Agenda item

Questions

Minutes:

Taxi Access on City Streets

Deputy Barbara Newman asked a question of the Chair of the Planning & Transportation Committee, seeking an update on progress in respect of requests to allow taxis to operate more freely on City streets, as discussed at the Court’s June 2021 meeting.

 

Responding, the Chair noted that the Transport Strategy, Climate Action Strategy and recovery plans set out an ambitious approach to giving more space and priority to people walking, enabling more people to cycle, improving road safety, and reducing traffic and associated carbon emissions and pollution. Achieving these ambitions could sometimes require changes to the routes available to motor vehicles, including taxis, although access for taxis and other motor vehicles would be retained on most streets. The Chair confirmed that, when making changes to streets, there was no blanket approach, with taxi access assessed on a case-by-case basis against the objectives of the project and the Transport Strategy.

 

The first phases of this pedestrian priority programme were focused on transitioning the remaining temporary COVID-19 interventions into experimental schemes, thereby allowing an understanding their benefits and disbenefits as more people returned to working in the City and any changes in work and travel habits became clearer. Currently, as part of this programme, there are three locations with restricted access for motor traffic to give more priority to pedestrians. These were Chancery Lane, Cheapside and Old Jewry. Following engagement with local Members and businesses over the summer and with the taxi trade, the initial proposals for Chancery Lane were now being amended to allow access for taxis at all times of the day, together with changes to arrangements for deliveries and servicing and access to on-street parking. However, the point closure on Cheapside would remain as bus and cycle only for the experimental period and Old Jewry would also remain closed to traffic at the junction with Poultry.

 

Experimental Traffic Orders for the first phase of the Pedestrian Priority Programme would come into effect in early January, followed by a six-month period of consultation and monitoring of the impact of the proposals. The Chair assured Members that there would be continued engagement with local Members as part of the consultation process and any final decision as to the retention, modification or removal of measures would be informed by consultation feedback and data collected over the time the experiments were in place.

 

In response to a supplementary question from Deputy Barbara Newman, in which she expressed her disappointment at the changes being limited to Chancery Lane, the Chair agreed to meet further with her or any other interested Member and expressed his firm belief that all decisions made to date had been undertaken in a collaborative and constructive spirit.

 

Replying to a further supplementary question from Deputy Wendy Hyde, in which she raised concerns about the lack of taxis late at night and the impact on safety for women and vulnerable travellers, the Chair gave his assurance that safety was at forefront of thinking at each point, adding that he recognised the need to send out the message that taxis were welcome in the City and provided a valuable public service.

 

Alderman Tim Hailes expressed his disappointment with the current position and queried whether the Chair would make a commitment to would revert with substantive proposals relating to improved taxi access; specifically, to allow for proper access for licensed hackney carriages through and to major City thoroughfares and Bank Junction in particular. Responding, the Chair expressed his view that it would be undesirable to commit to a blanket policy, advocating instead for an informed review of each proposal on an iterative, case-by-case basis.

 

Sir Michael Snyder reminded the Chair of undertakings provided previously in respect of the redevelopment proposals at Bank Junction, particularly in relation to a review of the original consultation and fact-finding activities concerning taxi access. He observed that this appeared to be somewhat overdue and questioned whether proposals for review would be forthcoming. In response, the Chair advised that the Streets & Walkways Sub-Committee had been going through the proposals around Bank Junction in detail but that, given the uncertainties of the current situation associated with the pandemic, it would be precipitate to make firm proposals at this time. He reiterated that all considerations were being taken on an open-minded basis.

 

Road Danger Reduction

Rehana Ameer asked a question of the Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee through which she sought an update on progress with respect to the Road Danger Reduction priority schemes and measures to monitor and address City-wide collision issues to ensure the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicle users.

 

In reply, the Chair expressed his view that making City streets safe for all users was a core part of his Committee’s work and one of its main priorities. He outlined the Vision Zero approach employed which sought to ensure that no one was killed or seriously injured while travelling on City streets, consistent with the Mayor of London and Transport for London’s ambitions across the capital’s street and transport network.

 

The Chair made reference to the contents of the 5-year Road Danger Reduction and Active Travel Plan which, along with the Transport Strategy, set out the approach to reducing road danger and preventing fatal and serious collisions. He also referenced current projects and activities including at St Paul’s Gyratory, the Pedestrian Priority Programme, and promoting the use of safer vehicles through fleet accreditation schemes and other industry standards. Close working with the City of London Police was employed to support their education, engagement and enforcement around speed, risky behaviours, and safer vehicles, and much work was also undertaken with TfL to support their safer streets projects.

 

The Chair added that the Road Danger Reduction Plan was currently under review, with the aim of adopting a revised plan in 2022 which would reflect and be balanced against the shape and strength of the City’s post-Covid-19 recovery. As part of this review process, a City-wide collision analysis would identify priority locations for safer streets improvements and identify areas of focus for campaigns and activities to encourage safer behaviours, including enforcement by the City of London Police. The plan would then be updated on an annual basis and act as a supporting document to the Transport Strategy.

 

Thanking the Chair for his response, Rehana Ameer asked a supplementary question in which she sought a commitment for a data-driven periodical progress update to be made available to the Court, updating on the actions taken and the key milestones being achieved in reducing the number of road accidents across the Square Mile. The Chair made reference to the aforementioned collision analysis and annual review of the Road Danger Reduction Plan, which would provide this information, and agreed to arrange for this annual update to be circulated by email to all Members.

 

Support for Afghan Evacuees

Deputy Edward Lord asked a question of the Deputy Chairman of the Community and Children’s Services Committee, concerning the work being undertaken to support those Afghan evacuees being accommodated in the Square Mile.

 

Responding, the Deputy Chairman advised that officers were working in concert with government, health, voluntary and faith partners to provide comprehensive support, with work focusing on supporting the engagement with mainstream services and providing the dignity, agency and choice one would want for all our residents. Every household had been registered with GP services and health and wellbeing support services established, whilst school and nursery places for some 211 children up to the age of 16 had been secured. The adult education service was also providing a range of English and other classes, and there was a timetable of free activities for young people as well.

 

Alongside these efforts, the Corporation continued to engage with the Government to inform its plans for longer term resettlement, as it would be the provision of settled homes by the Government that would provide the best platform to secure the lasting benefits of new lives in the UK. 

 

In response to a supplementary question from Marianne Fredericks concerning the availability of English lessons at a location close to the hotel, the Deputy Chair confirmed that these were being arranged in the new Community Centre.

 

Replying to a further supplementary question from John Fletcher, the Deputy Chair confirmed that regular contact with the evacuees was being maintained over the forthcoming holiday period and that a range of activities were being organised. Following a final supplementary question from Sophie Fernandes, he also confirmed cognisance of the need to ensure certain utilities were brought to the hotel, particularly for female evacuees, given there were sometimes limitations on being able to leave the hotel

 

Electoral Registration – Serviced Offices

Ann Holmes asked a question of the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee regarding business voter registration and whether any progress had been made to enable those working in serviced offices to be registered.

 

In response, the Chair clarified that the issue at the heart of this matter was the distinction between tenancies and licences and a business’s ability to register voters. For the purposes of registering, a qualifying body must, in order to appoint voters, ordinarily occupy premises as owner or tenant. The law distinguished between a tenant of premises and a licensee, even though to a bystander the attributes, on a day-to-day basis, of the individual tenant or licensee may look similar. However, it was the case that a licensee, whether or not potentially a qualifying body, could not appoint persons as voters. Many of the new serviced office companies tended to operate on a licence basis, so those businesses based there could not register voters.

 

The Policy and Resources Committee had recently asked the Comptroller & City Solicitor to look into whether there was any room for manoeuvre on this issue and Counsel’s Opinion was subsequently obtained. Unfortunately, Counsel had confirmed the position, i.e., any business operating from serviced offices as a licensee, could not register voters within the confines of current legislation which would allow us to facilitate the registration of such voters.

 

In response to supplementary questions from Ann Holmes, in which she sought clarity as to the process by which the Corporation might ensure candidates confirmed the grounds on which they were eligible to stand for election, and Michael Hudson, wherein he highlighted the importance of the substance of a lease or licence as a determining factor as to eligibility, the Chair suggested that these queries should be pursued with the Elections Office and Comptroller (with reference to the legal advice recently received).

 

In reply to a final supplementary question from Natasha Lloyd-Owen, in which she expressed some concerns around the fairness of differentials in voting allocations under the current system and queried whether there might be a willingness to revisit changes to primary legislation, the Chair noted that the Policy & Resources Committee had only recently received Counsel’s opinion and had not indicated a desire to pursue this, so it would not be appropriate for her to do so; however, she was certain that the comments made would be borne in mind for future discussions. The Chair also challenged the suggestion of a lack of fairness in the City’s democratic processes, observing that all democratic systems had some drawbacks.

 

In closing, the Chair took the opportunity to encourage all eligible voters to register ahead of the deadline.

 

Locum Tenens

The Town Clerk reported that the Lord Mayor now needed to depart the meeting in order to attend another official engagement. Accordingly, there was produced and laid in Court a Warrant, signed by the Right Honourable The Lord Mayor, appointing Alderman Ian Luder as Locum Tenens to transact all the business appertaining to the Office of Mayoralty of this City during his absence.