Agenda item

Breifing Note of the Director of Law and Governance

The Committee considered a Briefing Note of the Director of Law and Governance which provided an update on the action taken in relation to the City Centre Public Spaces Order (PSPO) further to the Order being amended in November, 2023 to include restrictions to e-bikes and e-scooters in the City Centre.

At their meeting in November 2023, Cabinet considered a report on the amendment of the City Centre PSPO which included the requirement for e-bikes and e-scooter riders to dismount when entering the designated area in the City Centre. Cabinet approved the amendment to the Order, and authorised officers to bring the Order into effect from the 20th November 2023. At that meeting, Cabinet noted Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee’s concerns regarding enforcement of the amendments to the PSPO in terms of police capacity and priority within the City Centre.

Since the authorisation of the Order, a range of measures have been taken to require e-bike and e-scooter riders to dismount when entering the designated area in the City Centre.  This has included: 

•  An engagement and education campaign with the public, local businesses and e-bike/scooter riders;

•  The erection of new signage surrounding the designated area;

•  Training and authorising Business Improvement District (BID) officers;

•  Completing Enforcement Patrols within the city centre; and

•  Completing joint action days with the Police and other partner agencies.

The Briefing Note provided a detailed update on the following areas:-

·  Education 

·  Signage - Images of the signs and a map of the locations were provided in Appendix A of the Briefing Note.

·  Enforcement

·  Results - The results were summarised in Appendix 2 of the Briefing Note.

The Committee noted that, overall, the engagement and enforcement campaign has had a positive impact on the use of e-bikes/scooters in the pedestrian area. The number of e-bikes travelling through the restricted area has reduced, and e-bike riders are actively using other routes such as Corporation Street to exit out of the City Centre. There are several steps that will be taken to improve the compliance of the City Centre PSPO as follows:

·  Action days with partners in West Midlands Police and the BID will continue. This will also include partners from Immigration Services to check the work status of riders.

·  Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers will continue to patrol in the City Centre, and Business Improvement District officers will continue to be trained to issue FPNs for e-bike offences.

·  As part of Operation Eternity, funding will be used from the Home Office to employ an Environmental Case Officer for a 12 month period  to focus on compliance of the City Centre PSPO. They will also be supported by a Business Compliance Officer, who will be focussing on educating businesses about the City Centre PSPO. 

The Committee made comments, asked questions and sought assurances on a number of issues including:-

·  Clarification in relation to the legality of e bikes and work undertaken by Trading Standards and the Business Compliance Team to educate delivery riders about purchasing e bikes which have been adapted and which are not legal.

·  Work being undertaken by other Local Authorities (LA) in this regard. It was noted that Coventry has been contacted by other LAs for best practice advice.

·  Lessons learnt during the implementation process, including the need to embed education.

·  The extensive and robust consultation process prior to implementation was recognised and welcomed.

·  How the Order is enforced on a practical level, noting that warnings are given for first offences.

·  Clarification in relation to the legality of e scooters and the need for this issue to be tackled at a national level, including the provision of education and information. It was noted that locally, the Police undertaken work with schools on road safety issues and that e scooters are included in that work.

·  Action taken by the Police in relation to bike riders travelling at night without lights.

·  Work to be undertaken by the Business Compliance Team in relation to educating delivery riders on all aspects of safety, including using a bell.

RESOLVED that the Briefing Note be noted and the proposed next steps as outlined above be supported.