Following on from the previous meeting, members were invited to ask questions of the officers involved. The Director of Resources was asked to introduce the financial statement again, where it was outlined that the Council needed to ensure it could set a balanced budget without calling upon the capitalisation directive whilst also demonstrating its long-term sustainability. It was also reported that the budget proposals were agreed unanimously at Council on 1 March 2021, and that in the event car parking charges were not implemented at all in the current financial year, the Policy and Resources Committee would need to recommend what other areas of the Council could achieve the £1m target. The Director of Resources was therefore of the view that the decision should be implemented as agreed.

A number of questions were raised by members of the Committee. It was queried whether the Council was running a deficit on car parking charges, where it was confirmed that the cost of delivering car parking including enforcement and other associated costs was approximately £2.8m, with the income generated in 2019 being £1.8m, with the shortfall having been subsidised from other budgets to date therefore the proposal was to standardise parking charges intended to generate an additional £1m to make up the shortfall.

A further concern was raised in relation to the displacement of vehicles and the potential impact on residential areas close to shops. Officers reported that there was a Traffic Regulation Order process with statutory consultation to be undertaken, and work would be completed to determine the appropriate mitigations to deal with displacement. Members sought further information on what the mitigation may be and were informed it would depend on the exact location but could include residents parking schemes. Further clarity was also sought on the consultation process, where the Director of Law and Governance informed the Committee that the standardisation of existing charges required no formal consultation, but the introduction of new measures would be subject to a Traffic Regulation Order and a mandatory consultation process with the responses to be reported back to the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee before implementation.

The Committee discussed the timescales associated with Traffic Regulation Order consultation, where officers confirmed that without objections it would take 3-6 months, with objections adding a further 3 months onto the process. Members therefore queries whether the original timescale would have allowed the £1m to be generated in the 2021-22 financial year in any case. In response, the Director of Resources informed members that it was acknowledged that there would be a delay as part of the Traffic Regulation Order process, but that there were temporary mitigations in the 2021-22 budget through vacancies to mitigate that initial delay, however any further delay would result in the need for further savings proposals to be considered by the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee.

Lead Signatory Summary – Councillor Simon Mountney

Councillor Simon Mountney summed up his contribution. He raised concerns with the comments from Councillor Chris Cooke  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

Councillor Simon Mountney introduced the reviewed decision notice on which he was lead signatory. He stated that the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee had failed to carry out a car parking review and this had led to a poor and wasteful decision. He asked the Committee to look at:

1)  Information on car parking usage which had been lacking and therefore had not been used to come to the decision, and could cause a 30% reduction in footfall.

2)  Displaced parking which was not considered as some areas would be affected more than others.

3)  Lack of discussion on town centre development plans which would heavily influence car parking in some areas, including the fact that some car parks could be removed as part of developments. 

He explained that businesses were in a difficult financial position because of the pandemic and that introducing car parking charges would have a detrimental effect on them.

Councillor Simon Mountney answered Members questions which established:

·  Over 8,500 residents had indicated opposition to the charges, and their views would be presented to a future Council meeting

·  There had been no discussion about carbon footprints of setting up the infrastructure required to implement the decision, and there had been only limited discussion about the cost

·  The budget savings which the Committee were called to find should be achieved both through charges and the review of car parking charges

·  The budget saving was for the 2021/22 budget and the review of car parking was not scheduled to be complete until Autumn 2021

·  The 30% reduction in business footfall was mentioned in the report

·  The Council was in a dire situation but businesses had not changed since the last review in 2017 and their situation had deteriorated since 2017

·  There were ways to achieve more sustainable travel such as electric vehicle use

Councillor Phil Gilchrist then introduced the reviewed decision notice in which he was a lead signatory and presented a slide show focussed on Bromborough village showing how it had changed, the effects on the high street of parking restrictions and nearby free parking. His conclusion was that parking charges would kill the village and would dissuade people from using shops and other services.

Councillor Phil Gilchrist answered Members questions which established:

·  there were approximately 70 staff using car parking places who may choose to park elsewhere in the community.

Councillor Chris Cooke then spoke as a decision maker and stated that the decision to increase chares was to be set in the context of the parking review and the budget emergency. All groups came together to support the budget which included £10.7 million borrowed from central Government if the Council could prove competent to make savings. The Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee was tasked to find £1 million savings from car parking, with any excess income paying for road management, safety and maintenance. He believed that the least well off, through their Council Tax, had been subsiding the better off who had free car  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3