To receive an update from Lisa Hughes.

Lisa Hughes reported that at the start of November she was alerted to the draft parking strategy and spent a good deal of time reading through it and considering whether it had due regard for the needs of People with Disabilities and/or Older People.

As a result, Lisa Hughes submitted a complaint to the Lead Member for Parking and Director of Adults, Health and Commissioning about the process which hadn’t been consultative and only allowed “comment” after the proposed Parking Strategy had been approved. Lisa Hughes also flagged issues, omissions and inaccuracies in the proposed strategy.

Some of the issues would have negatively impacted People with Disabilities and Older People but the strategy proposed no mitigations for these impacts. One such issue related to a proposed resident parking discount that was only available to residents with smartphones. Lisa Hughes reminded RBWM that around 20% of older adults did not have a smartphone so asked how they could claim the discount. RBWM withdrew the proposed residents’ discount.

The omissions would result in an incomplete description of the Borough characteristics around age and disability with associated parking needs and parking challenges. Therefore a parking strategy built thereon would not be based on robust information and projections.

The inaccuracies primarily related to eligibility for a Blue Badge.

Disappointingly, few amendments were made to the strategy and it was approved by the Cabinet. However, the Cabinet delegated authority to Hillary Hall and Cllr Cannon to make reasonable minor amendments to the strategy after consideration by an O&S Panel; the two Town Forums and our Forum.

Dominic Manley thanked Lisa Hughes for her continued insight into these areas. Dominic Manley asked if there were any overviews that the Forum could see and read before meetings so that each member had a more detailed insight to be able to comment. Lisa Hughes suggested that she could share the responses that she sent in. Sometimes these come up at real short notice as with the parking strategy.

Peter Haley thanked Lisa Hughes for all her hard efforts. Peter Haley asked if Lisa Hughes made notes on the mail documents which she could highlighted to the Forum. Lisa Hughes suggested that she could send the Forum the Parking Strategy and the response then the Forum could see the points that she had raised. Lisa Hughes suggested that the Forum could feedback back to Lisa Hughes.

The Chairman agreed that it was a good idea to share more information between the meetings.

Dominic Manley reminded the Forum that the Chairman had asked for more participation from Forum Members. Dominic Manley asked if it would be possible to recruit more disabled members who were prepared to be more active within the Forum.

Lisa Hughes informed the Forum that Sharon Bunce had started to takeover the transport and parking issues from Lisa Hughes. The handover was very lengthy as there was a lot of knowledge to try and pick up. It was a good idea for other Forum Members to get involved to prevent the perception that matters raised were the individual view of Lisa Hughes and show the Forum stands as a group that highlights the challenges of a lot of people with disabilities around the borough.

Peter Haley suggested if the new Equalities Officer could assist on this and if this would be included in the new role. Helen Preedy would discuss with the Chairman and Vice Chairman at their meeting in the New Year.

The Chairman pointed out that any specific issues that needed comment were highlighted to Forum Members by both the Chairman and the Vice Chairman.

Neil Walter addressed the Forum to clear up a few points about the Parking Strategy. Neil Walter commented that the strategy was actually 77 pages long, one of the main actions from the recommendations from the strategy was a complete and thorough review of all on-street and off-street blue badge parking which is scheduled to take place between 2021 and 2023. Neil Walter informed the Forum that he was one of the Officers with the responsibility of that action, he would ensure that members of the Forum would be consulted or asked to provide direct input.