Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee welcome the report and support the work undertaken by the Streetscene & Transportation portfolio to maintain key services during the pandemic;

(b)       That the Committee note how public bus services have been funded during the pandemic, the impact on service levels / passenger numbers / bus companies themselves and future proposals; and

(c)       That the Committee note how school transport services have been impacted by the pandemic, the limited number of operators tendering for contracts and the substantial percentage increase in costs.

In presenting the report the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) explained that the Recovery Committee at its November meeting recommended that a report should be brought to Committee.  Public Transport Services had been heavily impacted by the Pandemic.  This report provided an overview of what had happened, and mitigations put in place to support the operators in partnership with Welsh Government and Transport for Wales.

            The Integrated Transport Unit (ITU) Manager explained the pandemic had severely affected school transport and public transport services across Wales.  The loss of passenger numbers together with social distancing and Covid costs had added to the pressures on the services.  Operators were told to suspend services with changes to guidelines and support provided to mitigate the suspended services.  Welsh Government (WG) had introduced the hardship fund and an overview on this, and the concessionary fare passes was provided.   The Bus Emergency Scheme was introduced in July 2020 (BES 1) and continued to maintain their income at historic levels.  Flintshire was the host authority for North Wales allocating and processing that funding with the support of regional officers. WG expected operators to contribute and improve regional networks which was part of the agreement for Flintshire and across North Wales.    The ITU Manager explained that BES 1.5 was introduced to assist operators to return to full service, especially considering social distancing measures when two buses would be required at school times.   Ramp up funding was provided to ensure they were operational.   A long-term BES 2 funding agreement with WG and TFW would be running until July 2022 unless market conditions recovered sufficiently with assessment of the funding requirement taking place over the next few months.  The Bus Operators were finding it increasingly difficult to sustain services with passenger numbers declining over the last 18 months.  In July 2020 the service 5 from Mold to Ellesmere Port, because of the lack of revenue, was handed back by the operator handed.  As this service formed part of the Council’s core network the route was sent out for procurement and came back with a threefold cost increase.  The BES funding had supported that increase in cost but there was a budget pressure of £100k plus because of this.  When routes were put out for procurement the operators had two options, tender on net costs or gross costs and the ITU Manager explained the difference.  Most contractors used the gross contract process which put the risk back on the Council for fare revenue.  The operators had also reported significant increases in their operating costs for fuel/insurance/wages, shortage of vehicle parts, loss of drivers (HGV and other roles) and training of drivers, which was also impacted.  The only income the operators were getting was from the Council and WG as school trips and excursions were cancelled and not supported by BES.   The public transport network was recovering but the prediction was that procurement costs in the future would be significantly higher and would be reported as an ongoing budget pressure.  

            The ITU Manager then provided information on the work being undertaken with the Council, TFW and WG to review the public transport for Wales and outlined their aspirations for this.  She confirmed that stage 1 of the programme had been completed and it was hoped to provide a presentation on the work being undertaken to committee in due course.  She then provided information on the work of the WG Bus Reform Working Group which had a 5-year plan for bus services in Wales.

            Moving on to the School Transport costs the ITU Manager explained that these had also significantly increased.  In 2017 the Council introduced the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) which ran for 6 years and was due to expire in 2023.   An overview of how the system worked and the flexibility it provided to operators was provided.  The routes were due to expire in July 2021, but because of the pandemic, they were extended to July 2022, and she outlined the three stages for procurement and budget pressures for these routes.

            In response to the question from Councillor Owen Thomas on building more flexibility in the routes the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) confirmed that the Bus Reform aimed to take more control back from operators to Transport for Wales (TfW) and the Welsh Government (WG). The Council was providing comments and feedback into the Bus Network Review which was led by WG and TFW with the focus on making the bus an alternative to the car. She outlined everything that was being covered within this review with Flintshire already using the model being considered by WG in terms of a core bus network.  She outlined what the Council provided regarding core services and feeder services.

            The Cabinet Member for Streetscene applauded the work that WG and TfW had undertaken regarding BES2 and hoped that it would be extended past July 2022 for maybe an extra year which would be appreciated.

                The Cabinet Member for Economic Development said that the deregulation of bus services had resulted in the situation being faced with today.  He felt that national resources were required to ensure that there was an integrated transport system to take people where they wanted to go.

The recommendations were moved and seconded by Councillors Joe Johnson and Patrick Heesom

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee welcome the report and support the work undertaken by the Streetscene & Transportation portfolio to maintain key services during the pandemic;

(b)       That the Committee note how public bus services have been funded during the pandemic, the impact on service levels / passenger numbers / bus companies themselves and future proposals; and

(c)       That the Committee note how school transport services have been impacted by the pandemic, the limited number of operators tendering for contracts and the substantial percentage increase in costs.