Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Nick Wright, County Councillor Steve Criswell and County Council Officer, Dan Clarke to the meeting. He thanked members of the Steering Group, together with support from the County Council for the implementation of the South Cambridgeshire Community Transport Strategy 2010-12.

The Chairman invited Cllr Criswell to brief the meeting on the County Council led Cambridgeshire Future Transport initiative. In addressing the committee, the following points and issues were raised:

·         The County Council were investigating franchising a number of services, including the establishment of three pilot projects to deliver alternative transport arrangements. Projects would be centred within the Duxford/Linton area, Over and East Cambs.

·         An estimated budget of £150k had been earmarked for the implementation of the schemes, including provision in Over to feed into the Guided Busway and a scheme centred around Duxford which will include a Special Educational Needs contract and possibly a commuter service into Whittlesford station

·         Franchising services had not, to date been pioneered anywhere else in the country. The model to be used had been obtained from the Local Government Franchising Service

·         A 5-year project plan had been undertaken and as a result of the franchise, it was anticipated that a saving of £2m pa would be made on bus services in rural areas.

·         Alternative forms of transport might be used, for example, cars or mini-buses

·         Disappointment in the consultation process was expressed, particularly that the form did not include the question as to what purpose the public were travelling

·         Orchard Park had not been included in the consultation process despite a substantial amount previously been spent by the County Council on subsidising a service which had subsequently ceased operating. It was also noted that two large businesses at Orchard Park might benefit from future provision of community transport. Cllr Criswell undertook to follow up that possibility. Action: County Councillor Criswell

·         Referring to para 8(c) in the covering report, clarification was sought on the targets required by the County Council to providers of the proposed service. In response, the SCDC Partnerships Officer informed the committee that grants were given to individuals and providers of the Dial-a-Ride service and one of the targets was to provide a service to a higher number of groups/individuals

·         Schemes would be adapted to provide funding in the event of a reduction in existing services to the youth community

·         Fees to operate a franchise had not yet been finalised

·         There had been 17 expressions of interest from commercial enterprises to provide community transport, including bus and taxi operators; these would be used in the pilot schemes

·         Since Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) funding had been cut, no further SCDC funding had been allocated for Community Transport, however, £31k had been allocated by the County for future schemes within South Cambs district.

·         Officers had identified a number of issues yet to be determined, as indicated on page 2, para 14 of the covering report. These concerns were also shared by the Steering Group who had also requested consideration that one of the services terminates at the Trumpington Park and Ride site after peak time in the morning and use the bus for servicing the villages of Shepreth/Medreth or the A603 corridor. Dan Clarke undertook to respond to the concerns and consider re-routing one of the bus services to facilitate Shepreth/Meldreth/A603. There would be areas where franchising of transport would not be feasible and alternative arrangements would be sought

·         The pilot schemes were due to be launched on 5 December 2011

·         It was noted that no consultation had occurred between the County and Linton Parish Council, despite a pilot scheme scheduled there for December

·         Cllr Criswell stated that there would be no withdrawal of subsidies in the near future and that as a result of the consultation process and community impact assessments, the whole transport structure would be re-visited during the coming months and a conclusion reached by April 2012

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee,

(i)            RECOMMENDED that the County Council,

(a)               expands its consultation to gauge residents’ needs in areas currently poorly served, or not served by public transport,

(b)               consults those parish councils involved in the franchising trials and consider delaying the trials until responses have been received,

(c)               be requested to supply a written response to page 2, paragraph 14 of the covering report

(d)               be requested to consider re-routing one of the bus services to facilitate Shepreth/Meldreth or the A603 corridor

(e)               consider, in light of the loss of LPSA funding, the dissemination of the £258k central government grant for provision of community transport to SCDC

(ii)            AGREED that the County Council be invited to attend the meeting on 29 March 2012 to update the Committee on the pilot schemes, lessons learnt and the resulting plan of action.

Nick Wright, the Economic Development Portfolio Holder thanked Kathryn Hawkes, Partnerships Officer for the work she had undertaken in respect of Community Transport within South Cambridgeshire.