Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

Dockless Vehicles

The Chairman asked for an update on the dockless vehicles item and was advised that Officers had met separately with Lime and Human Forest and the operators had been asked to propose how they would better manage their service to set standards. An Officer advised that both providers were willing to negotiate, understood the problems being encountered and were sympathetic to high priority issues e.g., around fire escapes. They were both in agreement that they would do more to address these issues with their users. The Sub-Committee were informed that the operators had started banning frequent offenders from using the services and Officers had asked them for their records of this and the penalties issued. The next stage would be to draw up agreements around potential funding. A similar model as that for e-scooters was being suggested where there was a fee per deployment in the City which meant the numbers of bikes could be managed and accommodated appropriately. There were challenges in finding more spaces but the operators could also use deployment management to assist with this.

A Member stated that he understood that every borough had a slightly different contract with the operators. He suggested the City should work towards an individual agreement rather than wait for a London-wide agreement which could take some time. The Chairman stated that there could be difficulties with reaching a Pan-London agreement but as central London boroughs shared similar issues, it could be that a central London borough agreement could be reached. The Sub-Committee were advised that Westminster Council had recently introduced new methods to tackle issues. The Chairman asked Officers to report back to Members of the Sub-Committee on the measures being taken by Westminster Council. An Officer stated that whether a Pan-London agreement or a more local immediate neighbours’ agreement was reached, Officers were keen to continue with this approach. A member suggested that as Westminster and City shared an MP, concerns could be escalated through her.

Beech Street Consultation

An Officer advised that the Beech Street consultation had just been completed.

Bank Junction

The Chairman requested that the Wards be added to the Traffic Order Report before it was submitted to the Court of Common Council. He stated that it should be noted that some streets were shared by Wards and it was important that the right Members were engaged when proposals for changing traffic orders were explored. It was also acknowledged that Members from Wards on each side of a street could both have an interest even if only one side was proposed to have a traffic order.

RECEIVED.