Agenda for Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, 20th October, 2022, 2.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: South Yorkshire MCA, 11 Broad Street West, Sheffield, S1 2BQ

Media

Items
No. Item

37.

Welcome and Apologies

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The Chair welcomed all to the meeting.

 

Apologies were noted as above.

38.

Urgent Items/Announcements

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The Chair observed that this would be the Deputy Chief Executive’s last meeting and thanked her for her 10 years of service with the MCA.

39.

Items to be Considered in the Absence of Public and Press

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None.

40.

Declarations of Interest by any Members

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None.

41.

Reports from and Questions by Members

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None.

42.

Questions from Members of the Public

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None.

43.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting Held on 28 July 2022 pdf icon PDF 235 KB

Presented By: Chair

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RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting be approved.

44.

Matters Arising/ Review of Action Log pdf icon PDF 120 KB

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It was noted that all actions on the Action Log had been completed.

 

The Chair recognised that two petitions had been delivered to the MCA Board earlier in the week and advised that these could be covered in the work programme. The first concerned the withdrawal of the number 5 bus route which connected the Wensley Estate with Firth Park and Sheffield city centre. The second petition was on retrofitting South Yorkshire homes in fuel poverty which was due to be considered at the March meeting.

 

RESOLVED that the Action Log be noted.

45.

Review of latest Forward Plan of Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 451 KB

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RESOLVED that the Forward Plan of Key Decisions be noted.

46.

Mayoral Scrutiny

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The Chair welcomed the Mayor to the meeting and invited him to address the Committee.

 

The Mayor firstly acknowledged the loss of Cllr Jim Andrews BEM, the former Deputy Leader of Barnsley MBC, and added that his thoughts were with Cllr Andrews’ family and friends. He also apologised for missing the previous meeting and advised that he was keen to engage in the overview and scrutiny process.

 

In July Peel Group had announced that they were reviewing future operations at Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) and had subsequently decided to close the airport. The MCA and Doncaster MBC had been working together to bring in alternative investment and were currently facilitating discussions between potential investors and Peel Group. The MCA had previously offered up to £7m to keep DSA open for up to 13 months while negotiations took place. Although the offer had been refused, it was still available. Doncaster MBC had stated that they would initiate the process for a Compulsory Purchase Order if necessary.

 

A Healthy Life Expectancy Lead had been appointed to advance the work addressing health inequalities across the region. The MCA was working with Harvard, Bloomberg and the World Health Organisation on a project around healthy life expectancy. This also linked to the work the Mayor would do as the new Chair of the Integrated Care Partnership.

 

Action: Democratic Services to add a report on health inequalities to the work plan.

 

In response to the cost of living crisis the MCA Board had approved proposals to provide support to South Yorkshire residents. This included linking charities, businesses, and food producers to provide cheap goods to those who needed them and the implementation of the £2 cap on bus fares earlier than nationally scheduled. It was hoped that this would also encourage more people to travel by public transport. 

 

Another decision agreed by the MCA Board was to take the tram back into public ownership once the current contract with Stagecoach came to an end. In response to questions the Mayor advised that the geography and topography of South Yorkshire were challenges to extending the tram but that this would be explored further. He added that South Yorkshire needed an ambitious, long-term vision for a public transport network that connected the whole of the region.

 

The possibility of franchising the bus network was currently being explored but in the meantime the MCA was providing significant funding to protect as many services as possible following operator cuts. The MCA had committed £5.1m to provide alternative, tendered services to support school journeys for the next 2 academic years. Where possible services had been replicated but not all those lost had been able to be replaced. The MCA was working with schools and operators to find solutions.

 

The Committee also discussed:

  • The link between training and skills and the improvement of health and wellbeing and the growth of the green economy;
  • Working Win, a programme to support people with health conditions to find or remain in employment;
  • The submission of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

47.

Review of Real-Time Bus Data pdf icon PDF 158 KB

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The Corporate Director of Public Transport presented an item on real time bus data.

 

Issues around the real time data included instances where services were showing as imminent but then vanished from the system. This often occurred when there had been a short notice cancellation and the system was not updated. There had been a higher number of short notice cancellations over the past couple of years, mainly due to a shortage of resources. Initial indications showed that the recent cuts to the network had improved reliability.

 

(The Mayor and Head of the Mayor’s Office left the meeting.)

 

In response to questions the Corporate Director of Public Transport advised that work was ongoing with local authorities to review the hours of operation of bus lanes and the possibility of introducing more. Where it is not possible to use bus tracking data, the system uses timetabled information. However, members of the public may not always be able to distinguish between real time data and timetabled information.

 

The Interim Executive Director of Infrastructure & Place added that a single point of contact for bus information in South Yorkshire was currently being explored.

 

Action: The Corporate Director of Public Transport to circulate information to the Committee on the regional distribution of bus stops with real time display units.

 

Action: The Committee to write to the Leader of Rotherham MBC to request a representative’s attendance at meetings in order to operate successfully as a combined authority.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.