Agenda item

5.1

A petition had been received from Mandeep Khaira which had received 17 signatures:

“Obtaining a post box for Teynham Road, S5

We, the undersigned, petition the council to support the community in S5 to have a post box on Teynham Road, S5.

A local post box on Teynham Road would be beneficial to the community, to ensure that everyone can access a local post box without having to rely on public transport / use one in heavy traffic areas.”

There was no speaker to this petition. The Chair responded with the following answer:

A meeting will be arranged with the petitioner to understand the need for a post box in the area. Post boxes are the responsibility of Royal Mail however, once further information has been gathered, the Committee may wish to write to Royal Mail to encourage them to provide sufficient coverage in the area.

5.2

Roy Morris from Better Buses for South Yorkshire attended the meeting and asked the following questions:

“I am a member of Better Buses for South Yorkshire. As well as buses, we are obviously concerned with issues relating to council policy on broader, loosely related issues. Therefore, I would be grateful for a slot to ask the following question at the next WSS meeting: 

Would it be a positive development to publicise the use made of traffic infringement charges? 

More detail: 

• What use is made currently of funds collected? 
• Is there a potential benefit in giving a higher profile to these funds and their use? 
• Would such publicity facilitate the development and public acceptance of measures to move towards net zero?”

The Chair responded with the following answers:

In terms of traffic infringement charges, the council issues Penalty Charge Notices for civil contraventions of Parking, Bus Lane and Clean Air Zone restrictions. The police also issue fines for some parking, bus lane and other traffic related contraventions, but the council do not derive any income from those fines. 

The Parking and Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notices issued by the council contribute towards the overall annual parking account. The Council publishes the account annually on its website. The use of the parking account is regulated by Section 55 (4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022. These regulations set out the purposes for which income beyond the costs of running the parking service can be used:  

·       Provision and maintenance of off-street parking (parking account only) 

·       Funding public transport 

·       Highway and road improvements  

·       purposes of environmental improvement in the local authority's area 

In previous years surpluses have been spent on highway maintenance. 

The Penalty Charge Notices for the Clean Air Zone are regulated by Part III and Schedule 12 of the Transport Act 2000, Parts 2 and 6 of The Road User Charging  Schemes (Penalty Charges, Adjudication and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013. In the event that net proceeds are generated from the Scheme over the opening ten year period, these proceeds would be applied to facilitate the achievement of relevant local transport policies in Sheffield's Transport Strategy and the Sheffield City Region Transport Strategy in accordance with the following high level spending objectives: 

·       supporting the delivery of the ambitions of the Scheme and promoting cleaner air; 

·       supporting active travel and public transport use; 

·       supporting zero emission and sustainable infrastructure and actions in and around the city to improve air quality.

A report to the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy committee on the 14 February 2024 will recommend endorsing the proposal to commit an initial £1m of CAZ surplus income to accelerate air quality improvement initiatives around schools and improve air quality for children traveling to school. 

In terms of publicising the use of any surplus income, council officers brought a public report on the annual parking account to the Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee in December, with detail on the work undertaken by Parking Services to manage traffic and support bus priority measures.  The report to Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee on CAZ income will be accompanied by a press release and ongoing communications plan relating to the clean air implementation plan. 

The council is keen to promote net zero and measures to increase public transport patronage are an essential strand to improving overall carbon emissions in the city. 

5.3

In response to a request by the Committee, Officers agreed to circulate a link to the webpage where the Annual Parking Account was published.