Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 3^rd November, 2015, be received and approved.

The Chairman, on opening the item, apologised to Members regarding the cancellation of the last planned meeting of the Panel due to more pressing Council issues presenting themselves for resolution.

Agreement from the last meeting saw the focus of the local transport review concentrate on the current bus service provision within Ashfield and to examine whether it continued to effectively meet the needs of local communities.   In particular the Panel expressed a wish to consider the following:-

• the current bus services for Skegby, Stanton Hill and the Carsic Estate;

• the levels of current Government subsidies/incentives for providing public transport and how they are utilised by the bus companies;

• whether ‘areas of depravation’ are taken into account when bus companies assess potential bus routes within the District;

• how the needs of their customers are considered by commercial bus companies;

• the type of concessions currently available to older people.

Unfortunately at this meeting a representative from County Council was unable to make the meeting, however he had expressed an interest in engaging with Members on the issue at a future meeting.  The Panel were encouraged to use the meeting to compile a list of pertinent questions for the County Council’s public transport representatives and consider exactly what information was required to enable them to progress the review.

The Scrutiny Manager then proceeded to present his report and provided some background information in relation to how bus services have commercially/operationally evolved and also outlined the role that County Council currently played.  To progress the review, Members needed to consider where the perceived gaps in service were especially in relation to provision for the elderly, the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.  This was in accordance with the priorities of both the County Council and the District Council regarding social inclusion, economic regeneration and the health and wellbeing of residents.

Apart from transporting customers to their required destinations, ‘public transport’ played a far greater role in all of the following areas;

• Social inclusion
• Economic growth
• Reduction in environmental pollution
• Meeting the needs of the community.

Local bus services were key to providing access to opportunity. Vulnerable and disadvantaged groups were most reliant on bus networks; this included rural households, low income households, young people seeking work or training, older people, disabled people and job seekers.  Past research by the Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) had shown that £3 of benefits could be generated for every £1 spent on supported local bus services.

In March 2015 the County Council approved a revised Strategic Passenger Transport Framework (SPTF) for assessing the need for the future provision of supported local bus services in Nottinghamshire. The County Council previously spent over £6m a year on local bus services, however, this figure had recently been reduced as part of ongoing budget saving requirements.

The SPTF scoring criteria for the provision of bus services included six factors covering the following:

• Subsidy per passenger;

• Passengers per journey;

• Availability of alternative public transport services in settlements served;

• Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD);

• ‘Primary Journey  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.