Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Email: committees@midsussex.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

To note Substitutes in Accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4 - Substitutes at Meetings of Committees etc.

Minutes:

None.

 

2.

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Councillors Catharine, Belsey and Sweatman.

 

3.

To receive Declaration of Interests from Members in respect of any matter on the Agenda.

Minutes:

None.

4.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2019. pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

5.

To consider any items that the Chairman agrees to take as urgent business.

Minutes:

None.

6.

Parking Strategy Refresh 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Minutes:

Claire Onslow, Business Unit Leader for Parking Services, introduced the report which provided a summary of the key findings of the Burgess Hill and East Grinstead Road Space Audits as well as setting out the planned approach for taking forward the Parking Strategy refresh in 2019/20. The refresh work to the Parking Strategy will set the future strategic direction for the delivery of off-street parking provision by the Council and provides the Council with an opportunity to consider the future strategic direction of the District’s car park portfolio, considering how it needs to respond to growing demand and the future economic requirements of the town and parish centres. She drew attention Appendix A and Appendix B which detailed the respective Road Space Audit for Burgess Hill and East Grinstead.

 

A Member commended the collective work of Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council ambitions due to this being such a large piece of work and noted that the Council aims to carry this out by March 2020. She sought reassurances from officers that the strategy will be carried out by 2020 and requested information that could be used to inform her constituents to address their concerns over parking provision.

 

Judy Holmes, Assistant Chief Executive, reassured the Member and highlighted the need for the strategy to work effectively with the Mid Sussex Local Plan and Economic Development Strategy. The parking strategy aims to achieve more than identifying where parking can be provided, it aims to support sustainable housing and business growth in the District.

 

A Member welcomed the creation of a Member Working Group to guide and steer the work of the Parking Strategy and expressed that he looks forward with interest.

 

A Member raised concerns over the parking provision in East Grinstead, noting the development of a new hotel and a block of flats without the provision of parking. She believed the problem is huge and that a multi-storey car park seems to be the only solution.

 

The Assistant Chief Executive confirmed that the Parking Strategy will set the strategic direction of the service and will include identifying and exploring the feasibility of investment car parks or land that could be developed for car parking.

A Member drew attention to Item E, Paragraph 9 of the report and enquired how the Council works with businesses to update their transport plan.

 

TheBusiness Unit Leader for Parking Services explained that WSCC lead on transport plans, however, the Parking Services Team will be proactively engaging with businesses to raise awareness of parking issues that affect them and to update their plans to accordingly.

 

The Chairman noted that no Member wished to speak so moved to the recommendation to note the contents of the report which was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

 

7.

Cashless Parking – Six Month Monitoring Report. pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Minutes:

Claire Onslow,Business Unit Leader for Parking Services, introduced the report which sought to provide the Committee with an overview of the first six months of the Cashless Parking project since its introduction in July 2018. The development, identified as a customer need, was delivered over a period of 3 weeks and has grown beyond expectations with up to 24% of transactions being made via a cashless platform. She noted a few minor issues with behavioural changes however this was expected. She also noted that an O2 international network failure prevented card payments for a 24 hour period although this was experienced by other local authorities.

 

A Member noted Paragraph 23, P.18 of the report which outlined that there is less flexibility to offer special tariffs in car parks without incurring additional programming costs. She enquired whether there is any break-even point before costs are incurred.

 

The Business Unit Leader for Parking Services explained that there is no break-even point with changing the machines as there is a fixed cost associated with re-programming each machine however the acceptance of coins for a ticket to be issued can be easily changed.

 

A Member questioned what the council is doing to promote the App as it is the most cost-effective method of paying for a ticket.

 

The Cabinet Member for Service Delivery confirmed that the Council has promoted the App through the Mid Sussex Matters magazine as well as the Council’s social media platforms.

 

The Cabinet Member for Customer Services added that the Council is currently carrying out a soft landing of this service which allows the service to bed in before carrying out a large scale promotion campaign. With the first review having been carried out, the Council can now look forward to promoting it further.

 

A Member sought clarification over whether problems with O2 are experienced in future it will mean that customers will be able to park for free.

 

The Cabinet Member for Service Delivery clarified that customers do get parking for free in that eventuality however the Council would receive compensation from O2.

 

A Member asked whether the Council is considering the inclusion of half hour payments in future.

 

The Cabinet Member for Service Delivery confirmed that this could be explored when the strategy is reviewed by the Member Working Group.

 

A Member sought reassurances that the option of paying by cash will still be made available.

 

The Cabinet Member for Service Delivery explained that the option of cash will always be made available as it important that the residents will have every possible payment method available to them.

 

The Chairman noted that no Member wished to speak so move to the recommendation to note the contents of the report which was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

 

8.

Member Development Working Group Achievements 2017-18. pdf icon PDF 63 KB

Minutes:

Terry Stanley, Business Unit Leader forDemocratic Services, introduced the report which sought to provide a summary of the Member Development Working Group’s achievements in the period December 2017 - December 2018. He informed the Committee that the Member Development Working Group (MDWG) tasked him and Democratic Services to improve the training material and options available to Members. Notably, this has resulted in the development of the Learning Pool to add to the options available to Members with in-person training material transferred into online material for those who could not attend the training session. Better promotion of Member learning opportunities had doubled average attendance levels and more effective evaluation methods had been noted and commended by the MDWG.

 

Councillor Ellis, Chairman of the Member Development Working Group, expressed how good it was to work with the Group and thanked every Member and Officer who contributed to the success of the Working Group which has provided a wide range of tools to help Members to more effectively serve their constituents.

 

Councillor Thomas-Atkin, Portfolio Holder for the Member Development Working Group, thanked all those that had input to the Group.

 

The Chairman thanked Councillor Ellis, Councillor Thomas-Atkin, Councillor Binks and Councillor Fussell and other for their contributions to the Committee and the Working Group.

 

The Chairman noted that no other Member wished to speak so moved to the recommendation to note the contents of the report which was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

 

9.

New Member Induction Arrangements 2019. pdf icon PDF 78 KB

Minutes:

Terry Stanley, Business Unit Leader for Democratic Services, introduced the report which sought to inform the Scrutiny Committee of the arrangements that have been made for the new intake of Members following the district council elections scheduled for 2nd May 2019. The purpose of the arrangements was to redesign the approach for new Member induction training, with the model designed to show new Councillors who they are going to be working with; what they will be doing and how their work connects with council priorities to better meet the need of new members. All sessions will be video recorded so that the induction sessions and can be provided to those who could not attend the sessions or for those who are subsequently elected at by-elections.

 

The Chairman noted that no Member wished to speak so moved to the recommendation to note the contents of the report which was agreed unanimously.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

 

 

10.

Questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10 due notice of which has been given.

Minutes:

None.