Agenda item

(a)     That the Committee note the historical issues associated with parking within the vicinity of schools and recognise the responsibilities of highway users in accordance with the requirements of the Highway Code;

(b)     That the Committee note the hierarchy of responsibility in relation to the management of traffic within the vicinity of schools and acknowledges the role of enforcement as a reactive measure, rather than a means to prevent initial occurrence; and

(c)     That the Committee approves the creation of a joint Task & Finish Group in order to explore the issues in further detail and develop a collaborative and preventative approach with key stakeholders, which will involve:-

•   Elected Members from the Education, Youth & Culture OSC and Environment & Economy OSC;

•   Officers from both the Education & Youth and Streetscene & Transportation portfolios;

•    Head Teachers

•    Elected Members invited to attend as required;

•    Officers from North Wales Police invited to attend as required.

Prior to consideration of the report, the Chair commented that every Member had, at some point, received concerns from residents regarding school parking.  She said that this continued to be an ongoing issue, that could not rely on a single solution to resolve it.  She thanked the Members who had emailed their concerns and points they wished to raise to the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator and welcomed Members of the Environment & Economy Overview & Scrutiny Committee to the meeting, who had been invited due to the issue falling within the remit of both Committees.  She thanked the authors of the report for the clarification of the roles and responsibilities of all the parties who worked to resolve this issue.

The Chair also welcomed Mr. Andrew Dunbobbin, Police & Crime Commissioner to the meeting, who is in attendance to provide information on the role of the Police where there were concerns of school parking.

            The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) presented the report which provided Members with an overview of the problems currently experienced within the vicinity of the County’s schools, whilst also outlining the roles and responsibilities of all parties with a view to seeking a collaborative approach and effective solution.  She provided information on how the teams within the Streetscene and Transportation portfolio were organised, the resources which were available to support this, how the legislation worked and what could be achieved.

            The Transportation Manager commented that parking near schools was an historical problem experienced by every local authority with the reasons for this being the location of schools, inconsiderate and dangerous driving and parking by individuals as more parents were driving to school rather than walking.   Information on the Active Travel measures and improved infrastructure which included safer routes in community schemes, was given together with an overview of the constraints on what could be achieved at school sites.  From a road safety prospective, parental behaviour caused many of the problems around schools, which also linked to the wider congestion on the road network, pollution, and emissions. 

The Transportation Manager reported that a high volume of complaints were received around parking and traffic congestion together with requests for road safety reviews and the small Transport Traffic team who supporting this had to undertake assessments, design schemes and then bid for available grant funding.  Referring to Enforcement he provided information on the small team of Civil Parking Officers who were also required to undertake other enforcement duties.  An outline of the areas of highway enforcement that were covered by North Wales Police and the Council and the hierarchy of responsibility regarding traffic management and parking was outlined within the report. 

            The Regulatory Services Manager provided an overview of the Civil Parking Enforcement Team, which consisted of 10 Officers, 1 Supervisor and 1 Manager.  This team had a very broad remit, and she outlined the traffic, environmental and other areas of work they covered, with the demand on this team increasing.  Information on the enforcement provided across the 78 schools, with 25 schools having active traffic restrictions in place and an explanation of the variation of traffic restrictions was given.   Enforcement Officers were scheduled to attend schools daily especially where multiple or ongoing complaints had been received.  They wore visible uniforms and confirmed that most parents complied with the traffic regulations in place when they were present, with the non-compliance happening when they were not present.  The team tried to visit all schools, but because of the size of the team and number of schools it was not possible to attend every school every day as the resources were spread across the whole network.

            The Transportation Manager explained that parking on clear ways was an instant fine, but double and single yellow lines allowed for a car to stop for up to 5 minutes.  The process of Traffic Regulatory Orders (TROs) was a very complex, expensive process and could take between 6 months and 2 years to complete and once these restrictions were in place, they would also affect the local residents.   The use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and CCTV was also explained but these were only effective when clear ways “school keep clear” zigzags and crossing points were present.

            A number of questions and comments were made by Members which were attached at Appendix 1 of the minutes.  The comments made by Members would be collated for the work of the Task & Finish Group to form a basis for their investigation for solutions to this issue.

            The Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure said that this was an issue for all schools and that the cost of putting restrictions in place outside schools was also very expensive.  This was an issue for parents, who by their actions, were causing these problems and he appealed to them to consider if it was necessary to park at the school gates or on pavements.  He agreed with the proposal to set up a Task and Finish Group, which would enable local Members to highlight their individual concerns for their schools.  He felt examples of good practice, such as walking buses, should also be considered as part of the work of the Task & Finish Group.   

            The Police & Crime Commissioner thanked the Committee for the invitation and outlined that he was the first Police & Crime Commissioner in North Wales to include road safety in his Police & Crime Plan.  He said that he was pleased to work with the Authority and all Local Authorities across North Wales to tackle this issue outside of schools to ensure that children were kept safe.  He reported on the research work his team had undertaken, looking at what schemes were available in Wales and England and commented on the School Streets Scheme in Redbridge, a London Borough Council.  The Scheme had designated zones which at specified times ensured that certain streets were blocked off or had traffic diverted to take the pressure from the school and enable children to get to school safely.  Contact had been made with Redbridge Borough Council to gain a better understanding on how they undertook this work and he agreed to share the link to the website with Members for information following the meeting.  Referring to the recommendations of the report, he said he would welcome the opportunity to work with the Task & Finish Group and said that he looked forward to seeing how this developed to ensure that children were as safe as they could be going to school.

            The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure said that many of the mitigation measures involved additional financial resources.  He hoped that when the Task & Finish Group put forward its recommendations that Members from across the chamber supported any necessary increases for staffing costs and maintenance costs for highways.  He hoped the Task & Finish Group would focus on educating or altering the perception of the small minority of parents who were causing these problems. 

            The Police and Crime Commissioner fully understood the challenges that all public services faced within their respective budgets and wished to offer some financial support to explore a pilot scheme identified through the Task & Finish Group.  He would welcome the opportunity of working with the Task & Finish Group and said that there was the possibility of applying for funding through PACT and Innovate to Grow, which would then have to go through the application process.                 

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor Carolyn Preece and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey.

RESOLVED:

(a)     That the Committee note the historical issues associated with parking within the vicinity of schools and recognise the responsibilities of highway users in accordance with the requirements of the Highway Code;

(b)     That the Committee note the hierarchy of responsibility in relation to the management of traffic within the vicinity of schools and acknowledges the role of enforcement as a reactive measure, rather than a means to prevent initial occurrence; and

(c)     That the Committee approves the creation of a joint Task & Finish Group in order to explore the issues in further detail and develop a collaborative and preventative approach with key stakeholders, which will involve:-

•   Elected Members from the Education, Youth & Culture OSC and Environment & Economy OSC;

•   Officers from both the Education & Youth and Streetscene & Transportation portfolios;

•   Head Teachers

•   Elected Members invited to attend as required;

•   Officers from North Wales Police invited to attend as required.