Agenda item

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 October 2021.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 20 October 2021 were confirmed as a correct record, subject to the amendment below, and signed by the Chairman.

The following sentence be added to item 16 of the minutes (page 9 on the agenda):

Councillor Fishwick stated that journeys need to be seamless and not end at the boundary, therefore officers at a senior level and the relevant Executive Members should work to promote the use of Reading’s bus lanes by Wokingham drivers (this was in relation to resolution number 3).

Matters arising

Councillor Shenton pointed out that Julia O’Brien, Principal Officer Compliance and Enforcement, had stated in the previous meeting that the Taxi and Private Hire Policies would be brought to the January meeting for consideration.  However, there was no report in the agenda with these policies.

Councillor Burgess agreed with the point raised by Councillor Shenton, questioned the items in the forward programme and also asked if the Taxis Liaison Group would be involved in the consultation.

Julia O’Brien explained that the draft policy was not ready to be submitted to the Committee yet.  She informed that work was being undertaken to draft the policy and confirmed that the trade would be involved in the consultation.  Therefore, the forward programme would have to be amended.

Councillor Fishwick asked for an update on the issue of Reading bus lanes.  Stephen Brown, Assistant Director for Place and Growth informed that a letter had been sent to Reading, however no response had yet been received, he would inform the Committee as and when he received a reply.

In relation to the issue previously raised by Councillor Kerr, that the Licensing and Appeals Committee had recommended a freeze and subsidy to the taxi fees and a refund those who had already paid, Councillor Fishwick stated that Jennifer Lee, Legal Specialist had confirmed that this Committee did not have the authority to make a decision on fees, however it could make recommendations.  He asked which body could actually approve it and if this had been actioned.  He stated that this subsidy equated to £9k, and therefore he believed that it could be delegated to officer level.

Stephen Brown stated that in previous years had officers taken such delegated decisions.  However, this year the Council was looking to save £2m and officers were not prepared to take such decisions in the current context.  He pointed out that there would be an opportunity for full Council to consider this proposal at its Budget meeting in February. 

Sean O’Connor, Lead Specialist Legal stated that there was a difficulty in relation to mid-year changes to budget decisions and the funding of such decisions.  He confirmed that next year’s budget would be discussed at the Budget Council meeting in February.

Councillor Fishwick asked who would be able to make a decision on the recommendation relation to this year’s subsidy.

In relation to the concerns being raised, the Chairman stated that Members should have submitted Members’ questions prior to the meeting, so that they could have been included in the agenda and a proper response could have been prepared.

Stephen Brown explained that this Committee had made a recommendation to change the budget mid-year, however there were no funds to support this recommendation mid-year.  There was an opportunity to make this recommendation to the next year’s budget.

Councillor Ferris expressed concern that the Committee had made a formal recommendation and no formal process had been followed to consider this recommendation, and no formal response had been given to the Committee.  He wished it to be recorded that there was strong objection to the way this matter had been dealt with.