Agenda item

            (a)       That members note the changes to bus funding anticipated from 1 April     2013.

            (b)       That members note the content of this report, subject to the above   comments outlined in the preceding paragraph.

The Head of Assets and Transportation introduced the report to advise members of how bus services were currently organised within Flintshire and to outline proposals for a review of the County’s subsidised bus services and related services.

                        He explained that buses were provided by the private sector.  The Council had no mandatory obligation to fund any public transport services, however it did have powers under the Transport Acts 1985, 2000 and the Local Transport Act 2008 to enter into agreements with public transport operators to provide subsidies for services that were not available commercially.  Appendix 1 outlined the current provision in Flintshire of bus services.

                        The Head of Assets and Transportation outlined the challenges for the coming year:

• From 1 April 2013 the Welsh Government would make changes to the funding for bus services and community transport in Wales

• Across Wales there would be a reduction in grant from £33m to £25m for the next financial year.

• A new scheme called Regional Transport Services Grant (RTSG) would be in place from 1 April 2013.

• The Regional Transport Consortia would be responsible for the new grant in North Wales, this would be in the form of TAITH.

Work is currently being undertaken to understand how much of the £25m funding will be allocated to TAITH for 2013-14.             

As a result of anticipated reduction in budgets of around £223,505, Flintshire County Council will be undertaking a review of its services during 2013/14 with completion scheduled in summer of 2013. The Council were now looking at criteria to build into a Policy to determine which services it should support.

            Funding from Cadwyn Clwyd would secure a Rural Transport officer on a 12 month fixed term basis to understand the needs of the rural communities.

                        The Head of Assets and Transportation asked the Committee to look at the draft Policy in Appendix 2 and said that the review would come back to Scrutiny once Cabinet had approved the Policy and costings for routes and subsequent bandings had been determined.

                        The Chair said that member input into the proposed criteria and Policy in Appendix 2 was key.

                        Councillor P. Shotton asked if concessionary travel would be affected by the changes and asked for the widest possible public consultation on the matter.  He also asked if commercial routes would be reviewed after the review of subsidised routes.  The Director of Environment in response said that Concessionary Travel did not feature in the scope of the review and would not be affected by the changes.  A potential reduction in commercial services would be taken into account in the review.

                        Councillor C.A. Thomas asked which agency would hold the funding for Concessionary Travel from 1 April 2013.  The Transportation Manager said that currently Flintshire administered the scheme, but as of 1 April 2013, the funding would go through TAITH, and there were no indications that the current modifying factor of 0.70, which was applied to each company’s representative concessionary fare, would change from this date.  Councillor Thomas said that it was not fair that operators continued to raise fare prices when funding had not been cut. She said that it was important that rural bus routes into transport hubs were maintained to enable young people to get to work, to allow people access to hospitals and for shopping and social purposes.  She asked that the Rural Transport Officer role be filled without any further delay, so that the views of rural communities were taken into account and asked if they had to be in post by April 2013.  The Chair said that paragraph 4.02 of the draft Policy addressed access, connectivity and filling gaps in transport.  The Director for Environment said that the Council exerted no control over commercial price increases, but did have some control over the prices charged on subsidised bus services.  The Head of Assets and Transportation said that it was acknowledged that Flintshire had many rural communities and that the Policy development and the review would address their need for access to tourism, social and healthcare facilities.  The Rural Transport Officer post would be recruited within the next 2-3 months, if not sooner, particularly if the post was filled internally. 

                        Councillor D. Butler said that it was important to get bus routes to cover routes to workplaces at a reasonable cost to the customer.  He asked that the Deeside Enterprise Zone and the transport needs of the potential work force there be considered.  He asked that given the reduction in funding from £33 million to £25 million, would the requirement to spend 10% on community transport remain.  The Director of Environment said that the council was still required to use 10% of the grant on community transport and that the Deeside Enterprise Zone would be taken into consideration in the review.  He added that currently, no commercial bus routes served the Deeside Industrial Park.

                        Councillor N.M. Matthews asked if there was a national information service for bus transport.  She also asked for more information about the criteria to be used to determine whether a service should continue to be supported and if it was similar to ones used by other councils.  The Transportation Manager said that Travelline Cymru provided impartial travel information on public transport via a web site which included a journey planner. The Director of Environment said that it was clear that this service had not been well publicised and that improved marketing and publicity of the routes needed to be considered. He said that residents’ needs would be taken into account in the review and that they would liaise with neighbouring councils about working across boundaries. 

                        The Chair said transport was a regionalisation issue and that this would raise questions as to how it would be scrutinised.

                        Councillor M. J. Peers asked for more information about the criteria for subsidy per passenger.  He said that the needs of those in rural areas, sheltered accommodation and those travelling late at night needed to be taken into account. Councillor Peers asked for clarification in paragraph 8.01 of the draft Policy which stated that commercial fare levels would be analysed on a quarterly basis to ensure that subsidised fare levels on each service were closely aligned.  He asked if it meant aligned to the costs of commercial routes.  The Transportation Manager said that other authorities used a similar system, where low cost per passenger (green) would be £2 and under, amber would be £2.00-£5.00 and red would be £5.00 and above.  Councillor Peers asked if this information should be in the policy.  The Director of Environment agreed that it should be in the Policy. He added that if a service was reviewed as being in the red banding, it would not necessarily mean that the Council would not run it, as it could be a key service.

                        Councillor V. Gay said that Saltney Ferry did not have direct routes into centres of employment such as Sandycroft or the Chester Business Park.  She said that the review should acknowledge where there were such gaps and to take into account the views of customers.  The Transportation Manager said that a map could be produced that showed all the commercial and subsidised routes and key employment / residential areas. The Head of Assets and Transportation agreed to produce map and distribute to members of the committee.

                        Councillor N.M. Matthews asked if the criteria could be looked at again before it went back to Cabinet.

                        Councillor D. Butler asked if any innovative travel packages could be offered by TAITH, similar to the £4.80 Chester to Southport package which included train, bus and ferry services.

                        The Chair said that consultation was required and that members should consider who should be consulted.

                        The Director of Environment said that they would go out to consultation after the policy stage had been completed.  Comments from the meeting would be taken on board and a revised Policy would be taken to Cabinet in March/April and then back to Overview and Scrutiny in June. The Director of Environment said that all subsidised services would be re-tendered after the review, including the “green banded” routes.

                        The Chair outlined the committee’s comments on the draft Policy which were to be added to the report recommendations as follows:

• Improve the marketing of the bus services.
• Request clarity from HR as to when the new post would be appointed.
• Further information about the setting of subsidies – information needed on red, amber and green bandings.
• Details of Overview and Scrutiny arrangements for a regionalised service.

• A map of the main employment sites in the county/borders of county
• More innovative travel packages.
• Map of commercial and subsidised routes.

            RESOLVED:

            (a)       That members note the changes to bus funding anticipated from 1 April     2013.

            (b)       That members note the content of this report, subject to the above   comments outlined in the preceding paragraph.