Agenda item

 - To include an interim report from the scrutiny task group Shopmobility

The Democracy Officer introduced the scrutiny task group summary which had been circulated with the agenda.

Cheltenham Spa Railway Station STG: recommendations had been agreed and the draft report was being finalised.  This would be done by email and was on target for completion for the September meeting of the committee.

Cycling and Walking STG: the group were scheduled to meet for the last time on Monday 6 July and work on the draft report was progressing well. 

Broadband: Councillors Britter, Babbage and Whyborn had volunteered for a possible task group.  Gloucester City had been contacted to ask whether any members were interested in undertaking joint scrutiny of the issue, but no response had been received as yet.  The main objective of the group would be to establish where and what the issues were in relation to slow broadband, though the terms of reference could not be finalised until Gloucester City had made a decision about whether they wanted to participate.  

Pub Closures: no action had been taken on this issue, indicating that it was not a priority for the committee and as such it would be removed from the summary.

Shopmobility: Councillor Payne referred members to the report which was circulated prior to the meeting.  He explained that Shopmobility had been served notice to quit its existing premises in the Beechwood Arcade by June 2015.  This had since been extended to November, but given the urgency, the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the O&S Committee, had set up a task group.  The task group had met twice and established that the service, which was wholly funded by the council and did not make a profit, was used by 350 people who either paid an annual membership fee of £28 or £7.50 one-off payment (which automatically reverted to an annual membership if used 4 times or more in a 12 month period).  Each use of a mobility scooter cost the council £21.  Asked where the service would be ideally located, those that ran the service had said, the ground floor of the Regent Arcade.  The Regent Arcade, along with two other locations; Henrietta Car Park and the Horse and Groom site at 30 St George’s Place were considered by the task group as possible future locations for the service and were prioritised in that order.  The group concluded that the Shopmobility service should continue and that the priority of the coming three months should be finding a suitable location to relocate to, with minimum disruption.  Beyond that, a more detailed review of the current service would be required, to include a full financial analysis of both the cost of the service and the fees charged.  It was possible that this could then form part of a commissioning exercise and/or partnership arrangement. 

In response to member questions, Councillor Payne explained that many of the possible partners for this service, including Third Sector Services, wanted to first know, where the service would be sited before they would give further consideration to a possible partnership arrangement.  Whilst there was potential to grow the service, there was a limit and it should therefore be considered whether an alternative site would allow for staff to do other things.  Re-location of the service was the priority. Clearly some of the proposed sites would have better transport links than others, but the service did offer a meet and greet service which could continue from a new site.  Charges for this service varied across the country, with Gloucester charging less.  

The Townscape Manager confirmed that commercial rent would need to be paid on a unit within the Regent Arcade but that negotiations were currently in progress on a unit on the First Floor of the arcade which had historically been underused.  He also confirmed that whilst the Chamber of Commerce had confirmed their ongoing support (not financial) for the service, they had not come forward with an offer to relocate the service. 

Councillor Payne thanked the Democratic Services Manager for her work on the final report.

The Chairman thanked the members and officers for their work and moved to consider the recommendations of the task group.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the terms of reference for the Scrutiny Task Group be approved and the committee recommend to Cabinet that:

1.    The Shopmobility service should continue to be a service rovided in the town;

2.    The priority for the next three months should be to find a suitable location taking into account the task group’s assessment of the suitability of their current potential locations and then the management of the relocation with minimum disruption to the service;

3.    Stage 2 should be a more detailed review of the current service including a full financial analysis of both costs of the service, the fees charged and some assessment of the economic benefits in time for the budget setting for 2016-17;

4.    Subsequent to relocation, strategies to enhance the service should be considered, including partnership options with other local providers;

5.    The Scrutiny Task Group continue to in their work giving their views directly to Cabinet or officers tasked by cabinet to undertake work in respect of the Shopmobility servce if urgency means they cannot be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.