Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Convery, Graham and Hamitouche.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)   Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)     Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)  Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between  
 you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial
 interest) and the council.

(d)   Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)   Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month
   or longer.

(f)    Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body
   in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g)   Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Councillor Clarke requested that changes be made to page 5 of the minutes, that reference to the expansion of monitoring of air quality outside schools should mention that it includes Nursery Schools.
 

RESOLVED:

That subject to the above correction the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2020 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Members enquired that in light of the incidence of Covid-19 and its impact regarding future meetings, whether the Democratic Manager liaise with the Chief Executive on the possibility of using social media apps such as Zoom to conduct meetings remotely.  In addition a member requested that all council meetings should be live streamed so as to encourage public engagement at meetings.

The Corporate Director advised that future meetings of committees with the exception of Executive, Planning and Licensing meetings will be postponed in line with government guidance on social distancing and pending national legislation regarding meetings.
 

Committee clerk informed the meeting that consultant witness had indicated of not being able to attend the meeting in light of Covid-19, offering to use Microsoft Teams – a video conferencing tool as an alternative, however unfortunately not possible  in this instance as Council could only offer Skype.

With regards the Special meeting of the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 9 March, the general consensus of members was that it was a positive and engaging meeting.

The Executive Member acknowledged that although invites had been sent out to various stakeholders, more efforts would be made at future meetings to extend the invitation to other groups such as GP’s and TRA’s who had been unable to attend. Officers have sufficient time before next meeting to consider other ways of engaging with different groups.

The meeting was advised that at future meetings of these forum meetings officers would provide an update to the public on progress of each on the 6 themes in the strategy and take on further feedback which will help reshape the strategy.

Meeting was informed that letters will be sent out by the Chair to all attendees at the Special meeting on 9 March thanking them for their attendance and contribution on the draft Net Carbon Zero Strategy.

With regards to suggestions and ideas put forward by attendees at the special meeting on 9 March, it was agreed that the type written noted be appended to the minutes of that meeting as a record.

In response to a question on available support to staff of Better Leisure who had been notified of job losses in light of Covid-19, the Corporate Director for Environment and Regeneration acknowledged that presently the Council’s focus is to keep its essential services running and supporting and protecting its vulnerable residents.

On the suggestion about possible redeployment of staff to other council services in the interim, the Director advised that all options will be considered, however reminded members that although Council will aim to support staff, it is important to note that Leisure Services is not regarded as critical or a priority services.                      

The order of business would be as per the agenda.

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

None

In the absence of David Shannon, Active Travel Manager, the Corporate Director, Environment and Regeneration gave a presentation to the Committee regarding Islington’s Active Travel Programme. The following issues were highlighted during the discussion:

·       Islington’s Travel programme has been in practice for quite a while. The programme continues to encourage school children to cycle and walk more to schools and it correlates with Council policy especially around School Streets.

·       Members were informed of the range of initiatives such as Bikeability, Cycle skills, STARS, Bike hangers, Dockless cycle hire, School streets, which are all part of the Active Travel Plan, all initiatives aimed at encouraging cycling in the borough which is funded by TfL.

·       With regards to concerns about road safety of cyclists, initiatives such as Bikeability and Cycle Skills have resulted in an increase in the number of children and adult being trained. Meeting was informed that in the borough with over £132,000 received from TfL, the council has commissioned independent trainers in within school environments and on public roads to help increase the levels of ability of cyclists.  Members were advised that this is an ongoing programme both during school and holiday periods.

·       In addition to cycle training, other initiatives offered to cyclist include Dr Bike, which are maintenance classes, which help cyclist acquire the skills of being able to repair their bicycles. Meeting was informed of plans in the future to extend the programme in general to council staff

·       With regards to the STAR (School Travel and Road Safety) initiative, a London wide programme funded by TfL, the meeting was advised that schools are invited to participate in a wide range of activities such as walking, cycling, the use of scooters and public transport, smarter driving, curriculum, fund raising and partnership. Schools are then awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze status based on their level of skills and ability. Of the 39 Islington schools enrolled in the STARS programme, 5 have been awarded Gold status, 1 has Silver and 33 are Bronze. The aim of the Council is to support all schools in Islington into achieving Gold status.

·       Members were reminded about the benefits of the School Streets initiative which has been in operation for a number of years, as the Council aims to send out a strong message discouraging parents from driving their children to schools. Islington presently as 13 School streets in place with plans to  introduce another 17 over the next two years.  

·       As part of Islington’s Travel Active Plan, the Council has a programme of installing bike hangers to encourage cyclists. Plans are in place to install 100 per year in open spaces.  In addition the Council in 2019-20 installed 150 new stands for cycle parking as it recognises its importance to its residents. Cycle stands are installed outside schools and train stations with a view of increasing capacity.

·       In response to concerns about the erratic parking of Dockless cycles on pavements, the Executive Member Environment and Regeneration acknowledged that more needs to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 360.

RESOLVED:
That the work programme be noted.