Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence had been received.

RECOMMENDED that a Vice-Chair for the municipal year be elected from within the panel membership.

RESOLVED that Councillor Hannah Hockaday be appointed Vice Chair.

No declarations of interests were made.

RECOMMENDED that the minutes of the Traffic, Environment & Community Safety Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 1 July 2014 be agreed.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2014 be agreed as a correct record.

The panel will consider the attached draft scoping document and then commence its review with a presentation from Marc Griffin, Assistant Head of Service, Transport and Environment.

Marc Griffin, Assistant Head of Service, Traffic & Transportation gave a presentation and in response to questions, clarified the following points:

·         Schools are provided with leaflets and information to include in letters to parents.

·         Many pupils now travel to school by scooter and a safety training programme is available.

·         The most common problem encountered is parking on zig-zag lines outside schools.  The enforcement of zig-zags outside schools are prioritised.  Those considered to be high priority receive double the visits of normal priority, low priority get half the visits of medium.  The classification given depends on traffic volume, the number of pupils at the school and the number of parents doing the school run.  High priority areas tend to be on high speed roads.  Fernhurst and Devonshire Avenue schools are high priority.

·         Other problems he has witnessed include cycling on pavements and parents parked on double yellow lines.

·         A raised table was recently introduced in Doyle Avenue to reduce traffic speed.

·         Staff should not receive abuse when carrying out their duties.

·         The number of schools that have Junior Road Service Officers is quite low.

·         An injury is classed as serious if the victim is hospitalised for one night or more.

·         Portsmouth City Council has higher numbers of School Crossing Patrol Officers than other local authorities.  A recruitment drive has recently been launched to fill the 23 vacancies and so far 27 applications have been received. 

·         Staff in the Traffic Management Centre control the timings of the crossings particularly at rush hours.

·         Some older children do walk out into the roads and are aggressive to drivers.  Road safety campaigns for pupils have been carried out.

·         The casualty data shows that KS1 and KS22 pupils are not at risk at junctions.  This may be because they are with their parents and are not exposed to more dangerous roads. 

·          

In response to questions from the panel, Michael Robinson, Parking Manager clarified the following points:

·         Vehicles that weigh less than 7.5 tons cannot be prohibited from parking on the highway.

·         A Members' Bill is currently passing through Parliament regarding parking on pavements.

·         The council's policy on parking is the responsibility of the Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation.

·         Signage regarding parking restrictions must be clear as any appeal hearing would consider whether it is reasonable to expect the appellant to understand that they were contravening the council's policy.

·         If a parked vehicle obstructs a dropped kerb, the police or the council may issue a ticket.

·         Parking on yellow lines is illegal.

·         Loading bays are indicated by little yellow lines on the kerb stones.

·         The British Parking Association will discuss parking legislation at its meeting next month. 

·         His team have been invited to three schools' parents evenings to explain parking regulations around schools. 

·         It is very difficult to enforce parking on zig zags.

·         The priority for enforcement is to ensure road safety especially for most vulnerable in society. 

·         On average it takes an experienced Civil Enforcement Officer (CEOs) 20-25 seconds to issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.