Agenda and minutes

In the event the fire alarm sounds attendees will be advised to evacuate the building via the nearest fire exit and assemble at the Bottle of Notes opposite MIMA.

The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and read out the building evacuation procedure.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Place Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 27 January 2025 were submitted and approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

Councillor T Livingstone was not present at the meeting.

Recommendation: That the Panel considers the content of the draft Final Report and agrees recommendations for inclusion in the report.

A copy of the Draft Final Report on Home to School Transport had been circulated with the agenda.

Members discussed the information provided and some minor amendments were suggested.  Members also discussed recommendations for inclusion in the Final Report.

AGREED as follows that:

1.      The following recommendations were included in the Final Report:

  That Council should:

·        Investigate whether it would be cost effective to devolve the provision of Home to School Transport to individual schools, as they may be able to provide a more localised service.   Ideally the funding could be passed directly to the schools making them responsible for controlling costs, ensuring there was no additional cost to the Local Authority.

·        Review the eligibility requirements for free school travel, especially for post-16 students and for pupils who attend a school that is not in the catchment/nearest school by parental choice, but they meet the low-income criteria.   There would need to be an option included for consideration of special circumstances.

·        Ensure closer collaboration between Children’s Services, Schools and the Home to School Transport Unit to make certain that the most cost-effective and suitable transport arrangements are in place for each student, particularly in relation to         students with SEND. The requirement for transport assistance should be included as a consideration in SEND assessments. 

·        Prioritise the promotion of independent travel to all parents and students, increase the number of travel trainers and bus buddies and encourage greater use of personal travel budgets.

·        Introduce a spare seat scheme to offer discretionary transport assistance on existing transport for students who are not eligible for free travel assistance. 

·        Investigate whether increasing the Council’s fleet of vehicles and reducing dependency on third party providers would be cost effective and whether this would enable better route planning.

·        Explore whether entering into longer-term contracts with third party providers would provide for greater flexibility and consistency.

2.     an additional recommendation in relation to part payment would be drafted and

added to the report.

3.    a final version of the report would be circulated to all Panel Members with an opportunity for further amendments/comments, with final approval delegated to the Chair of the Panel.

4.   the final report would be submitted to Overview and Scrutiny Board for      consideration.

The Director of Regeneration will be in attendance to provide an overview of Barriers to Regeneration as an introduction to the Panel’s review of this topic.

Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information will be required for this scrutiny investigation.

The Director of Regeneration was in attendance at the meeting and gave a presentation in relation to the key barriers to regeneration in Middlesbrough.

The presentation was based on four key themes as follows: economic factors, political, financial and other.

In relation to global economic conditions, the UK was currently in a difficult period and a lot of investment decisions were on hold.  Middlesbrough was affected by the uncertainty due to a lot of companies and investments being based in other countries.  During times of buoyant activity Middlesbrough benefited but was equally impacted when economic conditions were not so good.

The market for office accommodation had not only been impacted by global economic conditions but also by the Covid-19 pandemic.  The number of people hybrid-working had increased and this had reduced the requirement for office space.  Although this was changing again, and companies were now looking at bigger floorplates, they were not at the size required pre-Covid-19.   The issue was not so much about the volume of office accommodation available but how this fitted with what was available in Middlesbrough.  The two Centre Square Office blocks had large floorplates and it was difficult to convert them into smaller areas.  Consequently there were not as many enquiries for them as there had been previously.

Retail was in decline and in the two years before the pandemic there was approximately 1 million square feet of floor space in Middlesbrough which needed to be reduced by one third.  Post-pandemic, at least half of that space needed to be removed.  Not all this retail space was owned by Middlesbrough Council and there were four shopping malls in town centre.  If all the current retail could be moved into one place, the town centre would be thriving.

In terms of the political arena, the Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) was also operating within Middlesbrough and charged with achieving regeneration.  Due to the change in Government in 2024 there had been some confusion around the MDC and how the proposed asset transfer from Middlesbrough Council would take place.  Senior staff had now been appointed to the MDC and Middlesbrough Council staff would be working with them, so some of the concerns were easing. 

The proposed asset transfer had not happened yet and neither had it officially been stopped.  This uncertainty had led to a hiatus since the Council did not wish to invest in stock when it might be transferred over to the MDC.  Whilst the Council had ownership of the assets, the MDC had the funding to do the town centre regeneration.  Clarity about the asset transfer either being on or off would help going forward.  There were also some political differences since there had previously been a Conservative Government, Tees Valley Mayor and Independent Mayor of Middlesbrough Council but since the 2024 Elections there was now a Labour Government and Labour Mayor of Middlesbrough Council.

Financial considerations centred around capital  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/77

The Chair will provide a verbal update from actions arising from the Task and Finish Group meeting held on 20 January 2025.

Recommendation: that Panel Members note the update from the Task and Finish Group.

The Empty Properties Task and Finish Group had received a copy of the draft Final Report from the Democratic Services Officer (DSO) and also some responses to queries raised at the meeting held on 20 January 2025. 

AGREED that a further meeting of the Task and Finish Group would be convened with the DSO in attendance to facilitate further drafting of the Final Report. 

The Chair will provide a verbal update in relation to the work of the Crustacean Deaths Collaborative Working Group.

The Chair informed the Panel that a draft Final Report in relation to Crustacean Deaths had been circulated to Members of the Collaborative Working Group with a request for feedback.

The key concerns raised in the report were in relation to water testing and dredging.   Water testing only took place every 3 years and Members felt the testing regime was inadequate.  There had been an error in the calculation of how much dredged material had actually been dumped at sea.  The Members had asked whether dredged material could be dumped on land in future to prevent contamination in the sea. 

The conclusion of the draft report was that the reasons for the crustacean deaths were multi-causal.  Once the Final Report was agreed, the Chair would circulate a copy to Panel Members.

NOTED

The Chair will provide a verbal update on matters considered at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 12 February 2025.

The Chair provided a verbal update on items considered at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board that was held on 12 February 2025.

Monday 31 March 2025 at 4.30 pm.

The next meeting of the Place Scrutiny Panel was scheduled for Monday 31 March 2025 at 4.30 pm.

None.