Agenda item

A major part of the statutory duty is to issue passes to entitled users, and handle the many enquiries they make.  In the short term, the best option to meet this duty is for the districts to continue to issue the passes on the county’s behalf, under a formal delegation arrangement.  There are also various details regarding pass-issuing, on which decisions must be made, and these are described in the report.

Note: As set out under Rule 18(b) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, this decision is exempt from Call-In as the Council’s call-in procedure should not apply to any decision on the letting of a contract arising from termination of an existing contract if the time available is such that allowing for call-in would result in service discontinuity, provided that all members of the relevant Scrutiny Committee have been informed of the circumstances of the decision to be made and have had an opportunity to make representations to the decision maker about it.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)         formally to delegate to each Oxfordshire District Council, under the terms of Section 2(b) of Article 10 of the Council’s Constitution, the County Council’s functions under Section 145(2) of the Transport Act 2000 [duty to issue concessionary passes], and associated powers, plus such of the powers under Section 93 of the Transport Act 1985 as may be necessary to issue additional passes or other concessions on a discretionary basis as agreed by the County Council; and agree appropriate funding payments to each district council – to include the cost of enquiry-handling as well as pass-issuing; for the period from 1 April 2011 until 31 March 2012;

b)         ask the District Councils to issue concessionary passes during 2011/12 in accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 8 of this report; and

c)         agree the provision of a dedicated telephone enquiry resource at the Customer Service Centre to handle those enquiries which are directed to the County Council.

The Cabinet had before them report CA11B. A major part of the statutory duty was to issue passes to entitled users, and handle the many enquiries they make.  In the short term, the best option to meet this duty was for the districts to continue to issue the passes on the county’s behalf, under a formal delegation arrangement.  There were also various details regarding pass-issuing, on which decisions must be made, and these were described in the report.

Note: As set out under Rule 18(b) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, this decision is exempt from Call-In as the Council’s call-in procedure should not apply to any decision on the letting of a contract arising from termination of an existing contract if the time available is such that allowing for call-in would result in service discontinuity, provided that all members of the relevant Scrutiny Committee have been informed of the circumstances of the decision to be made and have had an opportunity to make representations to the decision maker about it.

Prior to consideration of the report, members of the Cabinet were addressed by Michael Hugh Jones, Honorary Secretary to the Oxfordshire Pensioners Action Group. He welcomed the change to the Dial A Ride concessions as an outcome of the consultation. However, he did not consider the new idea sustainable in the long term. Each Dial A Ride trip cost the tax payer  £12 , which was not good value when tokens costing  £2 a week cost less. He felt that local organisations such as the parish councils and the churches should be helping. He added his strong support for the Big Society concept.

John Disley corrected ‘April 2012’ to ‘April 2011’ in paragraph 2 of the report CA11B.

The Cabinet RESOLVED to:

a)                 formally to delegate to each Oxfordshire District Council, under             the terms of Section 2(b) of Article 10 of the Council’s Constitution, the County Council’s functions under Section   145(2) of the Transport Act 2000 [duty to issue concessionary   passes], and associated powers, plus such of the powers under         Section 93 of the Transport Act 1985 as may be necessary to     issue additional passes or other concessions on a discretionary          basis as agreed by the County Council; and agree appropriate       funding payments to each district council – to include the cost   of enquiry-handling as well as pass-issuing; for the period from   1 April 2011 until 31 March 2012;

b)                ask the District Councils to issue concessionary passes during 2011/12 in accordance with the principles set out in paragraph 8 of this report; and

c)             agree the provision of a dedicated telephone enquiry resource at the Customer Service Centre to handle those enquiries which are directed to the County Council.

Recommendations adopted in relation to 11b.

Please note that as set out under Rule 18(b) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, this decision is exempt from Call-In as the Council’s call-in procedure should not apply to any decision on the letting of a contract arising from termination of an existing contract if the time available is such that allowing for call-in would result in service discontinuity. Since the County Council’s duty to provide a concessionary fares scheme will come into effect on 1 April 2011, and existing District Council contracts to meet that duty will end on that date, the effect of any call-in would be to prevent introduction of any replacement contracts, this resulting in cessation of any concessionary fares scheme in Oxfordshire and a consequent service discontinuity.