Portsmouth City Borough Council Cabinet Member for Traffic & Transportation Meeting

There were no apologies.

There were no interests to declare.

Peter Shelley, Transport Development Manager, PCC Regeneration introduced the report.

Members Questions

In response to Members questions, officers clarified:

·         The additional text required for the Department for Transport was provided following the submission of the report on 30 June 2022 to clarify and explain in greater detail the reasons behind some elements of the report as it was originally written and made the intentions clearer for the Department of Transport.

·         The indicative funding allocation had become a real award subject to completion of the statutory consultation, which had been completed.

·         Bus stops within the city were being considered on a 'stop-by-stop' basis to assess how they fit into local parking situations.  The aim was to improve the environment from an accessibility point of view, both for the bus to stop as well as for passengers to board and disembark from the bus.  A bus boarder builds the pavement out so the bus can stop parallel to any parked cars and load passengers on and off without having to pull in and out.  This helps minimise delays to the service.

·         Core routes are the most well used routes.

·         There were two ways fare disparity between First Hampshire and Stagecoach were being dealt with.  The first was to introduce a more graduated fare scale to make both services more comparable.  The second was to introduce a range of value fares, for example, evening tickets, family tickets and job seekers tickets which would be available across both companies' services.  Some funding was available through BSIP to help with these initiatives.

·         Opposition spokespersons were to be briefed on discussions and decisions from the Partnership Board.

·         Conventional services were the traditional bus services.  Demand response services were similar to 'dial a ride' - a service which is more flexible in response to need.  Unserved communities include not just geographical communities but also groups that are not well reached by traditional services.  Funding was available to communicate with and reach out to these groups to better understand their needs and to ensure everyone had the best access to services in the city.

·         Early morning journeys had already commenced.  The future timetable of improvements was to be outlined on the programme board and in the stakeholder engagement group.  A solution would be discussed with the Communications team on how to best ensure Councillors are fully informed and kept up to date.

·         All buses running on regular services were Euro 6 and complied with the Clean Air Zone.

Members Comments

·         Councillors thanked officers for the thorough report and voiced the hope it will make a positive impact on the operation of bus services in the city.

·         Congratulations were offered for the second highest successful bid of any outside of a combined mayoral area.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Traffic & Transportation:

1.    Noted the contents of the report

2.    Noted that the Department for Transport required additional text in the Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme.

3.    Approved the Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme.

4.    Approved the implementation of the Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme from 8 December 2022.

Peter Shelley, Transport Development Manager, PCC Regeneration introduced the report.

Members Questions

In response to Members questions, officers clarified:

·         The contracts were due to be renewed in December 2020 but due to the pandemic this was not considered appropriate timing.  Procurement advised that, until now, it would not have been possible to obtain realistic responses from a range of operators thereby obtaining best value for Portsmouth residents.

·         The money drawn from the parking reserves takes into account inflationary pressures and includes a contract uplift from July through to October.

·         The Department for Transport (DfT) required all authorities across the country to undertake a network review when DfT were planning to cease their bus recovery grant funding at the end of September.  During this review, First Bus advised they could no longer continue to run some services and requested funding for the 22 and 13/14.  They were following the Department for Transport formula that all bus operators across the country should work with their local authority.

·         Potential legal challenge may come from other bus operators who feel they have been excluded from the opportunity to bid.  Working with procurement, it wasn’t considered that this was a substantial risk due to the state of the bus supply market.

·         BSIP money can not be used to subsidise services but can be used to enhance services.

·         The 13/14 service would be run on an enhanced basis through to October.  The service was engaging with all the current operators and new potential bidders, giving opportunity for the service to be properly planned by them to run from the end of October.  BSIP money would be used prior to this to improve the service offer.

·         The Service had met with Legal Services and Procurement to consider all legal implications and the balance of risk.  Procurement advice was that there would be a danger going out to tender now as the incumbent operator may be the only bidder and therefore the Council would not have a fair market exploration.  The tender process will commence early in 2023 allowing potential bidders time to consider their bids and have new services in place from the end of October.

Members Comments

·         Members considered this should be the last time the contract is extended, and that the tender process must now commence.

·         Members supported the bus improvement plans.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation:

1.    Approved to extend the current supported bus service contracts from 31 July 2023 to 28 October 2023 with delegated authority to the Director of Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation and Section 151 Officer to complete the extension.

2.    Noted that wavier approval will need to be sought from Procurement and Legal Service in respect of the proposed extensions to the contracts set out above, in accordance with the Council's Contracts Procedures Rules.

3.    Approved the development and implementation by the Transport Service supported by Procurement and Legal Services, of a procurement strategy to re-tender the bus contracts.  This procurement strategy will be informed by demand, developing local and national policy, peer review and soft market testing with bus operators.

4.    Approved the use of Portsmouth Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) expenditure to enhance the services 13,14 and 25 following investigation of options as detailed in the Portsmouth BSIP.  To delegate authority to the Director of Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation and Section 151 Officer to procure contracts on the above supported bus routes to enhance services.

5.    To procure any necessary local bus services following the ending of Bus Recovery Grant in March 2023 to 28 October 2023 with delegated authority to the Director of Regeneration in consultation with Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation and Section 151 Officer.

6.    Noted that a paper will be brought back to a Traffic and Transportation Cabinet meeting following the completion of the procurement process to re-tender the contracts and recommend awards.  This paper would also deal with any short-term procurements following the cessation of Bus Recovery Grant in March 2023.

Michelle Love, Safer Travel Manager introduced the report.

Deputations

Mike Dobson gave a deputation on behalf of Friends of Old Portsmouth Association.

Deputations are not minuted but can be viewed at:

Traffic & Transportation Decision meeting, 8 December on Livestream

Members questions

In response to Members questions, officers clarified:

·         The delay in bringing the item was due to staff shortages within the team and the redistribution of workloads.  A period of time was needed for new officers to become acclimatised to their roles and learn the history and background of the issue.

·         Other crossing points in the area were considered and developed after the production of this report.  A consultation with the residents of Old Portsmouth had recently closed on options for a crossing point at the junction of Peacock Lane and the High Street.  Shipwrights Way is funded from a different funding stream to that of the crossing points.

·         The Shipwrights Way scheme is a cycling and walking historic route and a scenic tourist visitor attraction.  Recommendations for crossing points resulted from the Old Portsmouth Study which came for decision in 2021.  Both schemes have been considered within the whole area schematics.

·         The TRO was a measure to ensure that pedestrians have greater access to the Shipwrights Way route.  None of the work was in relation to speed reduction measures.  It was noted that a significant speeding problem was not found during the last speed survey between 1^st and 7^th May 2021.  

·         The route would be signposted in a complimentary manner in accordance with the rest of the route.

·         Engagement with ward councillors commenced in June 2021 and agreement for the scope of the consultation was decided to be a TRO.  These were advertised publicly and on the PCC website allowing opportunity for all consultees to make their responses.

·         The proposed design was for dropped kerbs with tactile paving.  If the decision was delayed to consider a raised table this may affect timescales and costs and could not be guaranteed to return to the next decision meeting.

There was a discussion about the public view submitted at Appendix B of the report which appeared to be from one resident but was on behalf of the Friends of Old Portsmouth Association, which represents 274 households and approximately 350 adults.  Councillors considered this was misleading to members and members of the public.  Officers advised this was to preserve the deputees anonymity.   Officers agreed to check this was the correct procedure and agreed to amend the report and republish if there was a mistake. 

Subsequent to the meeting it was confirmed that there were no issues in attributing the comments to the Friends of Old Portsmouth Association (FOOPA) and the updated Appendix B to the report is appended as Appendix 1 to these minutes.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation:

1.    Approved to relocate the existing bus stop clearing on High Street, Old Portsmouth, 5 meters further north-eastwards.

2.    Approved to extend the no waiting at any time restrictions (double yellow lines) on Battery Row by 3.5 meters on both sides.

3.    Approved to update the waiting and parking restrictions in the Order to match those on-street, covering the following lengths of road: Broad Street, Battery Row and High Street, Old Portsmouth

Appendix 1

Appendix B: Public views submitted

Joanne Eldridge, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer introduced the report.

Members thanked the officer for the report and noted the benefits of the Feasibility process in ensuring public transparency on Traffic and Transportation matters and proposed transport works.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation noted the report