Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr Aksanoglu, Chair of the meeting in Cllr Greer’s absence, welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Margaret Greer who was substituted by Cllr Nia Stevens.

The Chair detailed the procedure of the meeting and outlined how the Overview & Scrutiny Committee would consider the reasons for call in.

The Committee noted that Councillor Adrian Grumi would present the reasons for the call-in as the Lead Call-in Member.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest received regarding any item on the agenda.

To consider a call-in received on the decision taken by the Cabinet Member for Environment (in consultation with the Director of Environment & Street Scene, Doug Wilkinson) to Approve the Introduction of Bowes Road Bus Lane. (Non-Key).

The decision that has been called in was taken on 3 April 2024 and included on the Publication of Decision List No: 61/23-24 issued on 5 April 2024.

It is proposed that consideration of the call-in be structured as follows:

·         Brief outline of reasons for the call-in by representative (s) of the

members who have called in the decision.

·         The Cabinet Member/decision maker and officers respond to the

reasons provided for the Call-In.

·         Debate by Overview & Scrutiny Committee and agreement on action

to be taken.

The Overview & Scrutiny Committee were to consider and review the Non-Key Decision - Approve the Introduction of Bowes Road Bus Lane - taken on 3 April 2024 and included on the Publication of Decision List No. 61/23-24.

The decision had been called in for review by 8 members of the Council, namely Councillors: Adrian Grumi (Lead), Emma Supple, Edward Smith, Paul Pratt, Elisa Morreale, Lee Chamberlain, Tom O’Halloran and Chris Joannides.

The report sets out the officer response to the reasons for call-in.

Reasons for the call-in were presented by Councillor Adrian Grumi, Lead Call-in Member for the decision.

Cllr Grumi summarised the reasons for the call-in of the decision.

Cllr Grumi asked that Members refer the decision back to the decision taker for reconsideration.

Cllr Jewell, Cabinet Member for Environment and Officers spoke in response to the reasons for call-in, and questions posed by Members of the committee stating that; following extensive engagement and consultation, the proposed plan had been updated and the scheme was now only set to operate at peak times (and not twelve hours daily as was the intention in the original proposal). In response to concerns that the scheme is going to make traffic congestion worse, Officers said that they did not believe this to be the case as the way the scheme is being developed will maintain the capacity for vehicles travelling from Bowes Road on to the North Circular Road. The proposal is for the scheme to be implemented on an experimental basis so that the impact of it can be better understood before the decision is made permanent. This will allow the council a period of time in which to monitor the effects of the scheme. Success criteria will include monitoring bus journey times (which will be a critical factor), queues of traffic/set back times as well as feedback from bus operators, TFL and the local community. Traffic counters will also be installed to monitor speed and volume. In response to questions regarding the loss of residential parking, Officers advised that the proposals delete only 7 parking spaces from the northern side, returning a similar number to the southern kerbside. As well as this, only 2 fronting homes from 27 lack off-street parking space therefore on balance, the benefits of transport users are significant and outweigh any parking issues.

The original decision documents.

Cllr Grumi summarised the points made during the discussion and reiterated his view that Members should refer the decision back to the decision taker.

The Chair summarised the key points made throughout the discussion and took Members of the committee through the options available to them, namely: refer the decision back to the decision-making person/body for reconsideration; refer the matter to full Council; or confirm the original decision.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the reasons provided for the Call-In and responses set out in the Officer’s report. Having considered the verbal responses and the information presented by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Jewell, and relevant Officers; the Committee AGREED to confirm the original decision made by the Cabinet.

To note the dates of the future meetings will be confirmed following Annual Council on Wednesday 15 May 2024.

Members NOTED that the dates of future meetings will be confirmed following Annual Council on Wednesday 15 May 2024.