Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and details of any Councillor (or co-optee substitute) nominated to attend this meeting in place of a member of this Committee.

An apology was received on behalf of Councillor Fry and Councillor Joe Baker was confirmed as his substitute.

To invite Councillors to declare any interest they may have in items on the Agenda and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of any party whip.

To complete pre-decision scrutiny of the proposed revisions to the Medium Term Financial Plan 2012/13 – 2014/15. 

Consideration of this item at a special additional meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee has been organised, following consideration of the report at a meeting of the Committee on Tuesday 19th June.  Consideration of this item at an extra meeting will provide the Committee with an opportunity to consider and report recommendations through pre-decision scrutiny to the Executive Committee, which is due to consider this item on 26th June 2012.

(Report attached – this report was previously published in the agenda pack for the 19th June 2012 meeting of the Committee.  However, an additional copy has been published in this pack for Members’ consideration).

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee pre-scrutinised the proposed Revisions to the Medium Term Financial Plan 2012/13 – 2014/15, completing a scrutiny process that had been launched during the previous meeting of the Committee.  As part of this process written responses to questions that had been proposed on this subject by the Committee were provided for Members’ consideration (Appendix A).  In addition, the Committee noted the budget settlement that had been agreed by the Executive Committee on 20th February 2012, as detailed in the Initial Estimates Report 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15, for comparative purposes.

The following issues were considered during discussions about the proposed revision to the Medium Term Financial Plan:

·              Officers had met with representatives of Worcestershire County Council that day to discuss the proposed introduction of pre 09.30 concessionary bus travel.  During this meeting it had been confirmed that new card passes and reader equipment on vehicles would not be required in order to enable eligible passengers to pay concessionary rates as had originally been envisaged.  Instead, stickers would be devised that could be displayed on existing passes, at a limited financial cost.

·              Questions were raised about what actions would be taken to ensure that these stickers could not be easily duplicated for use by people who were not eligible for concessionary travel.  It was suggested that consideration should be given to stamping the stickers using a distinctive mark. 

·              Access to concessionary travel and the remit of the system was also discussed.  Officers advised that eligibility would apply only to journeys departing from Redditch prior to 09:30, though could involve accessing destinations outside the Borough.  However, eligibility would not extend to individuals living outside the Borough.

·              Currently Worcestershire County Council estimated that there were 15,000 – 20,000 card holders resident in Redditch who would be eligible to receive pre 09.30 travel concessions.  Eligible residents could apply for a bus pass throughout the year, and these cards were updated every five years.  Following introduction of the concessionary scheme consideration would need to be given to how to ensure that existing card holders could update their cards to demonstrate proof of eligibility.

·              Members were advised that the final arrangements for the operation of the pre 09:30 concessionary travel system would be subject to the outcomes of ongoing negotiations with Worcestershire County Council and the bus companies that operated services in the Borough.  A final deadline had not been established for completing these negotiations, though it was estimated that the system could become operational by January 2013.

·              Officers noted that originally it had been anticipated that it might be possible to implement the scheme from September 2012.  For this reason it had been estimated in the report that the cost for delivering the concessionary travel scheme in 2012/13 would be £43,000 for a six month period. 

·              Different options were being considered to support bus operators with the introduction and delivery of pre 09.30 concessionary travel.  This included the potential to pay bus operators a specific fee for each journey that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.