Agenda item

Report of the Director of Regeneration and Economy

To consider the above petition bearing 111 signatures.  The petition is being organised and sponsored by Councillor A Jobbar, a St. Michael’s Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Member for City Services considered a report of the Director of Regeneration and Economy, that responded to a petition requesting that Private Hire vehicles be allowed to pick up and drop off children from outside school during restricted hours. The petition was organised by Councillor S Jobbar, a St Michael’s Ward Councillor, who attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners.

The petition submitted contained 111 signatures and in accordance with the City Council’s procedure for dealing with petitions, those related to road safety were heard by the Cabinet Member for City Services.  The Cabinet Member had considered the petition in advance of the meeting and requested that the petition be dealt with by Determination Letter rather than a formal report being submitted to a meeting of Cabinet Member for City Services. The Petition Organiser subsequently requested that a report be submitted to a meeting.

The agreed determination letter advised that the School Streets initiative was intended to aid safe and active travel to school by reducing the number of vehicles on roads leading to schools at the start and end of the school day.  As such, it would not be appropriate to provide a blanket exemption for Private Hire vehicles, as this would counter the aims of the scheme.  Any vehicle, including Private Hire vehicles, which needed to access a private or commercial property within the school street zone, could continue to do so by applying for a visitor permit either in advance or retrospectively (within 48 hours of entering the zone).  Private Hire vehicles taking a child to school with accessibility needs, including blue badge holders and those with access to a school transport plan, could apply for a permit to access the zone.

The cost of introducing School Streets initiatives was funded from either the Local Network Improvement Plan from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS), or as part of funding bids, typically to Active Travel Fund funding rounds.

Councillor S Jobbar spoke in support of the petition, questioning the process for reviewing and updating the School Streets Policy to ensure it remained current for the community and querying how the scheme would be monitored, and how the effectiveness of the scheme would be measured.

Officers responded to questions from Councillors S Jobbar, S Nazir and M Heaven, highlighting the following:

• The current 5 School Street schemes active across the city, were a pilot project. Restrictions were being monitored and followed up by surveys with residents.
• Pilots generally took 18-months, and a follow up report was due to be presented at the September 2025 meeting of Cabinet Member for City Services.
• Permits could be applied for via a link on the Council website. 
• If a journey was planned in advance, a permit could be applied for 48 hours in advance; if not, a permit could be applied for retrospectively. A permit was required for each journey.
• Longer permits i.e. 6 monthly/yearly, were not currently available however, they would be looked at as part of the School Streets review.
• If a vehicle made multiple journeys per week to a School Streets school, an exemption could be applied for.

Members requested details on the number of requests the Council had received for permits for private hire vehicles, and officers undertook to provide this information.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for City Services:

1)  Notes the petitioners’ concerns and exemptions already in place to facilitate access to aid journeys to school during restricted hours.

2)  Declines the request for a specific Private Hire automatic exemption to access school streets during restricted hours.