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ITEM TIC15

TRANSPORT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE – 22 DECEMBER 2005

REVIEW OF GRANTS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSPORT SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS

Report by Head of Transport

1. This report invites the Committee to consider future funding for various transport services currently funded by the County Council for people with mobility impairments. In particular, Oxfordshire County Council supports a number of dial-a-ride services which provide pre-booked door-to-door transport using fully accessible vehicles for people with mobility impairments who could not easily be able to use conventional public transport. In all of these cases, current County Council funding arrangements come to an end on 31 March 2006.
2. The Dial-a-Ride services currently under consideration comprise the Banburyshire Community Transport Association (BCTA) services in Banbury and Kidlington and four dial-a-ride shoppers’ services which operate into Reading and Swindon. Also under consideration are a number of locally organised community transport schemes.
3. For each of these reviews consultation has been carried out with all the appropriate Parish Councils, the District Council and relevant County Councillors, as well as the Committee on Inclusive Transport, the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council and Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action. Specific responses are summarised in the appropriate sections and copies of all consultation responses have been deposited in the Members’ Resource Centre.

Review of ReadiBus Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ Services

4. ReadiBus operates Dial-a Ride (DAR) services (including timetabled shoppers' services) in much of Central and West Berkshire. The ReadiBus operation is funded by a number of Councils, most notably Reading Borough Council, and in the last financial year (to 31 March 2005) it received local authority subsidy payments totalling just short of £500,000, (almost £517,000 if funding from Countryside Agency and Berkshire Community Foundation is included).
5. For a number of years ReadiBus has operated three shoppers' bus services from South Oxfordshire into Reading on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council and our overall contribution towards this currently amounts to £3,123. The current County Council funding arrangements for all three of these DAR services come to an end on 31 March 2006. The services under review are those operating between Henley and Reading (and from communities en route), between Goring and Reading, and between Tokers Green and Reading.
6. Consultation has been carried out with the appropriate Parish Councils and Parish Transport Representatives, Henley Town Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and relevant County Councillors, as well as the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, Oxfordshire Transport Co-ordinator, and Committee on Inclusive Transport. Copies of all consultation responses are available in the Members’ Resource Centre and also summarised below.
7. Letters of support for the continuation of these services have been received from the Oxfordshire Transport Co-ordinator (and Chairman of the Committee on Inclusive Transport) who states that it is his view that disabled people are very poorly served with regard to transport in that part of Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire Rural Community Council has also expressed the view that, although the area of Oxfordshire served by the Dial-a-Ride is generally considered to be wealthy, this often hides individuals who have difficulties. Although the South Oxfordshire Dial-a-Ride has provided alternative facilities since its inception in November 2004, this has not offered journeys out of the County to Reading, as ReadiBus is able to do. The decision of this Committee on 17 November 2005 means that the South Oxfordshire Dial-a-Ride will in any case cease to operate after 28 January 2006, leaving ReadiBus as the only funded dial-a-ride service in this part of Oxfordshire.

Henley Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ Service

8. The service from Henley operates one day per week (Wednesday) and was last reviewed by this Committee in March 2004. ReadiBus has informed us that the number of passengers registered to use this service (pre-registration is a legal requirement for such services) has increased from the low point of 32 passengers registered when the situation was last reported to this Committee (it had been 54 in 2001/2), to 46 currently registered in September 2005. The number of passenger journeys has also shown an increase, from 100 in 2001/2 to 150 in 2004/05. This equates to a cost per passenger journey of £12.69 (£12.87 when last reported to this Committee in March 2004). However, the number of passenger journeys recorded for the first six months of 2005/06 has only reached 42. If continued proportionately for a full year this would equate to a cost per passenger journey of £23.77. It should be remembered that Dial-a-Ride services are expensive to operate and generally result in a much higher cost per passenger journey than conventional bus services. Nevertheless, in most cases, these services offer users their only opportunity to travel.
9. ReadiBus has offered to continue to operate this service at the same cost as at present, adjusted for inflation. I would recommend that the Committee continue to fund this service for a further period of two years. This would enable a further review of the Henley Dial-a-Ride to be undertaken in early 2008, which would coincide with the scheduled review of subsidised bus services in the Henley area, which is due for implementation in May 2008.

Tokers Green & Chazey Heath Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ Service

10. It was reported in January 2003 that the ReadiBus Dial-a-Ride shoppers' service operating one day per week between Tokers Green, Chazey Heath and Reading had seen a substantial reduction in use, with only two passengers having used the service in the first six months of the 2002/3 year. Rather than proposing a withdrawal of the service, ReadiBus had however suggested that the service could be made available on demand on the basis of a reduced level of grant on a retainer basis - in this case £50 - and the Committee accepted this suggestion with gratitude.
11. This approach initially proved successful, and ReadiBus reported that there had been some subsequent increased take-up of this service. Initially, although the number of registered residents had reduced from seven to four, the actual number of journeys made in the period 2002/03 had increased to 28. Since then, however, use of the service has dropped dramatically. In 2003/04 there was no recorded use of the service; in 2004/05 just two single journeys are reported as having been made. For the first six months of 2005/06 there has again been no recorded use.
12. ReadiBus has suggested that there is little indication of any unmet demand from this area, and propose that the service be withdrawn. They indicate, however, that should this Committee decide to continue the current retainer fee arrangement in order to keep open the opportunity for anyone eligible to travel from Tokers Green then they would be happy to do so on the same basis as present (currently £52.47 per annum) with annual adjustments for inflation. They indicate, however, that even this does not really seem worthwhile at the present time. I would recommend that the Committee decide not to continue the present retainer fee arrangement, and to allow the Tokers Green Dial-a-Ride service to be discontinued after 31 March 2006.

Goring Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ Service

13. The service from Goring to Reading operates one day per week (Thursdays) and was last reviewed by the former Executive in January 2002. This service has been established for a number of years, following its instigation by Goring Parish Council. The Parish Council continues to make a significant contribution (£595 in 2004/05) towards the cost of the service.
14. ReadiBus has informed us that the number of passengers registered for this service has increased since last reported (pre-registration is a legal requirement for such services) from 39 in 2000/01 to 65 in 2004/05. There are currently 65 registered users. The use of the service has also increased, from 537 journeys in 2000/01 to 796 in 2004/05. This equates to a cost per passenger journey to the County Council of £1.29. (There have been 348 journeys recorded for the first six months of 2005/06). This represents excellent value for money for a service of this type.
15. Letters of support for the continuation of this service have been received from Councillor John Farrow, County Councillor for Goring division, who describes it as ‘an important facility for local residents’, and that ‘not to continue with this service can only be detrimental’.
16. ReadiBus has offered to continue to operate this service at the same cost as at present, adjusted for inflation. I would recommend that the Committee continue to fund this service for a further period of two years and two months. This would enable a further review of the Goring Dial-a-Ride to be undertaken in early 2008, which would coincide with the scheduled review of subsidised bus services in the Goring area, which is due for implementation in May 2008.

Review of TDARCT Watchfield-Swindon Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ Service

17. This shoppers’ service Dial-a-Ride bus operates between Watchfield, Shrivenham, Ashbury, Bourton and South Marston to Swindon town centre, and is operated by Thamesdown Dial-a-Ride and Community Transport (TDARCT). Like other dial-a-ride services, this is available for pre-booked journeys for residents of these villages who have difficulties in using ordinary public transport services through age, infirmity or disability and who have registered with the service provider.
18. The service was last reviewed in January 2003, when the Committee agreed a renewal of support until March 2006. The current cost of the service is £4,485.23 (2005/06 prices). TDARCT would wish to continue the current service based on the same day and times of operation, since this suits the current users. TDARCT points out that, as far as they are aware, this service provides the only affordable accessible transport for disabled people in Shrivenham, Watchfield, Bourton and Ashbury who wish to travel into Swindon, which is their nearest major shopping centre.
19. There are 53 people currently registered to use the service, compared to 77 in January 2003. However, the average number of single passenger journeys per week has remained fairly stable: 10.5 in 2002/03; 12.16 in 2003/04; 10.66 in 2004/05; and 10.82 in the first 27 weeks of 2005/06. Recent publicity to support the service has included articles in parish magazines and local newspapers, and during this year a copy of a publicity flyer was sent to every household on the electoral register in Shrivenham, Watchfield, Bourton and Ashbury.
20. County Council subsidy per passenger served is currently £7.82 (based on the first 27 weeks of 2005/06) which compares with £7.37 when the service was last reviewed in 2003. This is in line with other Dial-a-Ride shoppers’ services which the Council supports.
21. Support for the continuation of the service has come from the Parish Clerk at Ashbury, who comments that the parish council knows of at least three families who need to use the Shopperbus because they have no other means of transport. The PTR for Shrivenham, Major R.J. Wade, also supports continuation of it, observing that ‘it enables people who are otherwise housebound to get to Swindon, in a way that is not only functional but which is also a pleasant (and therapeutic) social outing’. He states that ‘new housing continues to be built in Shrivenham, so that long-term usage should tend to rise. Shrivenham Parish Council says that the service is a great boon to the village and that every effort should be made to retain it’. Watchfield Parish Council state that they have had ‘a very positive response from residents who pointed out in no uncertain terms how the service would be hugely missed if stopped. Elderly residents in particular who no longer have their own transport are still able to shop in Swindon’.
22. TDARCT has requested an annual grant of £4,710 with annual inflationary increases to continue to operate this service. I recommend that the Committee continues its support for this valuable service to the community for a further period of 19 months to December 2007, when it can be reviewed again as part of the wider Area Review of bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area.

Review of BCTA Dial-a-Ride Services (Banbury and Kidlington)

23. Banburyshire Community Transport Association (BCTA) operates services throughout Cherwell District, largely with support from Cherwell District Council (CDC). Oxfordshire County Council has for a number of years funded a Thursday Dial-a-Ride service in the Banbury area and a Friday Dial-a-Ride service in the Kidlington area. When these services were last reviewed in January 2003, it was reported to this Committee that Oxfordshire Rural Transport Partnership (ORTP) had recently implemented an extra day’s dial-a-ride operation in Bicester, and that CDC had recently approved a grant from the Older People’s Strategy to facilitate an extra day of dial-a-ride provision for rural areas in the north of Cherwell District, described as the ‘Banbury Rural’ dial-a-ride area.
24. Since the situation was last reported to this Committee, the ORTP funding has ceased. Initially, ORTP was funding a dial-a-ride for two days per week in the Bicester ‘rural’ area, and one day per week in the Kidlington ‘rural’ area. Funding for one day in the Bicester ‘rural’ area and the whole Kidlington ‘rural’ area was dropped in October 2003, although BCTA were able to retain the affected services until March 2004 out of their own resources. The remaining day of the Bicester ‘rural’ service would have ceased in March 2005 on the final withdrawal of ORTP funding had it not been for the agreement of Cherwell District Council to continue supporting it on a short-term basis.
25. The present situation is that a dial-a-ride is provided in the Banbury ‘town’ area with two vehicles, Mondays to Fridays. Of these ten bus-days per week, Cherwell District Council pays for nine, and the tenth (one vehicle on Thursdays) is funded by Oxfordshire County Council. A dial-a-ride is provided in the Kidlington ‘town’ area on Thursdays and Fridays using one vehicle. Cherwell District Council pays for this service on Thursdays whilst Oxfordshire County Council pays for it on Fridays. A dial-a-ride service is operated in the Bicester ‘town’ area on Mondays and Thursdays. This service is paid for entirely by Cherwell District Council.
26. In the ‘rural’ hinterlands surrounding Banbury, Bicester, and Kidlington the pattern is still more complex. The Banbury ‘rural’ area is served on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Bicester ‘rural’ area on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the Kidlington ‘rural’ area on alternate Wednesdays only. Of these bus-days, two (one in the North, one in the South) are funded directly by Cherwell District Council from its mainstream transport grants budget, whilst the Thursday Banbury ‘rural’ service and the former ORTP Friday Bicester ‘rural’ service are supported by funding from Cherwell District Council’s Older People’s Strategy, which supports a number of special initiatives for elderly people. It is understood that from 2006/07 the intention of Cherwell District Council is to transfer this special initiatives funding to the mainstream transport grants budget, so that it can be brought within the scope of Cherwell District Council’s three-year SLA for the dial-a-ride service as a whole, which is also due for renewal on 1 April 2006.
27. Cherwell District Council has asked for the County Council to agree to a joint-funding approach to restore the ‘lost’ capacity formerly funded by the ORTP – in other words to put an extra day back into the Kidlington ‘rural’ and Bicester ‘rural’ areas. Members may be aware that it was always the intention of Central Government that RTP funded projects would be mainstreamed by local authorities after their three-year RTP funding had expired. The total cost of doing so per annum would amount to around £18,000. £4,500 of this sum was the former local contribution from the ORTP, funded by Cherwell District Council, and this element of the cost will continue to be met by Cherwell District Council from its ongoing contribution to the ORTP. It is proposed that the remaining £13,500 per annum be split 50:50 between Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. The additional cost to Oxfordshire County Council of these two additional ‘rural’ days would therefore be £6,500 per annum, with annual increases for inflation.
28. Banburyshire Community Transport Association is also seeking the continuation of the existing Oxfordshire County Council support for the one bus-day per week in Banbury ‘town’ and Kidlington ‘town’. The amount sought from the County Council for the continuation of these two bus-days would be the current £15,414.00 (£8,979.00 for Banbury and £6,435.00 for Kidlington)(for financial year 2005/06) + annual increments for inflation.
29. Figures for the Banbury ‘town’ service provided by BCTA show an overall increase in usage, but with a decline in usage of the Thursday service (which is the day part-funded by the County Council), with a decline from 6,255 passenger journeys on this day in 2002/03 to 5,346 passenger journeys on this day in 2004/05. The cost to the County Council of its support for the Banbury dial-a-ride service in 2004/05 was £8,803.41. This therefore represented a cost per passenger journey of £3.29 (taking 50% of the total passenger journeys undertaken on this day). The cost to the County Council currently is £8,979.00 (for financial year 2005/06). The figure for the first six months of 2005/06 has been 2,554 passenger journeys. Assuming that the passenger journeys undertaken for the first six months of the year are representative of the year as a whole, this will represent a cost per passenger journey of £3.52 to the County Council. These figures compare favourably with other similar services funded by the County Council and represent good value for money.
30. Overall, on Thursdays, the town of Banbury accounts for 46% of the destinations, the supermarkets 23% and the day centres and lunch clubs together 20%. The number of members registered for the Banbury service as at 30 September 2005 is stated as 882.
31. The reduction in patronage on the Thursday service is believed by BCTA to be explained by a shift away from Thursday as a visiting day towards Tuesday and Friday, which both have shown increases.
32. Figures for the Friday Kidlington ‘town’ service provided by BCTA show a reduction in usage, with a decline from 2,010 passenger journeys in 2002/03 to 1,529 passenger journeys in 2004/05. The cost to the County Council of its support for the Kidlington dial-a-ride service in 2004/05 was £6,307.72. This therefore represented a cost per passenger journey of £4.17. and represents a deterioration from the cpj of £3.03 in 2001/02. However, it had been £4.57 in 2000/01. This still represents good value for money for this type of service.
33. BCTA assert that their services are valued by their passengers, the majority of whom would not be able to travel into the main shopping areas as frequently as they do without BCTA’s services. BCTA drivers are trained to look after the elderly and infirm and seven of the fleet of eight mini-buses are equipped for wheelchair use. The service is used consistently and extensively by the mobility-impaired populations of the areas served. The centres of Banbury and Kidlington benefit from the drawing-in of people to use the shops, banks and other services available to them within the towns, but this is at least equalled by the social benefit to the elderly and mobility-impaired of using the day centres and lunch clubs of the towns on a regular basis.
34. Replies to the consultation have been received from 15 Parish and Town Councils and Parish Transport Representatives, as well as from Cllr G.A. Reynolds (County Councillor for Wroxton division). All responses have been generally positive about the BCTA dial-a-rides and wish to see them continue and develop. Full details of all responses are available in the Members’ Resource Centre.

Review of Grants for Locally Organised Transport Schemes

35. Oxfordshire County Council has continued to give grants for a number of locally-organised transport schemes, some of which date back to the 1980s. In all these cases, the local community is either providing funds or volunteer effort (or both) and therefore the absolute cost of these schemes is low.

Wantage / Grove Community Car Scheme

36. Oxfordshire County Council has funded the Independent Advice Centre (Wantage) (formerly the Wantage, Grove and District Community Information Centre) to provide a voluntary car scheme since October 1998. This offered the facility for people with mobility impairments, originally mainly from two sheltered homes, to travel within Grove or to Wantage for shopping or surgeries. The very first grant application from the Independent Advice Centre (IAC) in early 1998 was for funding for a general social driving trial in the Wantage area and which the County Council agreed to fund.
37. When the former Executive decided in January 2002 to continue funding the Grove scheme for another year, it agreed that officers should explore further whether its administration costs could be restructured with a view to reducing them on our budget in future years. In the year that followed, officers met with IAC and discussed in detail how the organisation operated its transport scheme and apportioned costs. On our recommendation, the IAC produced a full analysis of its transport operation together with a business plan. The IAC, as a result, was able to identify with much greater accuracy the scope of its work, the clientele it served, and how costs should be apportioned. As a result of this detailed analysis, it was able to identify transport undertaken for hospitals and was therefore able to approach the local Primary Care Trust for a contribution to cover the administration costs of this. The IAC was commended for its work on its analysis and business plan.
38. What became clear was that the IAC is providing a social car service to entitled people (purely those with mobility impairments) residing in a much greater catchment area than just Grove. In total there are now over 600 clients (300 in 2003) who in 2004/05 made 3,994 return journeys (3,321 in 2002/03), covering a total of 48,286 miles (32,946 in 2002/03). This must be regarded as having become a highly successful operation, especially as it caters only for those with mobility impairments. Fares charged to users (36p per mile, with a minimum charge of £3.50 return) reflect full costs of the car journeys to cover re-imbursement to drivers plus a small contribution to IAC administration costs. The funding which the County Council provides therefore contributes directly towards the administration of the transport service.
39. On the basis of the current County Council funding of £3,677.00, the cost per journey amounts to £2.17 (£2.40 in 2003). The IAC has requested as a minimum, the continuation of present funding levels (with annual increases for inflation) for the Grove Community Car Scheme, which would total £3,787.31 (£3,677.00 plus 3% inflation). However, when the service was last reviewed by this Committee, it approved a settlement based on a proportion (30%) of the costs of the overall transport service, whose total costs (including the salary of the part-time Transport Manager) now amount to some £16,921. This enables staff time to be allocated to maintaining and extending the scope of the service. The Advice Centre state that they need to increase the amount of paid hours that they are spending on transport due to the increase in administration (for example Criminal Records Bureau checks) and the impact that the growth in the use of the service has had on the costs of managing the transport team, drivers and administration staff, which has increased considerably in the last three years; if they receive the increased grant requested they feel that they will be able to run the scheme more effectively and efficiently.
40. On this basis, the Independent Advice Centre has requested that the grant for 2006/07 be increased to £5,076.00. This will enable them to carry on improving the quality of life of the elderly and infirm people in the community. The Advice Centre state that if the Committee feels unable to increase the grant level, and decide only to offer £3,677.00 plus inflation, then they will have to assess how many journeys they can continue to offer, which could have an impact on their clients.
41. Letters of support have been received from Councillor Jim Moley (County Councillor for Grove and Wantage), as well as from Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (ORCC) and Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA). Councilllor Moley stated that ‘growth in the use of the service is continuous – especially for medical reasons, presumably because of the way Primary Care Trusts etc. operate’. ORCC wrote that ‘The scheme operates over quite a large catchment area extending as far as Faringdon. It is probably the largest scheme of its type in Oxfordshire if judged on the number of journeys made. The scheme continues to attract new members and to increase the journeys made. Many of the journeys are made to day centres with OCC Social and Healthcare paying the scheme’s standard charge. Journeys are made to hospitals and other health facilities, as well as shopping and social outings. It is difficult to see how the scheme could be improved in any way. Without support from OCC the scheme would have serious difficulty in continuing. A new source of funding would need to be found and there are few, if any, bodies who will consider revenue funding. As ORTP Officer I have continued to press NHS Trusts to contribute but so far without success. I would strongly urge OCC to consider continuing to support the Wantage IAC Car Scheme and allow the 300+ regular clients served to continue to reach the services they require’. OCVA stated that they consider the IAC Scheme is ‘an extremely well-run and well-organised scheme providing a valuable service to their local community. Of all the car schemes in the county, of which there are very many, I consider this to be a real flagship – it is run by extremely well-motivated and caring people, both staff and volunteers, and I have always been impressed by the fact that they will always "go the extra mile", both literally and figuratively. In my work I see a great many transport groups, but this one stands head and shoulders above the rest’.
42. As a result of the meetings which they have had with IAC, officers have gained a very favourable impression of the operation of the IAC community transport service. I therefore recommend that the Committee continues its support for the whole of the IAC transport service in line with the original 1998 County Council decision, endorsed by this Committee in 2002, in which case it is recommended that a total grant of £5,076.00 be awarded. On current patronage (2004/05 figures) this would be equivalent to a cpj of £1.27 which represents extremely good value for money. This service would continue to be restricted to those people with mobility impairments who cannot use conventional public transport.
43. When the service was last reviewed, this Committee indicated as a condition of its support that "every effort should be made to secure appropriate funding from the relevant Primary Care Trust". The Advice Centre has twice sought to secure this funding support from the PCT. It is reported that on the first occasion the Care Trust did not even reply, and that on the second occasion the Care Trust insisted that no funds were available. The Advice Centre are now working with Philip Newbould of the Oxfordshire Rural Transport Partnership, who has taken up this issue more generally in the county, and who is now working with the Primary Care Trusts on behalf of a number of transport schemes. At present, however, it continues to be the case that no Care Trust funding is forthcoming.
44. Concern was expressed by officers that in the continuing absence of Primary Care Trust and Hospital Trust Funding, the County Council was being asked to contribute financially to journeys which should be supported by the Trusts. Clarification by the Wantage Independent Advice Centre shows that this is not the case. Of the total mileage undertaken by the car scheme, some 19% is undertaken for shopping trips and 11% for other social purposes. In essence, therefore, the ‘eligible’ mileage for the public transport budget is 30%, and it is this proportion of the overall administration costs of the transport service that the County has been asked to contribute to.
45. It is proposed that the service is reviewed again at the same time as the scheduled Area Review of subsidised bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area, which is due for implementation on 8 December 2007. It is also proposed that officers write formally to the relevant Primary Care Trust to support the IAC in its application for funding to cover the proportion of administration costs involved in organising hospital visits.

Grove ‘Shopperbus’ Shoppers’ service

46. Grove Parish Council organises a weekly Wednesday shoppers’ service from three selected housing developments in Grove and Wantage. The service was originally started using a leased minibus with volunteer drivers. This was decommissioned in 1995 after which British Red Cross provided a minibus with a driver. From 2000 until May 2004 the service was run using a vehicle leased from Social Services, driven by volunteer drivers. Since May 2004 the Parish Council has changed the service to the form of a shared taxi service. Users of the service are picked up from their residences, taken into Wantage Market Place and then returned, all at pre-determined times.
47. The Parish Clerk writes ‘It provides an invaluable help to the elderly residents of Grovelands Court and St. John’s Court in Grove and to Maude House in Wantage who would otherwise have difficulty in using public transport either because the bus routes are too far away for them to walk comfortably or because they are disabled. We believe this facility serves the residents better than the [Octabus] dial-a-ride service would since they do not have to book the transport themselves (this is done by the Parish Council) and the fares are much cheaper, although these are shortly to be reviewed. The … shoppers’ service leaves the dial-a-ride free for the use of other residents in the area who also want to shop in Wantage on Wednesdays, which is the only day that it runs in the Wantage area’.
48. The Parish Clerk adds that "The residents of all three accommodation units would be devastated if the service were to fold. They feel that the door-to-door service we provide is essential. The local driver is willing to carry shopping for the passengers and is someone that they can totally rely upon and they have built up a very good relationship with him and treat the journey into Wantage as more of an excursion than a shopping trip. When the previous mini-bus was used there was no regular driver who the residents could relate to as well as they do with the present taxi driver. In this respect we believe the present service benefits the residents more than the previous service and it is preferable to the IAC [Wantage Independent Advice Centre] volunteer car scheme as they do not have to book the transport in advance and the current fare is lower".
49. This view is reflected in the consultation response from Councillor Zoe Patrick (County Councillor for Grove and Wantage division), who states that "This is an extremely valuable service provided to the elderly residents of Grovelands Court and St. John’s Court in Grove who are not easily able to access public transport on the main bus routes…The recently introduced Octabus dial-a-ride service does not always operate to everyone’s convenience, as I believe it is only available on certain days in this area and has to be booked in advance. The clients who use the Wantage Shoppers’ service use it on a regular basis and are therefore used to using it, so it would be a pity to see any changes. Pensioners are already suffering in this area as a result of the withdrawal of concessionary fares by the Vale of White Horse District Council, so any further reductions in transport services will make life even more difficult for this vulnerable group".
50. The current fare for the service is £1 per single journey. However, the service is not able to accept concessionary bus passes.
51. A total of 416 (475) passengers were carried on this service from April 2004 to March 2005 and £832.00 (£949) was collected in fares. The cost of hiring a vehicle to operate the service was £2.012 (£2,016). The grant paid by Oxfordshire County Council in 2004/05 was £900. This therefore represents a cost per passenger journey to Oxfordshire County Council of £1.08, which represents very good value for money for this type of service. (Figures in brackets show 2001/02 equivalents when the service was last reviewed). The grant funding from Oxfordshire County Council for the current financial year (2005/06) is £945.54. The Parish Clerk requests a future annual grant of £1,000.
52. Whilst there may seem to be some degree of ‘overlap’ between the three schemes which the County Council, in one form or another, supports and which cover the Wantage & Grove area, it is recommended that the separate support for the Grove ‘Shopperbus’ scheme is continued. If the ‘Shopperbus’ shared taxi service were to close it seems likely that it would place a further burden on the Wantage Independent Advice Centre’s volunteer car scheme. The other alternative, of using the Octabus service, would reduce the availability of that minibus to other disabled and mobility-impaired travellers in the Vale of White Horse district. Patronage figures supplied for the Octabus service show that Wednesday is the third-busiest in the week in the Vale of White Horse District and it is a day on which demand has been generally focussed on the Wantage and Grove area. It is not clear therefore that there would be sufficient capacity for Octabus to fill any gap left by the potential cessation of the ‘Shopperbus’ without having a detrimental effect on existing Octabus users.
53. In the light of a scheduled Area Review of subsidised bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area, due for implementation on 8 December 2007, it is recommended that this service is examined again as part of that Area Review.

Financial Implications

54. The total cost of these various schemes currently amounts to £27,644.64. The total cost of the recommendations below amounts to £35,770.40.

Implications for People Living in Poverty

55. These various services aim to enable extra transport opportunities for people with mobility impairments or the elderly. 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.

RECOMMENDATIONS

56. The Committee is RECOMMENDED:

1. to pay ReadiBus up to £1,997.06 per annum but with continuing annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Dial-a-Ride service between Henley and Reading for a period of two years and two months commencing 1 April 2006 and concluding on 31 May 2008, or on whatever date the scheduled Area Review of bus services in the Didcot / Wallingford / Woodcote & Henley area is implemented;
2. to cease to pay ReadiBus a retainer fee for the Dial-a-Ride service between Dyson’s Wood, Tokers Green, Chazey Heath and Reading, to thank ReadiBus for their past operation of this service, but to agree to discontinue it after 31 March 2006;
3. to pay ReadiBus up to £1,073.34 per annum but with continuing annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Dial-a-Ride service between Goring and Reading for a period of two years and two months commencing 1 April 2006 and concluding on 31 May 2008, or on whatever date the scheduled Area Review of bus services in the Didcot / Wallingford / Woodcote & Henley area is implemented;
4. to pay Thamesdown Dial-a-Ride & Community Transport up to £4,710.00 per annum but with annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Dial-a-Ride Shoppers’ service between Watchfield and Swindon for a period of 19 months commencing 1 April 2006 and concluding on 8 December 2007, or on whatever date the scheduled Area Review of bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area is implemented;
5. to pay Banburyshire Community Transport Association Ltd. up to £15,414.00 per annum (for 2005/06 financial year) but with annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Thursday Dial-a-Ride service in Banbury ‘town’ area and the Friday Dial-a-Ride service in the Kidlington ‘town’ area for a period of three years commencing 1 April 2006;
6. to pay Banburyshire Community Transport Association Ltd. up to £6,500.00 per annum but with annual adjustments for inflation to secure the re-instatement of a weekly Dial-a-Ride service in the Kidlington ‘rural’ and Bicester ‘rural’ areas for a period of three years commencing 1 April 2006, subject to Cherwell District Council agreeing to match this level of funding for these two services;
7. to pay Wantage Independent Advice Centre up to £5,076.00 per annum but with annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Wantage / Grove Community Car Scheme for a period of 19 months commencing 1 April 2006 and concluding on 8 December 2007, or on whatever date the scheduled Area Review of bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area is implemented;
8. To pay Grove Parish Council up to £1,000.00 per annum but with annual adjustments for inflation to secure the continuation of the Grove Shopperbus Shoppers’ shared taxi service for a period of 19 months commencing 1 April 2006 and concluding on 8 December 2007, or on whatever date the scheduled Area Review of bus services in the Wantage / Faringdon / Cumnor area is implemented.

STEVE HOWELL
Head of Transport

Background papers: Correspondence with service providers and user representatives (refer to contact officer)

Contact Officer: Neil Timberlake. Tel: Oxford 815585

November 2005

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