PAPER A

POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Policy Commission for Economy, Tourism, Regeneration and Transport
Ref	E.PC. 11/10/06
Date	11 October 2006
Time	18.00 hours
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport
Purpose of meeting	Formal Public Meeting
Attendance	Commission	Cllrs George Brown (Commissioner), Henry Adams, Charles Hancock, John Hobart, Lora Peacey-Wilcox
	Cabinet
	Cabinet Secretariat	Cllr Alan Wells
	Other Councillors	Cllr Brian Mosdell
	Officers	Miss Vanda Niemiec, O&S Team Ms April West, O&S Team
	Stake holders	Keith Jones, Performent Consulting Steve Porter, Steve Porter Transport Group
	Apologies	Cllr Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond
Agenda Items
1. To agree the notes of the previous meeting	1.1 The notes of the meeting held on 13/9/2006 were agreed.
2. To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda	2.1 There were no declarations of interest.
3. To receive evidence on Hubs enquiry E6/06 Mr Keith Jones, Performent Consulting	3.1 Keith Jones is assisting the IW Council with the Strategic Asset Management Plan and has a wealth of experience in working with Local Authorities in setting up Hubs and related change management processes. 3.2 There is a wide variety of models being used by LA’s in respect of hubs. Each LA needs to decide which is the most suitable for their needs. 3.3 5 main locations have been identified where a hub may be suitable – West Wight, Ryde, Cowes, Newport and the Bay Area. 3.4 Smaller offices could be set up in more rural areas, to provide some facilities. This could include back office functions, to reduce travelling time for staff. 3.5 Workstyle is a concept incorporating a flexible approach to work, including hot desking, home working, access points etc. This will reduce the amount of office space required by each member of staff. 3.6 There are costs associated with setting up any type of Hub. Careful consideration is needed to ensure that any decision to set up a Hub, answers the needs of the local area. 3.7 Several public services have offices in the same locations, eg. police/fire/schools. Joined up working will reduce costs and improve information sharing where different services share accommodation. 3.8 Care is needed when considering new working practices in respect of workstyle. The benefits to be realised are improved recruitment, retention of staff and improved efficiencies. Staff should be consulted throughout the process which should be supported by effective HR and IT policies. 3.9 Tourist Information Centres could be used to incorporate other face to face functions. 3.10 The DfeS is supporting the ‘extended schools’ programme which encourages the increased use of schools. No funding is available but consideration could be given to extending the use of school buildings. 3.11 Whilst it is difficult to measure improvements in productivity, those authorities that have implemented Hubs have noticed an improvement in staff output, staff satisfaction and recruitment retention. 3.12 Several examples were described where Local Authorities have introduced a variety of methods to improve the services they supply by setting up different forms of Hubs and/or workstyle initiatives: Suffolk County Council – Seized on the opportunity to utilise a new office block and re-structured their operations by establishing 1 main office HQ, with a number area offices and community access points (Hubs). Nottinghamshire County Council – Introduced workstyle working and reduced the amount of back office space down to 5 square metres per person. The IW Council is aiming at 8-10 square metres. Cambridgeshire County Council – Incorporated Council offices, library, police centre, medical centre and a council information point. Warwickshire County Council – Utilised existing school accommodation and incorporated a library, parish meeting room, parish council office and a police office. The result is lower capital cost and lower running costs because of co-location. Herefordshire County Council – Utilised existing leisure centre and extended to incorporate library, tourist information centre, leisure centre and youth centre.
4. To receive evidence on Ports enquiry E106 Mr Steve Porter, Steve Porter Transport Group	4.1 Steve Porter has been a major operator of freight haulage for 30 years. 4.2 The transport of freight is service and cost driven – to deliver the most freight with the least cost. 4.3 Large stores operate on the Just In Time basis, to avoid the cost of storing goods. They require deliveries around the clock. 4.4 Consumers now expect instant delivery, especially with the increase in the amount of internet shopping. 4.5 Freight transport on the island is split between 80% to the island and 20% from the island. 4.6 Whilst it is feasible to break down larger loads into smaller loads, this will increase the number of vehicles on the island, and add to the current congestion difficulties experienced on certain roads at certain times of the day. 4.7 Suggested an additional linkspan at the ferry ports would assist with the improvement of traffic flow. 4.8 The Island gateways need to be improved to give a good first impression and effective infrastructure to allow for traffic to access and exit efficiently. 4.9 The introduction of another ferry operator could jeopardise the current standards of service. 4.10 The freight business continues to expand year on year. In particular, home delivery has caused a large increase in the number of deliveries. 4.11 It is not practical to restrict the movement of freight to night time only, due to the constant demand on deliveries. 4.12 There has been a suggestion that the Portsmouth Wightlink quay could be moved to the Cross Channel Terminal. The re-location of the terminal would increase the crossing time, thereby negatively impacting on the current regularity of crossings. 4.13 National freight companies utilise central hubs in the Midlands to break loads and re-distribute loads to other companies. Eg. Steve Porter makes deliveries to all post code areas of PO.