2 August 2000 Title of Report: Passenger Transport Budget Plans
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Agenda Item No.7 Committee: Cabinet Committee Date: 2 August 2000 Title of Report: Passenger Transport Budget Plans: Not applicable By: Director of Transport and Environment District: All Purpose of Report: To consider proposals to achieve budget savings by withdrawing supported local bus services and taking other action which will have the effect of increasing bus fares and reducing bus service levels. RECOMMENDATIONS To secure budget savings by: 1. Authorising the Director of Transport and Environment to negotiate the withdrawal of the supported local bus services identified in Appendix A. 2. Taking no action to secure the evening and Saturday only services which have been included in the Review of Supported Local Bus Services in the Lewes and South Wealden Area. 3. Responding to the commercial service changes announced by Stagecoach South Coast Buses by taking the action proposed in Appendix A. 4. Authorising the Director of Transport and Environment to review fare levels on supported local bus services, subject to no individual adult single fare increasing by more than 10 pence or 10 per cent, whichever is the higher. Supporting Information 1. On 6 June 2000, the Cabinet Committee considered a report on the 2000/2001 Revenue Budget for Passenger Transport. This identified the need to achieve savings to stay within the original budget set by the County Council. A further report was made to the Cabinet Committee on 4 July, which explained that proposals had been received from Stagecoach South Coast Buses to make significant changes to some of their commercial services. 2. This report sets out proposals to achieve some of the required savings. The necessary action falls into the following categories:- (i) The withdrawal of supported services which are failing to achieve their required revenue targets. These are generally “low priority” services, operating on Sundays or in the evenings. However, two daytime services have also been identified – serving routes where there are no alternative daytime services available for some passengers. (ii) The withdrawal of evening services currently provided with funding from the Government’s Rural Bus Subsidy Grant. These services are performing badly against targets and expectations, and it is considered necessary to divert the available grant to a more effective purpose, including the provision of new rural services which are included in the North Wealden County Rider project. (iii) Not awarding new contracts for “low priority” services which have been included in the Review of Supported Services in the Lewes and South Wealden Area. These services currently operate under contracts which come to an end in September. The low priority services are those which run in the evenings, or on Saturdays only. (iv) Limiting the action to fill gaps created by the withdrawal of commercial services to the very minimum necessary to maintain a basic level of service in the affected communities. 3. The “low priority” services have been identified with reference to the County Council’s established policy which gives varying degrees of priority to different types of service. Services are ranked in the following order of priority:- (i) Well used Monday to Friday peak period services; (ii) Monday to Friday daytime off-peak services; (iii) Saturday daytime services; (iv) Evening services; (v) Sunday services; (vi) Summer only services. 4. In considering routes for withdrawal, school services and peak services have been protected, despite the comparatively high costs of securing such routes. It is also considered necessary to retain services operating within the scope of the County Rider project, including a number of flexible dial-a-ride services. These routes play an important part in achieving effective co-ordination of transport provision on behalf of Education and Social Services, and they also contribute to the Social Inclusion targets set out in the County Council’s Best Value Performance Plan. 5. Details of the services which are recommended for withdrawal are set out in Parts Appendix A (Groups One, Two, Three and Four). As requested by the Cabinet Committee at the meeting on 6 June, members of the County Council are being consulted on the detailed proposals. Comments received will be reported at the meeting. 6. The savings likely to accrue from withdrawing the under-performing services amount to £148,300 in a full year. Further savings of £182,400 in a full year would follow from the withdrawal of evening services currently funded from Rural Bus Subsidy Grant. In total, the identified savings are valued at £330,700 pa. £63,000 of the RSBG funds are required to support the introduction of new rural services as part of the new North Wealden County Rider project. This leaves a net annual saving of £267,700 arising from the proposals in Appendix A. 7. The report to the Cabinet Committee on 6 June outlined proposals aimed at achieving a total net saving of £208,000 pa from service reductions. The detailed proposals now put forward are £59,700 more than would be required to achieve that target. However, the Cabinet Committee will also need to take into account the outcome of the recent re-tendering of the network of supported services in the Lewes and South Wealden area. 8. The report to the June meeting expressed a hope to achieve a full year saving of £132,000 from the Lewes and South Wealden Review. Work to analyse the tenders received is still in progress, and an up-date will be given at the meeting. However, it is already clear that the hoped for saving will not be achieved. The £59,700 identified in the previous paragraph will therefore be required as a contribution towards the £132,000 sought from the Area Review. 9. The first indication from the analysis of the tenders received is that there has been a substantial increase in tender prices, particularly as far as the provision of school transport services is concerned. This is not wholly unexpected. However, it puts further pressure on the budget and makes it imperative that action is taken to address the serious financial position in which the County Council finds itself. At this stage, it is proposed that consideration be given to not awarding contracts for the “low priority” evening and Saturday services which are listed in Groups Five and Six in Appendix A. Other proposals for savings will be worked up in time for the meeting. 10. It is also necessary to limit any action which might be taken in response to the unexpected changes which are being made to commercial services. Details of the Stagecoach South Coast Buses changes (most of which come into effect at the end of July) are set out in the second half of Appendix A. The Cabinet Committee is recommended to support the decision to take no action in relation to most of the Stagecoach service changes, and to support the proposals outlined in those cases where some action is considered necessary. 11. At the meeting on 6 June, it was also recommended that fare levels on supported local bus services were reviewed. The proposal was to increase fares by up to 10 per cent (or 10 pence, in the case of the lower adult single fares which currently apply). The Cabinet Committee deferred consideration of this recommendation. The need for this action remains, and it is therefore proposed that approval now be given for these fares increases. The aim is to achieve a revenue increase of between £40,000 and £45,000 in a full year. BOB WILKINS Director of Transport and Environment 2 August, 2000 CABINET:C2AugustPassengerTransportBudget BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS Contact Officer: Ed Bassford - Ext. 2326 Assistant Director: Duncan Jordan - Ext. 2207 Local Member: N/A Cabinet Committee APPENDIX A 2 August 2000 PASSENGER TRANSPORT BUDGET This Appendix sets out in detail the local bus services where action is proposed to address the Passenger Transport budget shortfall. The Appendix is in five parts:- · A summary of the proposals to achieve budget savings; · Full details of the individual services which are proposed for withdrawal; · A schedule of local bus services supported by Rural Bus Subsidy Grant where withdrawal is proposed, to release funds to provide new rural services; · Details of “low priority” services included in the Review of Supported Local Bus Services in the Lewes and South Wealden area; · A schedule of changes to commercial bus services operated by Stagecoach South Coast Buses, identifying the action considered necessary. A more detailed consultation document has been circulated. EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL Transport and Environment SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS TO BE CONSIDERED TO ACHIEVE PASSENGER TRANSPORT BUDGET SAVINGS Supported Local Bus Services to be Considered for Withdrawal Group One Sunday Services which are not achieving Revenue Targets Contract Operator Service Times Route Details 2390 South Coast 26/26A Sun Circular services:- Conquest Hospital Buses evenings – Park View – Hastings Town Centre – St Leonards – Conquest Hospital Group Two Evening Services which are not achieving Revenue Targets Contract Operator Service Times Route Details 2479 Arriva 252 Mon - Sat Tunbridge Wells – Frant – (Kent & Sussex) evenings Rotherfield – Mayfield – Heathfield 2336 South Coast 216 Mon - Sat Pevensey Bay – Bridgemere – Buses evenings Eastbourne 7227 Arriva 229 Friday Tunbridge Wells – Crowborough – (Kent & Sussex) evenings Tunbridge Wells 2391 South Coast 27/27A Mon - Sat Circular services:- Conquest Hospital Buses evenings – Park View – Hastings Town Centre – St Leonards – Conquest Hospital 7164 Arriva