To receive any apologies for absence.

None received.

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

Cllr Sharma – Declared a Pecuniary Interest in the item on the Borough’s bus service as he works for First Group as a bus driver and he holds the portfolio as Bus Champion. Cllr Sharma stated he would be available to answer any questions from the Panel but, would leave the room during the debate and vote on the item. Cllr Grey chaired this item on the agenda.

To receive the above report.

Ben Smith, Head of Transport & Highways introduced the report and stated it covered three main elements which were the pool car fleet, options for the replacement of the Mayoral car and on street electric car charging stations. Delegations to the Lead Member to assess the outcome of work and the way forward.

Cllr Grey stated he was trying to see where the benefits were in financial terms. He saw that item two and three in the report covered some of the information but he could not see where the financial benefit would be. The Head of Highways & Transport stated there were a number of issues discussed in the paper. When the pool cars were procured, they needed to cover approximately 10,000 miles per year to make the business case. However, at present they were covering approximately 6,000 miles per year; therefore, it was costing the council more money for the lease due to the lack of mileage covered. He added it made no difference if the pool cars were petrol, diesel or electric vehicles, in order to get the best deal, they needed to drive up the usage of pool cars.

Cllr Grey stated that if they were not being used, they would cos the council more money. He added that it was inconvenient for officers to use the pool cars and then have to bring them back to the Town Hall to collect their own cars. It would make more sense if officers could keep the cars overnight and then bring them back the next day. The Head of Transport & Highways confirmed that it was possible for staff to take the vehicles home but, they were unable to do that everyday as that would make them personal cars with different tax issues. The primary purpose of the pool cars was for short term use. David Scott, Head of Communities and Highways explained that the pool cars were there for officers to make site visits and carry out other duties that meant they had to travel. It was important to try and get as many of those visits carried out in pool cars.

The Chairman stated analysis was required to see if the pool cars were still needed. The Head of Highways and Transport confirmed that at present, there was a choice for staff to use their own cars for site visits or, for them to use the pool cars. To make the business case, officers had to use the pool cars and have them on the road. A report could be brought to Cabinet on the business case to see if the council needed 13 pool cars. The Chairman said he was very supportive of electric cars; he had driven electric buses which were eco friendly. The cars would be very quiet, there were no parking charges in London for electric cars, the cars could be charged using 32amp and so could be charged at home and there was no road tax or emissions. He added that there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

The report, relating to Public Bus Services in the Royal Borough, is urgent as a number of routes would have services withdrawn at the end of April 2017 if a decision is not made by Cabinet on bus services  before that date

Ben Smith, Head of Highways & Transport stated bus services operated in different ways. There were stand alone commercial operators, some were subsidised by the council and some would not run without a subsidy. In May 2016 operators of some services came to the council saying that without financial support, some routes would cease to run. Cabinet funded some services for 12 months and work was carried out on how the subsidies worked.

The number 16 by Courtney Buses wrote and sais they would end the route in April 2017 if the council did not subsidise so the report was requesting extra funding to continue to subsidise the route.

The Head of Highways & Transport continued that Surrey County Council had ceased funding therefore, RBWM needed to increase funding for buses to continue running to Staines. The Panel needed to consider continue funding each year for the services to continue.

Mr Henry Perez attended the Panel in order to speak about the petition he and others submitted in keeping services on specific bus routes running. He stated he was there to tell us about route 305. He had asked to address the Panel as he wanted to keep the 305 bus route on the radar and emphasise the need for the bus service. He and his friend Mr Cribbin decided to petition the council to request funding for the service. He set a limit of 12 days for the petition to run and at the end of the period, there were over 1,200 signatures; other residents had also contacted him to help get more signatures on the petition.

The bus service was used to carry school children to and from Magna Carta school in Staines and without the service, there would be no other way of them getting there. There were a number of elderly residents that used the bus rout to visit friends and family and elderly residents used the bus to get to the bus station in Staines; without the service, the couldn’t visit anyone. Mr Perez ended by saying the 305 bus service provided a lifeline in the community.

The Chairman left the room during the rest of the discussion and Councillor Jesse Grey chaired the item.

Councillor Hunt said she thought it was excellent for RBWM to keep the service running to keep communities together. She said she had heard from the speaker regarding the 305 route; that service would be paid for by the Borough but, it would also pay for residents in areas not within RBWM. The route also took the Borough’s residents outside the Borough to shop in Staines in another Borough. She added that she could understand paying for a bus to bring residents from outside the Borough to shop in the royal Borough. The Head of Highways & Transport confirmed that the bus service was operated by Surrey and they stopped funding it so it fell to the Borough to step in; it was now being run on a monthly rolling contract. He added  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

To consider passing the following resolution:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1- 7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act"

To receive the above appendix.