The following declarations of interest were received In the interest of transparency:

(i)            Councillor Dodds declared an interest in the item relating to Local Highway Maintenance (Minute 28) as her daughter in law was employed as a Highway Enforcement Officer.

(ii)          Councillor Tariq Hussain declared an interest in the item relating to Community Chest Grants (Minute 33) as he was the Chair of the Friends of Brackenhill Park, one of the groups that had received a Community Chest Grant.

ACTION:       City Solicitor

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2015 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Yusuf Patel – 01274 434579)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2016 be signed as a correct record.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents. 

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

To hear questions from electors within the District on any matter this is the responsibility of the Committee. 

Questions must be received in writing by the City Solicitor in Room 112, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY, by mid-day on Tuesday 20 September 2016

(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

There were no questions submitted by the public.

The Strategic Director Regeneration will submit a report (Document “J”) which sets out a petition requesting a reduction in vehicle speeds and the amount of through traffic on Toftshaw Lane and Toftshaw New Road.

Recommended –

That officer’s meet with the petitioner and Police and discuss the options.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Environment and Waste Management

The Strategic Director Regeneration submitted a report (Document “J”) which set out a petition requesting a reduction in vehicle speeds and the amount of through traffic on Toftshaw Lane and Toftshaw New Road.

The Principal Engineer stated that the petition referred to vehicle speeds and through traffic on Toftshaw Lane and Toftshaw New Road and that an existing 7.5 ton ban and Access Only Order was already in existence and had been for a number of years.  It was acknowledged that a number of vehicles already use the route in contravention of the Order and that the petition containing 43 signatures was requesting action be taken to enforce the Order.

The Lead petitioner and a number of residents were present at the meeting and a spokesperson stated the following points:

·        That there had been a number of near misses which could have resulted in accidents.

·        That both the Council and the Police were aware of the problems, however the issue seemed to be about enforcing the Access Only Order.

·        That meetings with the Ward Councillors had been very productive.

·        That drivers using the route ignored the speed limit signs and there was the potential for a fatal accident to occur.

·        That the route was inadequate given its width to facilitate through traffic and there had been a number of occasions when larger vehicles had been unable to pass.

·        That a resolution to the problem had to be found for the benefit of residents.

During the discussion Members emphasised with the problems being experienced by the residents living on Toftshaw Lane and Toftshaw Road, and suggested that a meeting between the different parties to discuss the options would be a way forward and it was therefore:

Resolved –

That officer’s meet with the petitioner and Police to discuss the options.

ACTION:       Principal Engineer

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Environment and Waste Management

The Strategic Director Regeneration submitted a report (Document “K”) which set out objections received to a recently advertised Traffic Regulation Order for various parking restrictions in the Bradford South constituency and pedestrian islands on Beacon Road.

The Principal Engineer explained that the proposals were part of the Casualty Reduction Scheme that had been identified as lengths of concerns and following advertising of the Order, a number of objections had been received which were detailed in the report.  He alluded to some slight modifications to the proposals with a view to relocating one of the pedestrian islands and the removal of a ‘No Loading’ restriction on Mill Street.

In response to a number of questions regarding the proposals, the Principal Engineer stated that the scheme would not interfere with disabled parking bays and that Beacon Road was wide enough to facilitate the pedestrian islands.

Members raised concerns about the speed of the traffic using Beacon Road, particularly in the vicinity of the Co-op store and that the proposals afforded an opportunity to address the issues.

A number of objectors were present at the meeting to highlight specific objections in relation to the siting of the proposed pedestrian islands and they made the following points:

·        That it was accepted that there was a problem on the full length of Beacon road and an acknowledgement that some measures had to be put in place to address the issue of speeding traffic.

·        That ideally speed cameras would offer the best solution.

·        Two objectors requested the re-siting of two of the pedestrian islands to enable them to access their drives.

·        That other measures could be adopted to deal with the speeding traffic.

·        That parking outside the shops and takeaways only exacerbated the situation.

In response to some of the points raised, the Principal Engineer stated that he was happy to relook at the siting of proposed pedestrian islands and their dimensions in order to address the objector’s concerns. In relation to the request to install safety cameras it was explained that the road did not meet the criteria for their installation and that the policy in this area was very stringent.

In addition an objector was present regarding the proposed no waiting at any time restrictions on Chapel Road, and he stated that there was no need to impose the restrictions as it would only restrict parking in the area and impact on the businesses in the vicinity. 

In response the Principal Engineer explained that the scheme was being proposed following a suggestion from the Police regarding concerns about emergency vehicle access to the BASF site.

A Member of the Committee and Ward Councillor for the area stated that he had visited the site and looked at the proposals in detail and that BASF had expressed concerns regarding emergency vehicle access onto their site, and that parking on Chapel Road would jeopardise access onto the site and therefore yellow lines were imperative to facilitate this and it was therefore:

The Strategic Director Regeneration will submit a report (Document “L”) which details how the service currently manages the Local Highway Maintenance (LHM) function and allocates resources.

It also updates the committee with regard to current operations being undertaken on the network and the indicative costs of works undertaken in the current financial year.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Bradford South Area Committee notes the current operational methods adopted for Local Highway Maintenance.

(2)       That the Bradford South Area Committee notes the indicative costs to date for the current financial year.

(3)       That the Bradford South Area Committee approves the list of      current and proposed CAT3/4 works as shown in Appendices 5       and 6 to Document “L”.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Environment and Waste Management

The Assistant Director Policy, Programmes and Change will submit a report (Document “N”) which provides an overview of poverty-deprivation related statistics in Bradford South, and a summary of key interventions led by the Council and partners to support vulnerable people. 

It aims to enable members to consider the potential impact and what additional actions might be taken to tackle the issues raised.

Recommended –

Members to note the issues outlined within the report and make observation or comment identifying gaps or areas of improvement.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

The Assistant Director Policy, Programmes and Change submitted a report (Document “N”) which provided an overview of poverty-deprivation related statistics in Bradford South, and a summary of key interventions led by the Council and partners to support vulnerable people. 

It aimed to enable members to consider the potential impact and what additional actions might be taken to tackle the issues raised.

The Interim Programme Lead officer explained the definition of poverty, including the index of multiple deprivation  and the key issues affecting Bradford South in the area of infant mortality, housing, deprivation, debt, employment and food and fuel poverty.  He drew Members attention to the detailed Poverty Scrutiny undertaken by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee which had made a series of recommendation to tackle the issue across the district.

The Chair acknowledged the plethora of work being undertaken in this area and he cited the debt and universal credit work done in Holmewood, however he expressed concerns that other work such as the health impacts arising from poverty was considered some years ago, however no tangible progress had been reported as of late.

A Member stated that particular area of focus should be on issues affecting the private rented sector, children’s nutrition and poor housing.

A Member stated that the lack of social housing and the generally poor housing stock should be a particular focal point,  together with a register of private landlords in order to set standards and a have a more rigorous enforcement regime to tackle rogue landlords.

A particular area of concern expressed by a number of Members was children coming to school without having had breakfast and schools having to feed children in order they could get through the rest of the school day.

Resolved –

That the issues outlined within the report be noted.

ACTION: No Action

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

Recommended –

That members note the content of this report and the future plans to

continue to support South Bradford.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Children’s Services

The Strategic Director Environment and Sport will submit a report (Document

“P”) which gives an update for 2015-16 on the Bradford District wide

provision undertaken by the Youth Service, which includes, but is not specific

to any one constituency area. It also proposes a way forward for establishing

a new Youth Offer for the Bradford District in response to the

recommendations made in the Youth Offer Review report produced in

November 2014.

Recommended –

(1)       That the district wide provision undertaken by the Youth Service           as detailed in Appendices A-E to Document “P” be noted.

(2)       That the work undertaken by the Youth Offer Working Group as             detailed in Appendix F of this report be noted.

(3)       That the Bradford South Area Committee considers and   comments on the proposals and recommendations made by the             Youth Offer Working Group in Appendix F to Document “P”.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

The Strategic Director Environment and Sport submitted a report

(Document “P”) which gave an update for 2015-16 on the Bradford

District wide provision undertaken by the Youth Service, which

included, but was not specific to any one constituency area.

It also proposed a way forward for establishing a new Youth Offer for

the Bradford District in response to the recommendations made in the

Youth Offer Review report produced in November 2014.

The Youth Service practitioner explained that the report did not specifically focus on Bradford South but was a district wide snapshot, and gave an detailed overview of the excellent work done by the Youth Service and the difference it had made to the lives of young people, particular reference was drawn to the work done in tackling the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation.

In welcoming the report Members commended the work of the Youth Service and the youth workers in Bradford South, particularly in the context of a reduced budget.

Resolved–

(1)       That the district wide provision undertaken by the Youth Service as detailed in Appendices A-E to Document “P” be noted.

(2)       That the work undertaken by the Youth Offer Working Group as             detailed in Appendix F to Document “P” be noted.

(3)       That the Bradford South Area Committee considered and            commented on the proposals and recommendations made by the         Youth Offer Working Group in Appendix F to Document “P”.

(4)       That officers and youth workers be commended for the youth    work undertaken in the Bradford South area.

ACTION:       Youth Service Advanced Practitioner

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

The Strategic Director Environment and Sport will submit a report (Document “Q”) which details the Community Chest Grants awarded from applications received prior to the 31May 2016 deadline.

Recommended –

(1)       That the wide range of applications from groups, organisations and individuals across Bradford South are noted and welcomed.

(2)       That the Bradford South Area Co-ordinator’s Office continue to ensure the effective allocation of the Community Chest budget by providing appropriate advice and support to applicants.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate