Basingstoke & Dean Borough Council Scrutiny Committee Meeting

Apologies were received from Councillor Bean and Councillor Carr.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent items.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Head of Climate Change and Sustainability advised the Committee that in response to a Work Programme suggestion form, members would receive short briefings on four sperate subjects presented by BDBC officers and guests from Stagecoach and HCC.

The Committee made the following comments in relation to the presentations.

Hampshire County Council

• Sought clarification in relation to the initiatives that would receive funding.

• Reference was made to the total spend for Basingstoke and various budget cuts.

• Questioned whether work was underway to create a two-way traffic system in the town centre to reduce congestion.

Stagecoach

• In response to concerns raised that the live app information on bus schedules was often out of date. The Committee were advised that the Brighton Hill roadworks had caused some buses to be so late that they were taken out of service and therefore it was difficult to keep the schedules up to date.

• Suggested that stagecoach could try and kickstart demand by increasing the frequency of buses in specific areas. Officers advised that there was a limit on how many services could be run without a financial impact.

• Acknowledged that some people’s habits had changed following the pandemic and that many people now shopped online instead of using buses to travel to the supermarket.

Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

• Commented that there were a number of other services provided for residents which were paid for by organisations such as parish councils.

• Would like to see the reintroduction of a park and ride system.

• Suggested that the Council provide schemes to assist and support new

           younger hackney carriage drivers. 

·       Raised concern that there were long waiting times for taxi services.

·       In response to a question, the Regulatory Services Manager advised that Basingstoke was not a large enough area for companies like uber.

Resolved: The Committee

1.     Thanks the officers for their presentations

2.     Notes the transport update

3.     Requests that the Transport Task and Finish Group reviews the issues raised.

The Leader introduced the report which presented the Committee with the updated Council Plan for 2023 to 2027, following a number of amendments made by the new administration.

The Chair invited visiting speaker Councillor Lee to address the Committee, his comments included:

• Stated that the updated Council Plan contained a vision of a well-designed haven of beauty built on sustainable communities.

• That the plan aimed to protect the most vulnerable of society

and had a specific focus on neighbourhoods.

• Welcomed the mention of Winklebury as the ward had been waiting for much needed regeneration for a number of years.

• Pleased to see Leisure, culture, arts and young people specifically mentioned in the plan.

• There was a responsibility for everyone to work together to make the plan a reality.

• Would like to see the names of who is responsible for each action included in the plan.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

• Some members felt that a number of wards had become rundown and were in need of regeneration.

• Stated that any new development should not be detrimental to existing residents.

• The Committee stressed the importance of communication and ensuring that ward members were kept up to date.

• Requested that updates on progress were reported back to the Committee.

• Suggested that resident feedback was sought more effectively.

• The issue of creating an accessible police presence in the town centre was raised as it was felt that would result in residents feeling safer.

Resolved: The Committee considers the updated Council Plan 2023 to 2027 and provides its Comments to the Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services and Housing introduced the report which presented the Committee with the annual review of the Council’s housing allocations scheme.

The Committee discussed the report and made the following comments:

• Questioned whether the CBL Bidding system worked better for applicants.

• Considered that residents may feel that they need to take the shortest route to become housed for example by accepting a flat rather than a house as it would take longer.

• Work was needed to boost the housing supply as for example there was a need for accommodation for single people over 35 as well as 4-to-5-bedroom houses.

• Felt that further investigation was needed to understand why some applicants had never accessed the Home Bid System.

• Suggested that the household income threshold be reviewed to determine whether it should be proportional to the household type.

• Stated that there was a lack of supply in rural areas.

• Questioned whether ward Councillors could be made aware of new properties becoming available so that they could promote them to local residents.

• Suggested that a review of the suitability criteria be undertaken.

Resolved: The Committee

1.     notes the report

1.      notes that additional resourcing has been identified to provide an additional 1.5 FTE to the housing register team to provide more support to vulnerable housing applicants.

1.     Requests that the Housing Allocations Task and Finish Group reviews the issues raised.

The Chair introduced the work programme and gave a brief overview of the items that would be included on the agenda for the upcoming meetings.

Suggested that the item on “how the Council works with local businesses” be reviewed at the next Overview & Scrutiny chairs meeting.

Advised that an update from the task and finish groups would take place in January.

The Committee requested that the Democratic Services Officer contact the group leaders to seek nominations for the transport task and finish group.