Agenda item

An update on progress to implement the recommendations of the Disability Task and Finish Group was provided to the Panel.

Members had previously received written updates at the meeting held on 20^th November 2019.  During the meeting concern had been raised that insufficient progress had been made in the desired time frames.  Therefore, it had been agreed that the relevant officers would be requested to attend a future meeting in order to provide further details and respond to queries.

The Chair invited officers present to introduce themselves.  In attendance were the Service Lead, Major Infrastructure Projects, the Planning Manager and the Licensing Manager.  Concern was raised that a representative from Parking, Highways & Network Management had not been available to join the meeting.

(At this point in the meeting Councillor Gahir declared that he was a Hackney Carriage driver.  He remained logged in throughout the virtual meeting)

The Licensing Manager experienced some technical difficulties whilst providing his update.  Therefore, Members were invited to submit written questions to the Senior Democratic Services Officer and responses would be circulated to the Panel.  Members were also asked to submit written questions for the Parking, Highways & Network Management Team and these would be forwarded to the relevant officer.

Following the conclusion of the presentations, the Chair invited comments and questions from Members.

During the course of the discussion, the following points were raised:

• Staffing in the Parking Team had recently been reviewed and the recruitment of an additional engineer would be undertaken imminently.  An additional officer was needed to address the backlog of parking schemes requiring completion.

·  Discussion took place regarding a scheme to restrict pavement car parking.  It was explained that initially, the scheme had been rolled out on a ward by ward basis; however this had proved difficult and the scheme had been put on hold.  Subsequently, the Parking Team had reconsidered the strategy and was now looking to implement the scheme across the entire Borough rather than on a piecemeal basis.

·  Members were invited to email the Parking Team with any queries relating to particular areas of concern within their wards.

The Chair then invited Councillor Dhaliwal to address the Panel under Rule 30. 

Councillor Dhaliwal asked if Slough Railway Station was fully Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant.  In response, it was explained that the Station was compliant and Langley Station was in the final stages of completing works to comply with the DDA standard. 

Councillor Dhaliwal highlighted the frustrations residents had experienced during the introduction of the experimental parking scheme and urged officers not to repeat the same errors.

The Chair thanked officers in attendance for the updates.

Resolved –

(a)  That the updates be noted.

(b)  That Panel Members be requested to submit any additional questions for the Team Leader, Parking or the Licensing Manager to the Senior Democratic Services Officer.