Item 9
LONDON COUNCILS’ TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT
EXECUTIVE SUB COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of the London Councils’ Transport and Environment Executive
Sub Committee held on Thursday 14 July 2011 at 09:30am at the London Councils,
Meeting Room 2, 59½ Southwark Street, London, SE1 0AL.
Present:
Councillor Colin Smith
Councillor Rajwant Sidhu
Councillor Phillip O’Dell
Councillor West (Chair)
Councillor Paget-Brown
Mr Archie Galloway
1.
LB Bromley
LB Greenwich
LB Harrow
LB Islington
RB Kensington and Chelsea
City of London
Declarations of Interests
Freedom Pass:
Councillor Rajwant Sidhu (LB Greenwich) and Archie Galloway (City of London).
Western Riverside Waste Authority
Councillor Nicholas Paget-Brown (RB Kensington & Chelsea)
Environment Agency’s Coastal Region Flood Committee
Councillor Nicholas Paget-Brown (RB Kensington & Chelsea)
Partners in Parking
Councillor Nicholas Paget-Brown (RB Kensington & Chelsea) and Archie Galloway
(City of London)
2.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from the following members: Councillor Mike
Fisher (LB Croydon), Councillor Feryal Demirci (LB Hackney), Councillor Nilgun
Canver (LB Haringey), Councillor Nigel Haselden (LB Lambeth), Councillor Barrie
Hargrove (LB Southwark), and Councillor Colin Hall (LB Sutton).
Deputies
Councillor Philip O’Dell (LB Harrow – for Councillor Haselden)
3.
Action Points from the TEC AGM held on 9 June 2011
It was noted that the TEC nominations to outside bodies had been received and were
now with the Chief Executive for final sign off. Alan Edwards would then write to the
outside bodies, informing them of the TEC nomination. A full list of the TEC
nominations would be presented to TEC on 13 October 2011.
The “Action Points” for the TEC AGM had all been completed and were noted.
4.
London European Partnership for Transport (LEPT) EU Bids Submitted
2011
The TEC Executive received a report that provided members with information on the
current activities and, in line with the procedure set out in the TEC report of July
2010, informed the TEC Executive about the current bids which, if successful, would
provide additional funds and resources for London boroughs. Councillor West said
that the projects should be supported as they added value were a good example of
best practice.
Frank Smith said that a key issue was that EU require match funding which LEPT
would need to identify. He said that it was important to look at this to ensure the
projects were fully funded. Nick Lester match funding would come either from TfL or
individual boroughs who were interested in the project. If no match funding was
available, the scheme could not go ahead
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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5.
Noted the current LEPT borough activities, including the current submissions
of four project bids for European funding
Noted that, once the outcome of the bids was known, a further report, along
with financial implications, would be presented to TEC in autumn 2011.
TEC’s Response to the DfT High Speed Rail Consultation (HS2)
The TEC Executive received a report on the draft London Councils’ response to the
Department of Transport “High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future” consultation.
Councillor West informed members that a meeting was taking place with the
Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon Philip Hammond MP, on Monday 18 July
2011, to discuss HS2 issues. She said that all the concerns outlined in the report
would be raised at this meeting. Councillor West said that environmental aspects
associated with HS2 needed to be “fine tuned”.
Councillor Smith voiced concern with HS2 and felt that it must not impinge from
London funding in general. Archie Galloway said that, in paragraph 5.3 (page 10)
“London” needed to go before “Overground" rail services. He said that there would be
more London connections than just Clapham Junction and Richmond after next year.
Councillor Paget-Brown said that HS2 was preferable, because if HS2 did not go
ahead, a third runway at Heathrow would be considered again. Councillor West said
that HS2 would have a big impact on the whole economy and just the London
boroughs. She said that some action needed to be taken; otherwise there would be a
great deal of congestion in future years. Councillor West confirmed that these points
would be raised with the Secretary of State.
Councillor Sidhu said that he supported the paper and said that it was important for
London, and the country as a whole. Archie Galloway asked who would be attending
the meeting with the Secretary of State. Michael Ojo confirmed that Councillor West,
Councillor Nilgun Canver, Liz Bartlett and members form the boroughs of Newham,
Hammersmith and Fulham and Hillingdon would be attending. He said that LB
Camden had arranged a separate meeting to discuss specific issues regarding HS2.
Councillor West suggested that Sam Elliott emailed Councillor Sean Birch at
Camden, to invite him to the meeting. She said that the outcome of this meeting
would be fed back to TEC in autumn 2011.
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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6.
Noted Councillor’s Smith’s concerns that HS2 should not impinge on London
funding as a whole
Agreed that “London” should be added before “Overground rail services”
(paragraph 5.3, page 10)
Noted that a meeting was taking place with the Secretary of State, regarding
HS2, on Monday 18th July
Agreed that Sam Elliott would email Councillor Sean Birch (LB Camden) to
invite him to the HS2 meeting
Noted that the outcome of this meeting with the Secretary of State would be
reported back to TEC in Autumn 2011, and
Agreed the London Councils’ response to the DfT consultation, subject to the
above amendments and outcome of the meeting on 18 July 2011.
Transforming London’s Highways Management
The TEC Executive received a report from Transport for London (TfL) outlining the
progress that had been made in developing a common specification for London
collaborative highway contracts.
Councillor West informed members that the potential savings for boroughs of subregional contracts could be up to a million pounds. Councillor Smith said that he
agreed with the report in principal, but voiced concern that there would be additional
costs to boroughs, once the sub-regional contracts were set-up. Archie Galloway
said that the City of London were not keen to participate in the new highways
procurement
Rob Kidd said that TfL were trying to avoid any negative outcomes to the highways
procurement. He said that the procurement was being split into sub-regions and
there was, therefore, room for manoeuvre. Rob Kidd said that the procurement was
designed to be on a sliding scale and boroughs could join when they wanted to. He
said that the specifications were being built around an agreed framework.
Councillor O’Dell said that he was in support of the “regional” aspect for the highways
contracts. Councillor West said that there would be a big growth in engineering roles
which would provide employment for people in London.
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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7.
Noted that contents of the report, and
Considered the potential savings of sub-regional contracts when considering new
or extended highways procurement in individual boroughs
Blue Badge Reform
The TEC Executive received a report that gave members details of the DfT reforms
to Blue Badges, the timetable for change and the actions required of boroughs. The
report also proposed the cancellation of the Lost, Stolen and Fraudulent Blue Badge
Database run by London Councils, as this would be superseded by a national
database run by DfT.
Councillor West said that boroughs would make savings of £600 each by switching to
the new database. Rob Kidd informed members that Blue Badges had not been
reformed for a very long time and this was well overdue. He said that the Blue
Badges now were relatively easy to forge.
Rob Kidd said that boroughs would be able to charge £10 per badge. It would cost
£4.60 to process the badges. The new badges would come with a number of security
protections (eg the national database would be able to catch fraudsters).
Rob Kid said that member approval was required to cancel the existing London
Councils’ database, which was no longer fit for purpose. Archie Galloway asked
whether this would affect central London “special” badges. Nick Lester confirmed that
it would not, although boroughs would be responsible for paying for assessments.
Councillor Sidhu asked how secure the data kept on the badges would be. Rob Kidd
said that the data was very secure as was on a par with Government Security
Extranet.
Councillor Paget-Brown voiced concern over the automatic renewal of badges. Rob
Kidd said that he was very aware of this issue. He said that there were a number of
ways this could be rectified, namely (a) at the “smart” application process, and (b)
when a person first applies boroughs would need to make a decision as to whether
the person was likely to need a badge indefinitely or just for a limited period. Rob
Kidd said that another problem was badges being renewed to deceased people
Councillor Paget-Brown asked if a badge needed to be renewed if a person changed
their vehicle. Rob Kidd confirmed that they did not. Councillor Smith said that
boroughs needed to be stricter when it came to enforcement. He said that parking
attendants in Bromley were making regular checks to ensure the validity of Blue
Badges and that there had been no resistance to this from the public. Rob Kidd said
that the new database would be downloadable to parking attendants hand helds.
Nick Lester said that some boroughs received notification of when someone died,
and this information could be translated to all connecting databases. Councillor West
said that residents became very distressed when they received a pass for someone
that had died. Councillor Smith asked for details on the LB Southwark initiative on
deceased.
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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Agreed that Nick Lester would let Cllr Smith have details on the LB
Southwark initiative on deceased people
Noted the changes in the way local authorities could issue Blue Badges from
1 January 2012, and
Agreed that London Councils’ Lost, Stolen & Fraudulent database be
cancelled, but not until 31 March 2013, subject to officers’ satisfaction that
national database was fully operational and “fit for purpose”.
8.
London Councils’ Response to the London Assembly’s Fuel Poverty
Investigation
The TEC Executive considered a report on London Councils’ draft response to the
London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee’s investigation into fuel
poverty in the capital. The response focussed on the likely implications of the
introduction of the Universal Credit for fuel poverty from 2013.
Councillor Smith said that fuel poverty was a growing issue. He said that, although he
agreed the report in principle, there needed to be a link between the Government
drive by green taxation and fuel poverty. Councillor West asked if there was a date
for green commitments in London. Nick Lester said that there were three dates for
London to comply with green regulations, namely: 2015, 2020 and 2030.
Councillor West said that local authorities would need to identify homes that were
giving off excessive emissions. She said that London Councils needed to approach
the GLA to be included in this. Councillor Sidhu said London Councils needed to do
more on the green agenda and develop more policies on this. Councillor West said
that Nigel Minto, at London Councils, was looking into the private rental sector, with
regards to making homes more fuel efficient. She said that London Councils had an
important role to play in this. Councillor Sidhu said that LB Greenwich was involved in
a heating project at the O2 and it was hoped that this would be expanded and taken
up by other boroughs. Michael Ojo said that a great deal of work was being
undertaken with the Mayor on this. He said that one of the key elements on the
Energy Bill was London funding for improvements to fuel poverty, which had now
been secured.
Councillor West said it was important for officers to display some of the best
practices to reduce heating bills and emissions, like retro-fitting and the use of mini
power stations. Councillor Paget-Brown asked if there had been any attempt to
encourage landlords to provide greener energy in their properties. Michael Ojo
confirmed that this would be in the Energy Bill. Councillor West asked what the timing
would be for the Energy Bill. Michael Ojo said that the regulations would be ready by
September 2011 and a timescale to April 2012. Councillor West suggested that a
person came to TEC to give a talk on the issue of fuel poverty. She said that the
report should be referred to the TEC Policy sub group initially.
Councillor Sidhu enquired about the proposed carbon reduction tax. Councillor West
asked if Michael Ojo would produce a briefing on this. Archie Galloway asked about
the commercial costs of water (paragraph 6.6). Michael Ojo said that most
commercial water customers did not have a waste water discharge. Archie Galloway
felt that it was unfair for households to pay for the Thames Tunnel. Councillor West
said that Thames Tunnel would benefit the country. She said that LB Hammersmith
and Fulham did not want the Thames Tunnel to go ahead. Also, the cost of the
scheme could be more than initially envisaged. Michael Ojo said that he would
contact Thames Water and get a copy of the minutes from the meeting they had with
Hammersmith and Fulham.
Councillor West said that Thames Water had invested a lot in the scheme. Archie
Galloway asked if London Councils was a supporter of the Thames Tunnel. Michael
Ojo said that London Councils did support the Tunnel, although there were concerns
over the costs. Councillor Paget-Brown asked whether the planning dimension came
up at the meeting. Councillor West said that the Infrastructure Planning Commission
(IPC) would be playing a central role in this, although the boroughs would be the
decision makers.
Councillor Paget-Brown said that the IPC was being disbanded. Councillor West said
that it would go to ministers once the IPC had gone. Councillor West said that further
feedback would be given on this at the next TEC Executive meeting in September
2011.
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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9.
Agreed that an updated report would go to the TEC Executive on 8
September 2011.
Agreed to invite someone to a future TEC to talk about fuel poverty, green
issues and the Energy Bill etc
Agreed that Michael Ojo would get a briefing on “Carbon Reduction Tax” for
Councillor Sidhu
Agreed that Michael Ojo would work with H&F to obtain some early output
from their Thames Tunnel Commission before it went to Ministers
Agreed that the Fuel Poverty report be referred to the TEC Policy sub group
for further discussion, and
Agreed that Michael Ojo would get details from the meeting on the Thames
Tunnel and discussions from Hammersmith and Fulham, before it went to
ministers.
TEC Pre-Audited Final Accounts 2010/2011
The TEC Executive received a report detailing the provisional pre-audited final
accounts for the Transport and Environment Committee for 2011/12.
Frank Smith informed members that PwC had carried out the London Councils’ audit
over the summer. The figures showed an initial surplus of £982,000. Table 2 showed
an underlying surplus of £13,000 for the year. There was a large surplus because of
the Freedom Pass review. Frank Smith said that this contract had now been let. He
informed members that the £13,000 surplus included redundancy costs at the end of
March 2011 (£330,000 in redundancy payments were paid to TEC staff). Frank Smith
said that a £500,000 deficit was reported to the TEC Executive in February 2011 and
this had now become a £13,000 surplus.
Frank Smith said that the new Chief Adjudicator had been very successful in
eradicating the backlog of appeals in a timely manner. He said that the first Quarter
of 2011 had continued to improve and that this would be reported at the TEC
Executive meeting on 8 September 2011.
Frank Smith said that the Grants Committee proposals had undergone a review and
judicial review. The outcome of the judicial review had led to additional costs, which
were agreed should be funded from within existing London Councils’ resources as far
as possible. A sum of £1.83 million had been identified within Joint Committee
reserves, which still led to a shortfall of £896,000. Frank Smith said that £150,000
had been left over from the Consumer Direct project, and it was recommended that
this be transferred from the TEC general reserves to the London Councils’ Grants
Committee. Councillor West said that TEC should be contributing to this and that
member approval to transfer the funds was now needed.
Councillor Smith asked whether Councillor Carr was aware of the proposed transfer
of funds. Councillor West confirmed that he was. Frank Smith confirmed that this was
endorsed at Leaders’ Committee on 10 May 2011. Archie Galloway asked if TEC
would be expected to contribute to the Grants Committee in future years. Frank
Smith said that TEC would not legally be able to make any further contributions to the
Grants Committee.
Councillor O’Dell said that he was pleased with the reduction in the appeals backlog
and that the expenditure on Taxicard had been contained. Councillor West thanked
Frank Smith for his work in reducing the TEC budget deficit. She said that the TEC
budget was now in a much more favourable position.
Decision: The TEC Executive:
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10.
Noted the provisional pre-audited final accounts for 2010/11, which showed
an indicative surplus of £982,000 for the year
Noted the position in respect of the Committee Reserves (paragraphs 37-38)
and the financial outlook, as detailed in paragraphs 42-44 of the report, and
Approved the transfer of £150,000, relating to the residual surplus funds in
the respect of the Consumer Direct project, from the Committee’s general
reserves to the London Councils’ Grants Committee (as outlined in
paragraphs 39-41 of the report)
Minutes from the TEC Policy Sub Group held on 5 July 2011
The minutes of the TEC Policy Sub Group held on 5 July 2011 were noted.
11.
Minutes from the TEC AGM held on 9 June 2011
The minutes from the TEC AGM held on 9 June 2011 were noted.
12.
Any Other Business
Olympic Transport Group
Councillor West informed the TEC Executive that she was trying to meet with TfL in
order to get transport at the Olympics on the agenda. She said that Councillor Chris
Roberts would also be undertaking work on this. Letters had also been sent to
Leaders and Chief Executives regarding Transport and the Olympics. Nick Lester
said that Councillors West and Roberts would discuss this issue this side of summer,
subject to the responses received from Leaders and Chief Executives. He said that a
larger group would be set up in the autumn, to take this forward.
Nick Lester said that areas of concern, with regards to transport during the Olympics
related to public transport, overcrowding “hotspots” (eg London Bridge) and changes
to local rail services. It was agreed that the letter sent by Councillor West and
Councillor Roberts to the Rht. Hon Philip Hammond MP, be sent to TEC members for
their information.
Councillor West said work was being carried out on these issues, but there was
concern that it was not filtering up to members. She said that Nick Lester was now on
board to look at these arrangements. Archie Galloway said that the construction
industry was very active in the City of London. He asked whether the Olympic
Committee and taken this into consideration when discussing day and night time
deliveries. Councillor West said that, come July 2012, a large number of small
businesses would be ordering a large number of goods for delivery. She said that
borough officers needed to look into this and the resource implications to boroughs
needed to be made. Nick Lester said that Peter Hendy was planning to meet with
those boroughs close to the Olympic Games, to discuss these issues. He said that
engagement at a political level had been somewhat deficient. Nick Lester said that it
would be difficult to tell local companies that they could only have deliveries between
6pm to 12 at night. He said that the Government were looking into relaxing
restrictions for some sites that had restrictions on deliveries.
Councillor West said that ticketing issues were being focussed on, along with
mapping (ie what areas people here for the Olympic were being assigned to).
Councillor Paget-Brown said that the public would suddenly become aware of these
issues. He said that it was important to identify who the residents were in theses
areas. Councillor West asked members to let her know if they wanted anything raised
on the agenda.
It was agreed that Archie Galloway would attend the meeting taking place at London
Councils, with Crossrail, to discuss the issue of public Lavatories at Farringdon
Station.
13.
Discussion on the New Fibre Optic Street Cabinets, by Andrew
Campling, General Manager London. BT Group
Andrew Campling said that BT had a physical presence in London and employed
over 55,000 people around London. Most of these jobs were in ICT. He said that
London was ranked as having the best quality of telecoms in Europe in 2010. Andrew
Campling said that the demand for broadband had accelerated. The speed of the
broadband depended on how far away the premises were from the hub and the
length of the lead the broadband has to travel along. Andrew Campling informed
members that, to deliver more speed, BT was putting new street cabinets in place.
This would reduce the cable length and would increase broadband speeds form
40Mbit/s to 80 Mbit/s in 2012.
Andrew Campling said that, by mid 2012, 90% of London would have super-fast
broadband and the rest of the UK by 2015. He said that the new fibre optic cabinets
would have “back-up” in the event of power failure. The sites for the cabinets would
need to be in a 50 mile radius of the existing ones. Andrew Campling confirmed that
regular contact was taking place with the Mayor, Assembly members and members
of London Councils. Meetings were also being conducted at a borough level.
In summary, Andrew Campling said that BT was doubling broadband speeds.
London was the best EU city for broadband speeds and businesses all across
London would have the option of having up speeds of up to 10Gbps.
Q & As
Councillor Paget-Brown said that there was a very good business case for the new
cabinets, although he voiced concerns over the positioning, colour and maintenance
of the cabinets. Councillor Sidhu asked whether the paint used on the cabinets would
be graffiti proof. Councillor Smith said that although the equipment looked
impressive, there was concern that a number of boroughs were being intimidated into
accepting the new cabinets. Councillor Smith said that BT had filled for planning
permission to place these cabinets in three conservation areas. He felt that there
should have been more communication from the outset.
Councillor Smith said that LB Bromley already had a contract with Virgin media to
remove any graffiti from their broadband equipment.
Andrew Campling said that BT was encouraging dialogue with boroughs regarding
the positioning of the new cabinets. He said that BT was talking to planning and
conservation officers on this issue. BT was requesting site visits to areas where there
were problems. Andrew Campling said that it was up to the individual boroughs if
they wanted to proceed in this way.
Andrew Campling said that the cabinets would be green in urban areas and painted
black in conservation areas. He said that the cabinet doors would now be alarmed
and monitored. An “Open Reach” sign and telephone number would be put on the
cabinets, so the public could notify BT if they had been tampered with.
Andrew Campling informed members that approximately 500 companies now sold a
broadband service - prices varied, but started from £3.50 per month. He said that
arrangements had been made with some boroughs to paint off any graffiti. With
regards to the issue major works and the cabinets, Andrew Campling said that a
debate was needed on this.
Finally, Andrew Campling said that mistakes had been made regarding the placing of
cabinets in conservation areas. He said that boroughs needed to bring any future
problems regarding this to his attention.
Decision: It was agreed that:
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Boroughs would email Andrew Campling with any individual concerns they
had, (Alan Edwards to email Councillor Hall’s concerns to Andrew Campling),
and
Alan Edwards would circulate a list of BT contacts.
The meeting finished at 11.15am