Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. 

Apologies were received from Councillor Negus for the first hour of the meeting.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

No declarations were made.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5pm on Wednesday 27^th January.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12 noon on Monday 1^st February.

Register to Speak – Intention to speak to your Public Forum submission must be received 2clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your intention to speak must be received in this office at the latest by 5pm on Thursday 28^th January.

The Public Forum submission was published before the meeting and can be found at the link below:

Public Forum – Overview & Scrutiny Management Board 2^nd February 2021

Resolved;

That the Public Forum be noted

The Chair stated that the Management Board had expressed views about the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) and that Members wanted to be involved in a review before proposals had been finalised.  Draft proposals had been brought to this extraordinary meeting, which would enable comment.  The proposals would be brought back to the Management Board at the scheduled meeting on the 24^th February for noting; and would then be brought to Cabinet on the 25^th February for approval and on to central Government on the 26^th February.  Therefore, effective comment on the proposals would be from this extraordinary meeting.

The Clean Air Zone technical team, consultants, and members of the consultation team were all introduced.

The Management Board were advised that the team were in continuous contact with the Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) to respond to queries and to refine data that was in the draft reports.

The Head of Strategic City Transport, Clean Air Zone Programme Manager and Lead Consultation Officer provided presentations to the Board on about the Draft Technical Note submitted to JAQU, Draft Traffic Volumes and Air Quality, and the Consultation Update respectively.

Councillor Negus joined the meeting at approximately 4:50pm.

·       The Management Board was advised that it was too early to confirm a clear recommendation; that the information had been shared with JAQU, and a process would now take place which would involve refinement of the data, which would result in some changes. Also, that the information being shared was still currently draft.

·       The Head of Strategic City Transport confirmed that both options (Small CAZ D / Medium CAZ C with Small CAZ D) would achieve compliance in the same year; therefore, both were options which could be considered.  Evidence, including the technical results and the consultation, would be referred to after JAQU had provided feedback on the work to date.

·       The Management Board received assurance that the specified timescale to submit a Full Business Case was achievable; live conversations with JAQU were ongoing and, although it was recognised the timescale was extremely challenging, that there was planned capacity to meet the deadlines (which included a published report by 18^th February).

·       It was confirmed that the final costs, which would be met by JAQU, would be available in the full business case.

·       Members were advised that the street space measures did not change the make-up of the fleet (that they would not target vehicle type). There had been a lot of progress, although the traffic flow along Maudlin Street and Marlborough Street areas prevented compliance.

·       The Programme Manager advised Members that the cost of installing a charging zone was to be confirmed; and that cost benefit was high, that that analysis took into account the many health benefits that would be achieved by reducing pollution levels.  Also, implementing the scheme would affect behaviour change, which would benefit the areas outside the zone due to associated impact of cleaner vehicles.

·       Members were advised that, although not entirely balanced, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.