Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs M E Ellerton.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Scrutiny Board meeting held on 23 January 2013.

It was AGREED that the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Board held on 23 January 2013 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no Chairman's announcements.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct and disclosures of advice or directions received from Group Leaders or Political Groups, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

There were no declarations of interest or disclosures of advice or directions made at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

There were no deputations made at this meeting.

To participate in a question and answer session with representatives of First Bus.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor P J Davies joined the Board during the consideration of this item.

The Board received a presentation on Bus Services in the Fareham Area from Marc Reddy and Chrissie Bainbridge of First Bus. A list of members' questions had been compiled and forwarded to First Bus in advance of the meeting and some of these were addressed during the presentation and others in the question and answer session following the presentation.

The presentation included details of: how the bus industry works; the Solent Business Unit (Hoeford and Hilsea); challenges facing the industry; tendered services; commercial network; Eclipse BRT; customer engagement; investment; Fareham Rail Station Interchange; Fareham Community Hospital; the transport needs of young people; and further initiatives.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors R H Price and G Fazackarley participated in the question and answer session.

In response to members' questions, it was noted that:

of the 59 brand new vehicles due in Hampshire and Dorset in the next twelve months, at least 16 of them would go to Hoeford;

a further 64 vehicles would be refurbished;

all single-decker buses would have to comply with legislation concerning low floor requirements by 2015 (and double-deckers by 2017) and so Volvo Olympians from 1996 and SLF Darts from 1997 currently in use in Fareham would be replaced by then;

50 - 60% of buses based at Hoeford operated on Portsmouth routes;

the local management team would be reminded of the importance of liaison with councillors;

the introduction of the trial bus lane in Western Way was a solution reached as a result of a partnership between Hampshire County Council and First Bus;

details of any bus changing from its official route, unless at the instruction of the police or management, should be reported to First Bus; 

a town centre terminus was fundamental to the operation of the service;

consultation on proposed service changes was difficult because making information available too soon could enable competitors to react to them; a customer panel for Fareham and Gosport had been set up and the minutes of the meetings were available on the First Bus website; Councillor Davies was invited to become a member of the customer panel for Fareham and Gosport; information on social media had greatly increased;

consideration was being given to producing leaflets with individual service timetables on in addition to the composite timetables showing all the services in Fareham and Gosport;

as a general rule, a spare driver was available at each depot first thing in the morning and in the afternoon to cover any unforeseen absence and, in addition, a list of further drivers that could be called in was available;

the 14% modal shift from car to Eclipse reported equated to approximately 200,000 journeys a year;

First Bus found it difficult to support the use of the Western Way bus lane by taxis and private hire vehicles because the appearance of some of them was similar enough to normal cars to mislead other motorists and lead to them also using the bus lane, thus impacting severely on one of the four key aspects of the Eclipse service - speed of journey.

It was AGREED that:-

(a)       Marc Reddy and Chrissie Bainbridge be thanked for their presentation and for answering members' questions; and

(b)       a copy of the presentation be circulated to members of the Board.

To receive a presentation from the Chairman of the Genesis Centre Executive Committee.

The Board received a presentation from the Chairman of the Genesis Centre Executive Committee, Councillor S D T Woodward. The presentation included details of the development of the Genesis young people's centre at Locks Heath, the Genesis Management Committee, accommodation offered, operational information, current usage information, the Monday Night Project - 'Identity' and issues for consideration. The presentation sought to give answers to members' questions agreed at the meeting of the Scrutiny Board on 27 September 2012 (minute 7 refers).

It was AGREED that Councillor Woodward be thanked for his presentation and for answering members' subsequent questions.

To consider a report by the Director of Finance and Resources reviewing the Board's work programme for 2013/13 and considering the draft work programme for 2013/14.

The Board considered a report by the Director of Community on the Council's Safeguarding Policy (copy of report sb-130321-r03-jmi circulated with agenda). The report proposed several changes to the Policy, including taking account of national changes and revised guidance and extending the Council's safeguarding responsibilities to also include the needs of vulnerable adults.

It was noted that a related report concerning Disclosure and Barring Checks would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board following further legal advice.

(Councillor Forrest left the meeting at 8.03pm).

It was AGREED that:-

(a)          the widening of the Council's Safeguarding Policy to include vulnerable adults in addition to children and young people be supported; and

(b)          the revised Safeguarding Policy, as shown in Appendix A to the report, be supported and forwarded to the Executive for approval and implementation

To consider a report by the Director of Finance and Resources reviewing the Board’s work programme for 2012/13 and considering the draft work programme for 2013/14.

The Board considered a report by the Director of Finance and Resources reviewing the Board's work programme for 2012/13 and considering the draft work programme for 2013/14 (copy of report sb-130321-r04-awa circulated with agenda).

It was AGREED that:-

(a)          the outcome of the Board's work programme for 2012/13, as shown in Appendix A to the report, be noted;

(b)          the Council be informed that the Board considers that the call-in procedure is operating satisfactorily and that there are no reasons to suggest that the arrangements should be amended for 2013/14;

(c)          the officers be requested to liaise with the three agreed external organisations and the Executive members to arrange for a presentation at each of the six meetings in 2013/14;

(d)          subject to (c) above and to the updating of the items for the meeting on 21 November 2013, the provisional work programme for 2013/14, as shown in Appendix B to the report, be approved; and

(e)          the provisional work programme for 2013/14, attached as Appendix A to these minutes, be submitted to the Council.

If requested by a member, to consider any item of business dealt with by the Executive, since the last meeting of the Board. The relevant Executive meetings are 11 February and 4 March 2013. (This will also include any decisions taken by individual Executive members during the same time period.)

There were no items of Executive business considered.