempt information by Scrutiny Commissions was an everyday occurrence.

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A Member raised concerns about the Quality Bus Partnership and its governance: i. That, whilst appreciating the planned changes to the QBP to make it more strategic, members had concerns that there was no member representation on the Partnership, that it was not democratic, that the minutes from the QBP meetings were not made available; and, that the Partnership should be inclusive. ii. That the bus statistics on reliability and feedback should be openly accessible, as users of the buses experienced issues such as services regularly being pulled or buses not arriving, which would seem to contradict what the bus companies reported; and, that the partners on the QBP received those statistics, so the companies would be happy to provide them. iii. That Councillors needed to sit on the QBP, and Green transport and modal shift should be a standing item on the QBP agenda; that, as Councillor Hale sat on the QBP and represented Members, Cllr Hale and the Town Clerk would be approached to get their views on whether additional Members could sit on the Partnership; and, a response would be made through the Chair.

The Commission further discussed: i. How EHCT could be brought forward; as £3.50 per return journey was very cheap, whether that charge could be increased; that the organisation had strived to keep the charge low as the service was for those with a low income; the organisation was able to do hospital runs and other services as a result of the contracted local authority service; going forward it would be helpful if the Young People’s contract could be longer to enable longer term planning; that an increase in grants or income from contracts would enable the organisation to buy more vehicles and increase capacity; by transporting elderly and disabled clients to and from hospital appointments and to and from community centres the service helped prevent isolation and subsequent mental health issues; and, Dial a Ride ensured that those user groups could get out of their homes and socialise. ii. Whether passenger numbers had increased as a result of cashless payments; that EY passenger numbers were bucking the trend in that they were increasing year on year, and there was a week on week increase in cashless payments, which had now reached a level of a fifth of payments; it was not known whether they were new passengers or existing; and, Stagecoach passenger numbers had decreased, but contactless payments were increasing. iii. Whether the KAT Card funding of £60k from Hull City Council was a one-off payment ending in August 2021; and, it was but it was hoped that there would be future funding. iv. Whether cheap car parking was an influence in delays to modal shift; that Hull’s car parks had relative affordability, but in cities such as York car parking charges were high, but the Park and Ride was very successful; and, that less retail and weather changes were also an influence in less bus usage, but investment would help change that and boost bus use.

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v. The importance of creating synergy between bus travel and cycling, like Amsterdam did with rail travel and cycling; that options needed to be explored, such as having secure bike storage facilities at bus stops; discounted fares for those travelling part of their journey by bus; ways for cycles to be stored on buses; increasing journeys made partly by cycling and partly by bus; options utilised in other areas, such as bus pens on buses and roll on space, as for buggies and wheelchairs; and, that the Department for Transport was looking at cycle accommodation. vi. Whether the exit for buses coming out of the Interchange needed to be re-examined, but this was in fact only a small part of the congestion issue.

Recommendations: Reasons for Recommendations: a) That the Assistant Director of Streetscene will consult a) Members wised to see democratic representation on the QBP to with the Portfolio Holder for Economic Investment, ensure inclusivity and so that their views, and those of their Regeneration and Planning, Land and Property, and with residents, were fully considered by the Partnership. the Director of Legal Services and Partnerships, in order to address the request for Member representation on the Quality Bus Partnership, whilst taking into account the currently changing structure of the QBP.

b) In addition, members wish a) to have sight of bus b) a) It was felt that issues such as services being missed off were not company statistics related to reliability and feedback, and being accurately reported within the bus statistics so they needed to that these are taken to the QBP for discussion and be more transparent to enable challenge, b) Members wished to see challenge), b) receive copies of the QBP minutes in a the minutes to ensure they were informed of the issues discussed, timely manner following the meetings, and c) see green c) as modal shift is such an important and pressing issue it was felt transport and modal shift as a standing item on the that it should be included as a priority on agenda. agenda of the strategic arm of the QBP.

c) That, in order to address some of the pinch-points on the c) Members felt that delivery vehicles parking for extended periods on City's roads, consideration be given by Hull City Council roads was contributing to congestion. officers and the Quality Bus Partnership as to how time limits can be imposed on the loading times of vehicles parked on roads.

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d) In the long term, should railway bridges require d) The railway bridges currently in place were built at a time when replacement, then Network Rail be encouraged to make there was less traffic on roads and were now unable to them wider in order to remove long-standing pinch-points accommodate the flow of traffic. However, it was recognised that and improve flow on the City's roads. this may be a very long-term recommendation. e) That the planned Task and Finish around increasing e) It was felt that people were likely to cycle from out-lying areas to cycling in Hull should include consideration of the Park and Ride sites and take the bus to more central locations, and installation of secure bike storage at future Park and Ride that secure storage would encourage this. sites. f) That, as the service offered by East Hull Community f) EHCT representatives explained to the Commission what it did and Transport, as well as ensuring that vulnerable residents how it was funded, and that with extra funding there would be the attend medical and hospital appointments, combats capacity to increase the service and the social benefits. The isolation and associated health risks through addressing Commission felt that the joint commissioning between the CCG and social needs, it is recommended that community transport HCC may offer such opportunities. generally and East Hull Community Transport specifically be included on the Health and Social Well-Being Overview and Scrutiny Commission agenda so that the benefits and how the service can be built on can be explored..

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