Minutes:
The
Chief Executive reported that questions had been received from Mr Hunt CC under
Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).
Mr
Hunt asked the following questions of the Chairman:-
1.
“Public Transport has taken quite a knock
during the last year. What do we know about the use of the County’s
contribution (including Concessionary Fares) to local bus services, the support
provided by central government and the ability of existing services to survive
the coronavirus public health crisis?”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
Leicestershire
County Council is continuing to pay operators concessionary travel
reimbursements at 2019/20 (pre-covid-19) levels during 2020/21, in line with
government guidance. Total spend in 2019/20 was £5.03m. Expenditure in 2020/21
is therefore expected to be at that level.
The
funding support for operators from central government is in the form of the
Covid-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG). This funding is designed to ensure
bus operators can maintain necessary services at a level which is enough to
meet reduced demand, but also to allow adequate space between passengers on board, in line
with social distancing guidance.
The
authority has claimed the following amounts from the Government’s CBSSG funding:
·
17 March - 8 June 2020 - Amount claimed:
£170,121
·
9 June - 3 August 2020 - Amount claimed:
£99,241
·
4 August - 28 September 2020 - Amount
claimed: £247,412.20
The CBSSG fund
is expected to run until at least 18th January 2021. Further claims will be
made for the remainder of this period as appropriate.
Additionally,
Government has enabled local authorities (LAs) to use Supported Bus Services
Funding (SBSF) allocated to them last year pre-Covid-19 to subsequently provide
additional support to subsidised services during the Covid-19 period; the
authority was awarded £556,000 of SBSF. This funding was originally intended to
enable LAs to improve some current supported services and to restore some lost
bus services where most needed. It is now expected that all
of this funding will be required to support
subsidised services affected by Covid-19.
Further
information on these funds can be found on the County Council public website
which is updated periodically as part of our commitment to transparency and
compliance with the funding terms and conditions. This can be accessed at: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/buses-and-public-transport/covid-19-support-for-passenger-transport
The
impacts on the current bus market and service provisions have been, and continue
to be, significant. It is not currently known whether the government will
extend the CBSSG funding past 18th January, or if so for what period.
Therefore, it
is difficult to foresee the true impact on service provision in the future,
however the County Council remains committed at present to supporting existing
service provision to enable our communities to access essential services in
line with our Passenger Transport Policy and Strategy (PTPS) during this
difficult time. We continue to engage with operators on an on-going basis,
which informs our on-going approach to service provision.
2.
“Our current Local Transport Plan places
a significant emphasis on Quality Bus Partnerships to offer more accessible
public transport including a joint approach between local authorities and bus operators to
improve services. It states that the local authority will invest in transport
infrastructure, passenger facilities and/or information and the bus operator
invests in higher quality services and/ or newer vehicles aimed at increasing
bus patronage and improving customer satisfaction. What are the Quality Bus
Partnerships delivering in this regard and what areas do they cover?”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
During
the life of the LTP3, working relationships with operators have transitioned
away from formal Quality Bus Partnerships, a concept largely founded on
traditional fixed routes operated by conventional buses; however, the authority
continues to have strong working relationships with bus operators,
communicating frequently to support the commercial bus network, in provision of
quality information and service provision. This is in line with the adopted
authority’s PTPS, publication of which post-dates LTP3.
The
authority continues to invest in Passenger Transport infrastructure through
area and corridor approaches such as the A426 quality bus corridor, which saw
the delivery of bus priority measures married with enhancements to buses and bus stop
infrastructure. In addition to these types of projects, we continue to ensure
high quality infrastructure, and services where appropriate, are provided for
new developments through the development management process. This might not
always be in the form of a traditional ‘bus’, as the ArrivaClick on demand service running to New Lubbesthorpe shows. Even pre-pandemic it was becoming
apparent that more flexible models of passenger transport operation might offer
a more appropriate and longer-term basis as a way forward for passenger
transport; this serves to highlight why the authority’s PTPS enables a more
flexible approach in comparison to the LTP3.
3.
“Whilst the County Council has improved
much of the infrastructure to support bus passengers within major schemes, like
Loughborough Town Centre, and sometimes where section 106 monies are available
for new developments, what responsibility do the County Council or Quality Bus
Partnerships extend to the provision of bus shelters where new bus routes are
established in existing conurbations, particularly where services are at half
hour or longer intervals.“
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
We
understand there are benefits in installing additional bus shelters where new
routes are established, however this is considered on a case by case basis taking into account factors such as location, frequency and usage levels. The
costs associated with a new shelter i.e. purchase, installation, on-going
maintenance and cleaning are balanced against the aforementioned factors when assessing the situation. In
most cases when new routes are introduced that fall outside of major schemes
and new developments, the likelihood is that the service will be less frequent
and will have little or no established usage therefore a bus shelter would not
be considered appropriate. However, a particular location could be reviewed again when more data becomes available or
usage increases.
4.
“There is widespread confusion over the
supply and maintenance of bus shelters across the county, and particularly
whereby Districts say County is responsible, County is vague and unclear, and
Parishes just get on with it regardless. Are we concerned and if so
where can I access a clear and definitive County Council policy on the supply
and maintenance of infrastructure to support bus users?”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
We
appreciate that the ownership of bus shelters can be very confusing for the general public as the situation has developed historically with the County,
district and parishes being responsible for their own bus shelters. The County Council however has a clear and
established responsibility for a total of 210 bus shelters across the county
and provides cleaning and maintenance for those assets through an external
contractor. In cases where the County is not responsible for a shelter and
where damage is reported, County tries to establish ownership but ultimately if
there is a health and safety implication, the repair costs will be covered by
the County Council. These cases occur infrequently, and a resolution is found
in a timely manner. The PTPS (section 6.4) outlines how the
County Council supports the bus operators and the commercial network and in
turn bus users. The County Council will always consider requests for new
or replacement shelters against the factors explained in Q3 and will permit
third party shelter installations under a licence arrangement, where it is
considered safe and feasible and will always signpost Districts or Parishes to
appropriate suppliers.
Mr
Hunt asked the following supplementary questions:
1. “Do we have
any latitude within Government guidelines in paying over £5million
concessionary fares to bus companies and where can the guidelines be accessed.”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
The
methodology set out in the Government guidance in paying Concessionary Travel
represents their preferred approach for calculating reimbursement. Authorities
are free to use the methodology of their choice in estimating reimbursement
subject to ensuring compliance with European regulation No 1370/2007, as well
as relevant domestic legislation that governs concessionary travel
reimbursement. While the Government has drafted this guidance to be wholly
consistent with legal requirements pertaining to the compensation payable to
bus operators, in specific certain circumstances it may be appropriate to
deviate from it.
Authorities
must reimburse bus operators for all concessionary journeys starting within
their boundaries, regardless of whether the concessionary passholder making the
journey is resident in the area. Reimbursement to operators are normally
paid as a product of the number of concessionary passholder journeys, which has
obviously dropped significantly during the pandemic. The Council has been paying
operators at the same amount as 2019/20 throughout this financial year, in
accordance with government Covid-19 guidance which urged authorities to
reimburse at these levels despite the reduction in passenger numbers.
By
maintaining concessionary fares funding at pre-Covid levels, the Council are playing an important part in supporting
local bus services. In turn, this is allowing the government to maintain its
support for the bus network. The most recent government guidance while
asking that payments are made at pre-Covid levels, does allow authorities to consider reducing
concessionary fare reimbursement funding to the level of service that operators
are providing, so if an operator is only providing 80% service levels then the
authority may consider reducing concessionary fare funding to 80%. Since the
introduction of the most recent lockdown local operators have begun to consider
such reduction in service levels.
Government
guidance can be accessed here:
2.
“In what way have our bus services
transitioned from ‘on traditional fixed routes operated by conventional buses’?”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
Since
the development of the LTP3 over a decade ago there has been a notable change
in the bus market with more and more flexible demand responsive transport
services in operation, the Arriva Click service around Lubbesthorpe is a recent example of this. The Government’s drive for better
rural mobility through demand responsive solutions, together with the rapid
advancements of mobile apps and platforms emphasise the way in which the bus
and passenger transport market as
a whole is changing and heading. The County’s recently adopted Passenger
Transport Policy and Strategy (PTPS) aims to reflect this.
3.
“The Passenger Transport Policy and
Strategy states that “The Bus Services Act 2017 has opened possibilities for
new partnership models (e.g. Advanced Quality Partnerships and Enhanced
Partnerships) ….” When would this become relevant?”
4.
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
Whilst
the 2017 Act has opened further possibilities for new partnership models, this is
very much dependent on the funding available and the desire of commercial
operators to enter into such partnerships. Advanced Quality Partnerships and
Enhanced Partnerships tend to be most viable where there is a healthy and
established commercial bus market in operation and this is more generally the
case within large Cities. Leicestershire has an extensive supported bus network
and the focus of our Passenger Transport Policy and Strategy (PTPS) has been to
complete a full review of this network to ensure access to essential services
is being provided in the most cost-effective way (albeit review progress has
been impacted by the pandemic). The passenger transport market has been
changing and the Covid-19 pandemic will generate significant challenges for
operators with even further changes likely in the future, the need to adapt to
these changes flexibly will therefore be key. With such challenges and changes
on the very near horizon it will be important to assess the impacts before
considering the value of entering into any such formal partnerships.
4.
“Would you not agree that in the
provision of bus shelters, just as with many public services, to paraphrase
Bruce Springsteen, nobody takes responsibility if everyone’s responsible?”
The
Chairman replied as follows:-
The
County Council is clear on the bus shelters it is responsible for and maintains
and cleans those shelters accordingly.
Supporting documents: