Bus service provision

The request was successful.

Dear Durham County Council,

I am gathering information on bus and public transport provision as part of the Save our Buses campaign, which maps cuts to bus services across the country. We know that the Government has made deep cuts to local authority budgets, and that this is having an effect on the provision of local bus services. We would like to gather a national picture of bus cuts, so that we can explain to central Government exactly how their decisions are having an impact across the country.

My questions are as follows (in each case I am only after the information for your authority):

1. What is the agreed total budget for supported bus services in the fiscal year 2018/19

2. What was the total spend for supported bus services in the fiscal year 2017/18?

3. What was the total spend for supported bus services in the fiscal year 2016/17?

Note: This refers to the Department for Transport’s definition of a supported bus service as: “one where a local transport authority has invited tenders for the operation of a service (not e.g. seats on a bus or subsidised tickets etc), and a contract exists as a result of that tender”. Please, exclude extra sources of funding such as Section 106/developer funding, Community Infrastructure Levy, local authority staffing and publicity, RTPI expenditure and revenue, the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG), Local Education Authority funding for home to school transport, NHS-funded non-emergency patient transport, social services transport, voluntary transport and other central and national government grants or income streams.

4. How many and which supported routes are likely to have cuts in services in the fiscal year 2018/19 (for example loss of weekend or evening services)?

5. How many and which supported routes have had cuts in services in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18 (for example loss of weekend or evening services), listed for each year?

6. How many and which supported routes are likely to be completely withdrawn in the fiscal year 2018/19?

7. How many and which supported routes have been completely withdrawn in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18, listed for each year?

8. How many and which of the previously supported routes have been taken on commercially?

Our campaign also seeks to promote examples of councils which have protected bus services, sometimes in innovative ways. Please do feel free to share any information you feel is relevant on how your council has protected bus services.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Todd

Campaign for Better Transport

Freedom of Information,

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

This letter is our acknowledgement of your request received 21-MAR-2018. 
Please note the reference number in the subject line of this email and
refer to it in any future correspondence. The case officer dealing with
your request is:

 

Lawrence Serewicz Tel. 03000 268038

 

Depending on the type of request, it will be handled under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations
(EIR).  Both of these have a statutory 20 working day deadline for a
response however, in some cases, the deadline may be extended to 40
working days. The deadline for an FOIA request can be extended if an
extended public interest test is required before deciding to respond. The
deadline for an EIR request can be extended if the information requested
is too voluminous or complex to respond to fully within the 20 day
timescale. If this is the case, we will write to explain that to you.

 

If we hold this information, we will let you know and in most cases supply
it to you.  You may request a particular format for receiving the
information and we will do our best to accommodate. In most cases, we will
respond by email or letter in 12 point Arial font.  If you have a
particular need to receive the material in a different format, please let
us know.

 

In some cases, the information you request will be exempt from disclosure.
What this means is that the legislation allows the Council to refuse to
provide the information. Where this occurs, we will tell you the reasons
why and we will explain how to appeal that decision.

 

If your requests refers to a third party, then they may be consulted about
disclosing the information before we decide whether to release the
information to you.  For example, if someone asks about a contract with a
supplier, we will contact the supplier to consider their views about
disclosing the information.

 

NB: There may be a charge for environmental information. Please contact us
if you have any questions about that charge.

 

In some cases, we may require a payment to cover photocopying, postage, or
other production costs on requests that require large amounts of
photocopying. However, we will discuss this with you and look for ways to
provide the information in electronic formats if possible.  If a payment
is required, it must be provided before we can send you the information. 
If a payment is required, the 20 working day time limit for responses is
suspended until the payment is received. 

 

We may also need to contact you to clarify your request. We are obliged to
do this under s.16 of the Act, which refers to the duty to provide advice
and assistance to applicants.  When we ask to clarify your request, the 20
working day countdown stops until we hear back from you. If you have not
contacted us about the request within 30 days, we will close it.

 

Please note that your request and our response will be put on the
Council’s disclosure log.  What this means is that we keep a log of all
the requests and responses if anyone wants to look at them. When we put
the request and response on the log, we remove the applicant’s name and
any personal references. In any case, where personal information remains,
it will be done in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

 

If you have any questions or need further information, then please
contact:

 

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive’s Office

Room 4/143-148

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 03000 268035

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

 

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [2][email address]

[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Information Management Team

show quoted sections

Freedom of Information,

1 Attachment

Freedom of Information,

1 Attachment

Dear Chris Todd
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Response to request for information FOI20186661CT
Please accept our sincere apologies for our late response to your request for information. Please see our response attached.
Yours sincerely

Christine Paciorek BA(Hons) PC foi and dp
Freedom of Information and Data Protection Officer
Transformation and Partnerships
Durham County Council
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UF
Telephone 03000 268036
Switchboard 03000 26 0000

www.durham.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter @durhamcouncil
Like us at facebook.com/durhamcouncil
Follow us on linkedin.com/company/durham-county-council

show quoted sections