Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2015/095

Contact: Alexandra Bailey, Service Manager, Business Development & Fleet Management Tel: (01865) 797228

 

Report by Director for Environment & Economy (CA6).

 

 

On 26th May 2015, the Cabinet approved the launch of a full public consultation on proposed changes to subsidised bus services and Dial a Ride. This report details the consultation process that was followed and summarises the main themes which arose throughout the consultation. Finally it offers a number of recommendations for cabinet to consider.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Delivery of the agreed Medium Term Financial Plan savings

 

In order to deliver the savings required in the MTFP, the Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

 

 

(a)  Consider the consultation feedback regarding subsidised bus services.

 

(b)Proceed with reducing bus subsidies by £2.3 million and:

 

1.     Consider the consultation feedback regarding subsidised bus services and decide which services to prioritise – off-peak, peak, or other.

 

2.     Update the methodology used for ranking services in the following ways:

 

                                    i.          Include additional criteria which ensure that rurally isolated and deprived areas are also prioritised.         

 

                                  ii.          Agree to continue to pay for (i.e. protect in the methodology) subsidised bus routes which are used to take entitled students from home to school, where on the whole it is cheaper for us to do so, instead of paying for separate dedicated school transport. (This will vary routes available on a year by year basis as school cohorts change).

 

                                iii.          Ensure a consistent methodology by treating all providers in the same way, whether they are external providers, OCC fleet or community transport providers.

 

If cabinet approves this request, then approximately two-thirds of the subsidies due to be withdrawn would cease in April 2016, and the remaining third would cease in June 2016. The £2.3m savings under option 2 would be realised in financial year 16/17, assuming notice was served in November / December 2015. 

 

The exact details cannot be finalised at this stage due to variables including whether contract renewal renegotiations are required, which could alter costs.

 

 

(c)  Cease funding the Dial a Ride service as of April 2016.

 

 

Delivery of further savings subject to Council approval

 

(d)  The withdrawal of all bus subsidies would deliver the full £3.7m savings if the cabinet makes this decision, subject to full council’s approval in February 2016 to further reduce the Supported Transport budget. The full £3.7m savings, would be realised once all contract termination processes have been completed. 

 

If Council approves this request, then the subsidies would cease at the following time:

 

Ø  50% of subsidies (59/118 services) require 17 weeks' notice and could terminate on 20^th June 2016, assuming notice was served on 22^nd February 2016.

 

Ø  31% of subsidies (37/118 services) require 16 weeks' notice but also require 16 weeks to modify the "Authorised Change Date". This means they would take 32 weeks to terminate. They could therefore terminate on 3^rd October 2016, assuming notice to change the "Authorised Change Date" was served on 22^nd February 2016, and notice to terminate the contract was served 16 weeks later on 13^th June 2016.

 

Ø  9% of subsidies (11/118 services) require 16 weeks' notice and could terminate on 13^th June 2016, assuming notice was served on 22^nd February 2016. These are services operated by Oxfordshire County Council.

 

Ø  9% of subsidies (11/118 services) will expire naturally on or before the 31^st March 2016.

 

Annex E shows which routes fall into each category.

 

Allocation of one-off, pump-prime funding

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(e)  Allocate (from the efficiency reserve) £500k of one-off, pump-prime funding  for groups to bid for, in order to set-up community transport initiatives which meet an identified transport need in their area

 

Exploring a new approach to Transport

 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

 

(f)   Approve the suggested implementation approach, including the request to explore the option of undertaking a larger scale commissioning exercise which includes a range of supported transport services, in addition to subsidised bus services.  

 

Depending on the cabinet’s decision on whether to withdraw all bus subsidies, this commissioning exercise will either include the remainder of the subsidy budget, or exclude it if cabinet decides to withdraw all funding. 

 

 

On 26th May 2015, the Cabinet approved the launch of a full public consultation on proposed changes to subsidised bus services and Dial a Ride. Cabinet had before them a report that detailed the consultation process that was followed and which summarised the main themes that arose throughout the consultation. Finally it offered a number of recommendations for cabinet to consider.

 

Barry Finch speaking on behalf of the Oxfordshire ATG spoke against the proposal which would affect the most vulnerable. It would affect people’s ability to transfer between transport nodes. The report suggested only limited extra money to support alternative provision at a time when such resources were already over stretched. He highlighted the County Voluntary Drivers Scheme which depended on volunteers, often retired people. The use of cars would increase congestion and mini buses were expensive to run. He queried whether the proposals met the requirements of the, Disability Discrimination and Equality Acts to provide no lesser services for elderly and disabled people.

 

Councillor McMillan whilst recognising the difficulties faced by the County Council, highlighted the importance of continuing the subsidy for the 139 route. No other public service served the route between Wallingford and Goring. Without it people would be locked into the village without access to services. The route has proved successful, tripling its use and halving its subsidy. He accepted that there was scope for reduction. He asked that the Council advise quickly on specifics in order to bring clarity on the effects and timing. He welcomed the offer of pump priming and advice on mitigating the worst effects.

 

Mr Hugh Jaeger spoke on Option 2 and referred to the types of route receiving subsidy. There were: those routes receiving only a small subsidy; those routes that linked strategic points along busy roads and those routes that serve villages such as Stanford-in-the-Vale. There was a need to ensure these buses were better co-ordinated to encourage use and therefore reduce the need for subsidy. He supported revising option 2 to include peak travel.

 

Councillor Roz Smith thanked the ORCC for collating the high number of responses and spoke in support of the local service linking Sandhills to Headington. This was the only available local service and although off peak was highly regarded and valued. The service was due to end in June next year. She accepted that it may run for less days each week. She was pleased to see the pump priming funding and queried how the decision on successful schemes would be made.

 

Councillor Pressel and Margaret Donaldson, a local elderly resident, submitted a petition and spoke in support of the No. 17 bus service. Margaret Donaldson spoke of the impact on elderly people if the service did not run with them becoming isolated and unable to access services such as the hospital. Children too would be affected as they used the bus to get to Cutteslowe School. Mrs Donaldson queried the use of the older persons buss pass if there was no bus to catch. Councillor Pressel emphasised that this would affect 100s of people in her area who depended on the bus. She asked that the subsidy be reduced if necessary but not removed entirely.

 

Councillor Mallon whilst highlighting the importance of the B1 service to his local area suggested that meetings be held with Stagecoach looking at connectivity, the needs of the elderly, options for use of S106 money in the light of housing developments and. The possible merger of routes B1 and B2.

 

Councillor Laura Price thanked officers for their work and spoke in support of the No. 215 service. This would be at risk even under the revised methodology for Option 2. The service provided a vital service for the Smiths Estate many of whose residents were elderly and unable to walk to access alternative services. She warned that the picture of use was a snapshot in time and might not be the current position. It was therefore important to maintain communication.

 

Councillor Steve Curran commented that many of the responses were opposed to any cuts and only 2% agreed with option 1. He referred to the Aspire service and whilst accepting it was a good service in Oxford stated that it was not established that it would work County wide. He highlighted that many would be willing to see charges rise and he raised the suggestion that council tax rise. He expressed concerns that: the data was old; the consultation was inadequate failing to engage with some users. In particular he highlighted the lack of response from dial-a-ride users and queried the lack of specifics in relation to comments that users were able to walk 400m. He suggested that the comments on vulnerable users set out on pages 50 and 84had not been adequately tested.

 

Councillor Brighouse, Chairman of Performance Scrutiny Committee referred to the note of the Committee’s deliberations and highlighted a number of points raised by the Committee. She noted that the Committee had supported the £2.3m reduction already in the MTFP and also supported the revised methodology for determining priority. There had been a lot of discussion on Dial-a-Ride and the Committee felt it was important to look very carefully at the Council’s responsibilities for those elderly people who used the service. She emphasised the role for Adult Social Care in taking any proposals forward. The Committee had discussed alternative means of funding the services including the possibility of people paying more. Whilst accepting the difficult decision faced by Cabinet Councillor Brighouse stressed that much more work was needed to be done with the bus companies to ensure more integration and the Committee supported future market testing.

 

Councillor Nimmo Smith, Cabinet Member for Environment in introducing the proposals thanked ORCC for their help with the consultation. He briefly outlined the two bus options and indicated that it was no longer possible to provide Dial-a-Ride as a County wide service. He commented that Aspire was a model of what could be done going forward and it was working well in Oxford. He was well aware of the value of the subsidised services but in the context of the current economic climate with funding reduced year on year it was no longer possible to protect bus subsidies has had been done in previous years. He noted that 9/10 buses ran without subsidy and that the Council would continue to discuss how buses could continue to run.

 

The Chairman reminded everyone that this was about the £2.3m saving included in the MTFP. The recommendation about the withdrawal of all bus subsidy would be subject to the full budget process. He drew attention to the note of the Performance Scrutiny Committee and the concerns highlighted by Councillor Brighouse. Cabinet had heard the concerns raised over concessions and payments and the concerns raised about the consultation that had taken place.

 

John Bright, ORCC responded to the concerns over consultation. All registered users of Dial-a-Ride had been written to. There were about 150 regular users and 49 had completed the survey. All disabled groups had been contacted and a special meeting of stakeholders had been held with some representatives from disabled groups. John Bright stated that a focus group may not have been the right way forward. A number of users rang ORCC and had conversations about their concerns, with some of those conversations lasting an hour. Speaking on the phone to address individual concerns was seen as a better service than a focus group offered to users dispersed over the whole county.

 

Mark Kemp, Deputy Director, Commercial advised that the proposals took into account the advice of legal colleagues and considered both the needs of users and the needs of the wider community. Alexandra Bailey added that the assessment concerning how far users of Dial-a-Ride were able to walk was based on their own assessment when they registered for the service.

 

During discussion Cabinet was encouraged that speakers were indicating a willingness to look at new ways of moving forward. Cabinet recognised the need to be careful in moving forward and to be making sure that the Council was bringing in all the extra funding possible. Returning to one of the concerns of the Performance Scrutiny Committee it was noted that there would be every opportunity to work with operators going forward.

 

With regard to recommendation (e) as set out in the report Cabinet considered that it would be better not to allocate the £500k reserve but to wait for the future funding position to be clearer. It was proposed by the Chairman and agreed that Cabinet would then establish a broader pump priming fund (along the lines of the Big Society Fund) that could include community transport along with other similar initiatives.

 

RESOLVED:

 

Delivery of the agreed Medium Term Financial Plan savings

 

In order to deliver the savings required in the MTFP, the Cabinet RESOLVED to:

 

 

(a)  Consider the consultation feedback regarding subsidised bus services;

 

(b)  Proceed with reducing bus subsidies by £2.3 million and:

 

1.     Having considered the consultation feedback regarding subsidised bus services to prioritise off peak services

 

2.     To update the methodology used for ranking services in the following ways:

 

                       i.          Include additional criteria which ensure that rurally isolated and deprived areas are also prioritised.

 

                      ii.          Agree to continue to pay for (i.e. protect in the methodology) subsidised bus routes which are used to take entitled students from home to school, where on the whole it is cheaper for us to do so, instead of paying for separate dedicated school transport. (This will vary routes available on a year by year basis as school cohorts change).

 

                    iii.          Ensure a consistent methodology by treating all providers in the same way, whether they are external providers, OCC fleet or community transport providers.

 

N.B. If cabinet approves this request, then approximately two-thirds of the subsidies due to be withdrawn would cease in April 2016, and the remaining third would cease in June 2016. The £2.3m savings under option 2 would be realised in financial year 16/17, assuming notice was served in November / December 2015. 

 

The exact details cannot be finalised at this stage due to variables including whether contract renewal renegotiations are required, which could alter costs.

 

 

(c)  Cease funding the Dial a Ride service as of April 2016.

 

Delivery of further savings subject to Council approval

 

Cabinet RESOLVED:

 

(d)  to note the delivery of further savings to deliver the full £3.7m savings by the withdrawal of all bus subsidies, subject to full council’s approval in February 2016 to further reduce the Supported Transport budget and to note that the full £3.7m savings, would be realised once all contract termination processes have been completed. 

 

N.B. If Council approves this request, then the subsidies would cease at the following time:

Ø  50% of subsidies (59/118 services) require 17 weeks' notice and could terminate on 20^th June 2016, assuming notice was served on 22^nd February 2016.

Ø  31% of subsidies (37/118 services) require 16 weeks' notice but also require 16 weeks to modify the "Authorised Change Date". This means they would take 32 weeks to terminate. They could therefore terminate on 3^rd October 2016, assuming notice to change the "Authorised Change Date" was served on 22^nd February 2016, and notice to terminate the contract was served 16 weeks later on 13^th June 2016.

Ø  9% of subsidies (11/118 services) require 16 weeks' notice and could terminate on 13^th June 2016, assuming notice was served on 22^nd February 2016. These are services operated by Oxfordshire County Council.

Ø  9% of subsidies (11/118 services) will expire naturally on or before the 31^st March 2016.

Annex E to the report shows which routes fall into each category.

Allocation of one-off, pump-prime funding

 

Cabinet RESOLVED not to allocate the £500K reserve but instead noted that once the council’s future funding position is clearer Cabinet would establish a broader pump priming fund (along the lines of the Big Society Fund) that could include community transport along with other similar initiatives.

 

Exploring a new approach to Transport

 

The Cabinet RESOLVED to:

 

(e)  approve the suggested implementation approach, including the request to explore the option of undertaking a larger scale commissioning exercise which includes a range of supported transport services, in addition to subsidised bus services.  

 

N.B. Depending on the Cabinet’s decision on whether to withdraw all bus subsidies and subject to Council’s decision on the Supported Transport budget this commissioning exercise will either include the remainder of the subsidy budget, or exclude it if cabinet decides to withdraw all funding