Agenda and minutes

Councillor Hankey welcomed those present to the meeting.

Members of the Bury West Township Forum are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

Councillor Walker declared a personal interest in the item relating to First Buses as he was a regular user of their services.

Councillor Kerrison declared a personal interest in the item relating to First Buses as she was a regular user of their services.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2015 are attached.

It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the last meeting be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillor Walker stated that he had sent his apologies for the last meeting of the Township Forum as he had been attending a School Governor’s meeting. He asked that this be recorded as a clash.

A verbal update will be given at the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE – This item is subject to the availability of officers on the night.

There were no police representatives in attendance at the meeting.

A presentation will be given at the meeting.

Councillor Rishi Shori, Deputy Leader of the Council and Steve Kenyon Interim Director of Resources and Regulation gave a presentation setting out the budget consultation for 2016/2017.

It was explained that funding received from central government would continue to reduce. It was reported that for 2016/2017 it was estimated that the Council will have to cut  £11.6 million from its budget as core funding was being reduced by 10.75%. It was anticipated that the Council’s funding would be cut by over 30% in the coming 4 years. This is in top of the £54million lost since 2010.

This is at a time when residents’ needs are changing, demands are increasing and expectations are high. The Council and its partners will have to work differently to deliver the best outcomes with the resources available.

The Council will need to prioritise services covering its legal obligations and its priorities to look after the vulnerable; promote a strong local economy and be a good place to live and invest.

The impact of the reduction is budget was set out:-

·         Service changes – can’t rule out service closures and/or a reduced range of services in future years.

·         Explore different ways of delivering services and greater use of partnership working.

·         Increased waiting times and /or reduced quality of service

·         Limits to what the Council can afford to provide and carry out

·         A different relationship with residents – understanding what the Council can and can’t do

·         Greater use of technology

Steve Kenyon set out the cuts that the Council had experienced since 2011 and explained that these added up to £53.561million.

Steve also introduced a slide setting out where the Council spent its money with the top three areas being Older People – 30p per £1, Children’s Services (non schools) – 24p per £1 and Cleansing, Refuse Collection  and Disposal – 13p per £1.

It was explained that the way that the funding was allocated was based on a formula which looked at specific areas such as levels of deprivation and other demographics. This meant that Bury received £331pp compared to the national average of £387pp.

There would also be cuts to a number of grants that the Council receives as well as new concerns such as Apprenticeship Levy, Employers National Insurance and the Living Wage. It was also explained that there was uncertainty around the localisation of business rates and how this would impact on the Council.

Work had been carried out to address the cuts and the following measures had been or would be carried out :-

·         Alternative Service Delivery Models

·         Grant Optimisation

·         Grants to Voluntary Sector

·         Income generation

·         Better us of buildings and Assets

·         Procurement saving

·         Service Redesign

·         Staff Restructuring

·         Use of new technology

The consultation had been launched on 10 December 2015 and was asking residents to consider how savings could be made and suggest new ways of working.

The consultation was due to close on 9 February 2016 and all findings would be fed into the budget setting process. The budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item BWTF.590

Dave Brotheridge, Operations Manager at First Bus, Bury Depot will attend to answer questions relating to service provision in Bury West.

Dave Brotheridge, Steve Shaw and Dwayne Wells from First Bus attended the meeting to report on First Bus services across the borough and to answer questions relating to First Bus and the bus services they provide.

Dave reported that First Bus would be holding a customer event on 27 January at Bury Interchange between 11am and 1pm outside the Travel Shop.

Dave also stated that representatives from First Bus would be more than happy to attend the Township Forum meetings regularly to update their customers and listen to concerns or ideas.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions or make comments and the following points were raised:-

·         A member of the public referred to the 472/474 Ramsbottom service which should be every 10 minutes and stated that sometimes you could wait for half an hour without a bus and then 3 would arrive at once.

Dave explained that the high frequency services such as this were prone to bunching if there was a problem on the route. The company had undergone redevelopment and an advanced vehicle location tracking device had been introduced which could see where all first bus vehicles were when out on the road. This would help with issues such as bunching. It was also explained that Ramsbottom is a very popular place to live with just single track roads in and out. If there was any disruption this would have a knock on effect to the whole service.

·         Councillor Walker referred to the 98 service which was every 15 minutes and ran from Manchester to Bury via Whitefield, Radcliffe and down Ainsworth Road. The service was not very reliable and was problematic every day. Councillor Walker asked if consideration could be given to some of the buses turning back at Whitefield.

·         Mr Berry explained that he spend £50 a month for a bus pass only to receive a very unreliable service. The 98 which went past Whitehead Park was early more than not. If the 7.29am bus was early the next after was 7.49am which was mostly late and always a single deck and therefore very busy.

It was explained that the tracking device would be able to highlight these issues and would show up where vehicles were persistently early.

·         Mr Berry also stated that the app did not show in real time where the buses were and this had meant that he had missed buses on occasions.

Mr Brotheridge stated that he was aware that the 98 service could be better and it was hoped that the tracking would show where problems were and then these could be looked at.

·        Mr Berry suggested that information could be provided at bus stops informing when the next bus was due as was done at tram stops.

It was explained that this type of service would have to be provided by Transport for Greater Manchester. It had been trialled on a few occasions but the funding hadn’t been enough to cover the cost.

·       A member of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item BWTF.591

Councillor Hankey welcomed Reverend Kathy Selby to the meeting in her capacity of Advisory Group Member.

Mr Phil Jones representing Brandlesholme Residents reported that the signs for Brandlesholme had been ordered and would be installed as soon as they were ready.

The defibrillator at Tesco on Brandlesholme Road had been installed.

It was hoped that funding would be available to install a bench near to the shops on Brandlesholme Road.

It was agreed:

That Mr Jones be thanked for the update

Those present are invited to ask questions or raise issues of concern relating to the provision of local services.

A resident from Mile Lane asked if there was an update on the old Jolly Carters site on Bolton Road. The site was turning derelict and there was a big green container in the car park that had been there for some time.

Councillor Walker explained that he had written to Mr Fowler at the Council to ask that action be taken at the site. He had asked four specific questions;

·         What is the green container located on the car park;

·         Why are there are traffic cones and barriers at the entrance to the site;

·         How bad does the site have to become before a Section 215 notice can be issued;

·         Who owns the land and buildings.

Councillor Walker also reported that the Planning Enforcement Officer had attended the site a few months previously but had not felt it was at a level requiring a S215.

It was agreed:

That the contents of the report be noted

The funding report is attached for information.

It was agreed:

That the contents of the report be noted

The next meeting of the Bury West Township Forum will be held on 8 March 2016 at the Elton Centre, Alston Street, Bury BL8 1SB

It was reported that the next meeting of the Bury West Township Forum would be held on Tuesday 8 March at The Elton Centre at 7pm