Return to Agenda

ITEM TIC10

TRANSPORT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE -
6 MAY 2004

RURAL COMMUNITY TRANSPORT ADVISOR

Report by Head of Transport

1. Oxfordshire County Council in partnership with all four of the Oxfordshire rural District Councils funds the post of Rural Community Transport Advisor (RCTA) employed by the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (ORCC). The RCTA exists to help rural communities in Oxfordshire to develop all aspects of community transport as a viable, attractive solution to local transport needs.
2. Current County Council funding arrangements for this post come to an end on 30 September 2004. This report considers the effectiveness of this post and invites the Committee to agree that funding for it should be renewed.

Background

3. The post of Rural Community Transport Worker (recently re-designated as Rural Community Transport Advisor by ORCC) has existed in its current form since 1998. Prior to that time, the post with the remit of "a field officer with particular interest in public transport" assumed a more advisory role. More recently it has aimed to offer practical help in setting up community transport.
4. Originally the post was funded totally by the County Council. In 1988 a significant grant towards the funding of this post over a three-year period was obtained from the former Rural Development Commission (subsequently the Countryside Agency (CA)) and West Oxfordshire District Council also agreed funding towards it.
5. This post was last reviewed by the County Council on 30 August 2001 when the former Public Transport Sub-Committee resolved at its meeting as follows:

1. this sum representing no more than 50% of the total cost of the post; and
2. the remainder of the post being funded by the District Councils or other local sources."

Current Situation

6. Since the last review, it is pleasing to be able to report that all of the rural District Councils in Oxfordshire have now joined the County Council in a funding partnership for the RCTA post, and, furthermore, all have joined in the formation of the Oxfordshire Rural Transport Partnership (RTP) and are co-funding the local authorities' contribution to the salary of the Rural Transport Partnership Officer (RTPO). The difference between these two posts is that the RCTA post is 100% local authority-funded, whereas the RTPO still attracts CA funding.
7. Funding is agreed by the District Councils on a renewable annual basis, but in 2001 ORCC requested the County Council to commit funding for a three-year period, subject to receipt of satisfactory work reports, in order to give some stability to the funding of this post. In its latest application, ORCC has again requested a three-year funding agreement. The letter of application from the Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC is appended at Annex 1 (download as .doc file).

Review of Post and Current Postholder's Activities

8. The Committee will be aware of the role of the RCTA in Oxfordshire.
9. There are many cases where there is a transport need in a rural area but the potential number of people travelling is too small to justify the provision of a conventional bus service. This is where the role of the RCTA is invaluable in making rural communities aware of the alternatives that are available to them, in the form of community minibuses or car-share schemes etc, and offering advice in terms of the legal and practical implications of setting up and running such transport. The RCTA also offers practical help in establishing the schemes before, during and after implementation.
10. Of no less importance is the link that the RCTA presents between public transport and community transport. Sadly, community transport is still viewed in some quarters as being inferior to public transport and that nothing less than standard bus services will suffice to meet transport needs. I believe that the RCTA has been very effective in raising the profile of community transport as a viable, attractive alternative to public transport and this alone is highly commendable.
11. I have also highlighted in recent reports both to this Committee and the Executive the successful pilot project in which the RCTA offered the opportunity of a Parish Transport survey to every Parish in the South Oxfordshire bus review survey area. This is now to form an integral part of the area review process.
12. The current postholder took up her duties at the beginning of 2002. A copy of her detailed annual report for January-December 2003 has been deposited in the Members’ Resource Centre. The letter of application from the Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC outlines the proposals which ORCC has for future work plans for the RCTA, from which it can be seen that yet further development in her work activity is planned.
13. Also in her letter, the Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC highlights that "the amount of joint working between our RCTA and RTPO and your Council’s Public Transport staff team has increased significantly in recent months and this is very much to be welcomed". This is a comment with which I wholeheartedly agree and I am of the opinion that this has helped to improve the image of the County Council's Public Transport Team within the County at large.

Financial Implications

14. The RCTA's current salary plus on-costs amount to £24,985. Office costs, administrative support and travel amount to £17,350. The overall costs of this post therefore total £42,350. The 50% contribution requested from the County Council currently amounts to £21,168.
15. The Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC has also raised the question of funding for "promotions" undertaken by the RCTA (eg booklets, seminars, training events) which are not necessarily covered by the on-costs mentioned above. She highlights recent indications that these are more geared towards the County Council's own work priorities and targets, and asks whether it might therefore be willing to contribute an additional sum for Promotions etc, up to a maximum of £1,000 per annum. She does however suggest that this sum could be retained by the County Council and allocated as and when a need arises.
16. As this is a new concept, I am seeking further information from the Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC, together with her justification for this additional funding. I will report orally on this at the Committee meeting and make my recommendation in the light of any additional information received.
17. My officers already have delegated authority to approve up to £10,000 revenue support per annum for individual RTP initiative applications in Oxfordshire subject to certain conditions, a procedure which seems to work well. If it is decided to agree to the Deputy Chief Executive's request, it would seem appropriate to grant similar delegated authority to approve all such expenditure. This would introduce a further element of County Council control over this.
18. Provision exists within the Public Transport budget for payment of the County Council's contribution towards the cost of this post and its support costs. The supplementary request for up to £1,000 per annum would be an additional charge on the budget.

Staff Implications

19. Withdrawal of this post would lead to much of the work of the current postholder having to be absorbed by the Public Transport Team, with the consequential strains on the Team's current and future workloads. This would inevitably create a need for extra County Council staffing with additional budgetary implications.

Implications for People Living in Poverty

20. Community Transport services are more likely to be used by elderly residents of the County, many of whom have no other means of transport. The people who benefit from them are more likely than other sections of the population to have low incomes. These extra transport opportunities improve access to community facilities and therefore contribute to improving the quality of life for some people living in poverty. Improvements to transport in rural areas facilitated by the RCTW and others may thus more directly impact on such people.

Conclusion

21. The results produced by the RCTA continue to justify the funding of this post by the County Council, not only in terms of work achieved but in the significant progress in partnership working by the various local authorities in connection with this post, which should not be under-estimated. It has also enabled County Council consultation with Town and Parish Councils on community and public transport issues to become even more meaningful. The loss of this post would have a serious effect on the work of the Public Transport Team and its perception by the wider community.
22. In recommending the renewal of funding of this post for a further three years as from 1 October 2004 (as requested by the Deputy Chief Executive of ORCC), I would draw to the Committee's attention that my officers in the Public Transport Team have been attempting to rationalise end-dates of grant-aid agreements to terminate wherever possible on 31 March. I would therefore propose that the Committee agrees further funding for this post until 31 March 2008.

RECOMMENDATIONS

23. The Committee is RECOMMENDED:

1. to pay Oxfordshire Rural Community Council up to £21,168 per annum for the period 1 October 2004 until 31 March 2008 (with an annual adjustment to take into account the effects of inflation) to fund the post of Rural Community Transport Advisor (RCTA), subject to the receipt of satisfactory annual work reports from the RCTA, and also subject to:

1. this sum representing no more than 50% of the total cost of the post; and
2. the remainder of the post being funded by the District Councils or other local sources; and

2. to decide in the light of a recommendation to be made orally to the Committee whether to authorise the Director of Environment & Economy to approve up to £1,000 revenue support per annum for individual promotions undertaken by the RCTA which cannot be covered from either the RCTA's on-costs or from the ORCC RTP Delegated Fund.
   
   

DAVID McKIBBIN
Head of Transport

Background papers: Correspondence with Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (refer to contact officer)

Contact Officer: Alan Pope Tel: Oxford 815585

April 2004

Return to TOP