Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, 4th July, 2018, 2.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG

Contact: Laura Wilson  Senior Governance Officer

Items
No. Item

15.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Councillor Nicola Heaton – personal

Councillor Mohammed Ibrahim – unwell

Councillor Sue Johnson – Council business

16.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

None.

17.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 128 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2018

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 June 2018 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chair.

18.

Discussion with the Leader/Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth pdf icon PDF 152 KB

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Minutes:

Councillor Jon Collins, Leader and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, gave a presentation outlining progress within his portfolio against Council Plan priorities and the main priorities and challenges for 2018/19. He highlighted the following points:

 

(a)  all 35 measures for Regeneration and Growth in the Council Plan had an expected outcome rating of Green;

 

(b)  2,000 new jobs have been created in Nottingham City through developing sites, including the Boots campus, the Science Park and BioCity;

 

(c)  there has been strong progress in taking forward Broadmarsh Shopping Centre retail, car park, bus station and Nottingham Skills Hub proposals to create a world class entrance to the south of the city centre, while a legal deal has been signed to develop the Guildhall site;

 

(d)  the Growth Hub is fully funded until March 2019 and has so far supported 600 businesses in Nottingham, and plans to extend the initiative until March 2022 are progressing. While a local Investment Bank has not been established, the Midlands Engine Investment Fund is in place;

(e)  the Trent Basin development Phase 1 was complete and Phase 2 was under way, while a planning application for the redevelopment of the Island Site has been submitted;

(f)  Sneinton Market and Creative Quarter regeneration has been both successful and ongoing, and over 500 creative and digital businesses have been supported in the City;

(g)  the tram network has been significantly expanded since 2015, with further expansions being considered;

(h)  a raft of other commitments, including protecting specific projects from cuts and supporting business investment, have also been delivered.

Following questions from the Committee, the following additional information was provided:

(i)  the ambition of travelling by rail from London to Nottingham in 90 minutes remained unfulfilled. This would require a combination of electrification, the straightening of the track curve outside Market Harborough and significant timetabling revisions, and was currently a lesser national infrastructure priority;

(j)  properties opposite Sneinton Market were currently an eyesore, but a submission for planning permission to develop student accommodation on-site was expected shortly;

(k)  it was explained that the rationale for leasing or selling off assets such as the Imperial Tobacco site depended on anticipated yield. While it was good to keep control of land, even over longer term leases, if yield was low and with little prospect of increasing then it might be better to dispose of the asset;

(l)  the economic climate was insufficiently robust to develop speculatively in Nottingham, rather, there needed to be evidence of feasibility to invest in regeneration, the market being risk-averse, unlike in London and the South East;

(m)  the Midlands Engine did provide a strong opportunity to attract inward investment to Nottingham, but Nottingham also needed to be more visible and vocal about its advantages, so that the Midlands Engine did not become West Midlands-driven.

RESOLVED to thank Councillor Collins for his attendance, and to note the content of his update.

 

19.

Implementation of measures to improve air quality pdf icon PDF 201 KB

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Angela Rawson, Regional Licensing and Policy Manager, provided a presentation on the Nottingham’s Hackney Carriage and private Hire Vehicle Strategy 2017-2020, with a focus on the possible impact of its implementation on the city’s air quality. The following points were highlighted:

 

(a)  there are numerous contributors to air pollution, including aeroplanes, industry, landfill, transport, construction, consumer products and pesticides;

 

(b)  the key deliverables of the Strategy were to:

·  improve the customer care experience;

·  work with adjoining authorities to develop coherent licensing and enforcement policy;

·  create a city centre taxi zone;

·  have a clean fleet;

·  develop a driver improvement penalty points system;

·  introduce an improved fit and proper person test;

·  improve safeguarding and use of technology;

 

(c)  Nottingham currently has just over 400 diesel hackney cabs, with an average age of 14 years and compliant with Euro3 requirements. The city also had just over 1,600 private hire vehicles with a variety of engines (diesel, petrol, hybrid, electric) with an average age of 6 years and compliant with Euro4/Euro5 requirements;

 

(d)  a staged implementation of the policy on age and emissions of vehicles was planned, the key milestones being the upgrading/greening of the hackney fleet by 2020, the introduction of age limits for both fleets by 2025 and full implementation of ULEV (ultra-low emissions vehicles) for both fleets by 2030;

 

(e)  other changes included the launch of the MyTaxi app, changed rules in respect of advertising and changed livery from green to black and white.

 

The following information was provided during discussion:

 

(f)  the City Council has been working closely with the sector to ensure a smooth roll-out of the Strategy. It was acknowledged that there was potentially a significant cost to taxi drivers to ensure compliance with the Strategy, depending on the type, age and condition of their current vehicles;

 

(g)  work is ongoing to create a citywide electric vehicle charging network, including consideration of charge points at Loxley House;

 

(h)  lease plan schemes for paying for vehicles was helpful in encouraging uptake of electric vehicles, providing an opportunity and incentive to upgrade at the point at which lease plans came to a close;

 

(i)  monitoring the impact of the proposed changes on air quality will be largely through statistical modelling and generic air quality testing rather than through testing individual vehicles. Other interim measures, including restrictions on idling, were also being considered.

 

RESOLVED to note the presentation and information provided during discussion.

20.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

Minutes:

RESOLVED to:

 

(1)  include under the Air Quality discussion in September 2018 consideration of the electric powering of the Council’s fleet, including bin lorries, and the City Council’s role as opinion leader for electrification of vehicles;

 

(2)  add consideration of ‘Universal Credit’ for the October 2018 meeting and to remove ‘Enforcement Agent Review’ from the schedule for October 2018.