93 bus service consultation documents

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Dear Staffordshire County Council,

If the County Council is making a permanent cut it should have assessed the impact on the local community and gone out to consultation as it has a duty to consider the transport need of local communities. It should also looked at the equalities implications. It can’t just cut funding for buses without doing any of this.

Kindly send me copies of the assessments you have carried out in relation to the discontinuation of the 93 bus service, Biddulph to Leek.
Yours faithfully,
Sarah Whiston

Access Information, Staffordshire County Council



Thank you for your email, your request is being dealt with under the
statutory requirements and will be answered within the given time scale.

Kind regards,

Information Governance Unit, Access Team

 

Postal Address:

Information Governance Unit,

Strategy, Governance & Change

Staffordshire Place 1,

Tipping Street,

Stafford,

ST16 2DH

 

 

Email: [1][email address]

Website: [2]www.staffordshire.gov.uk

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Allen, Gemma (S,G&C), Staffordshire County Council

Dear Miss S Whiston,

Thank you for your request for information.

I confirm that a Supported Local Bus Service consultation was undertaken 24 July -17 September 2017 inclusive. This consultation included the position regarding route 93, which was a joint Council supported contract with route 116, operated by D&G.

Specific data related to route 93/116 was as follows:
Passenger journeys - 30893 per annum
Net contract cost - £126.436k per annum
Subsidy per passenger journey - £2.90

The average subsidy per passenger journey was high and not sustainable within the revised funding allocation from April 2018. To have maintained the service would have jeopardised the Council's ability to fund other non-commercial services which had higher passenger usage and therefore provided greater passenger and council tax payer benefits. Furthermore, there was no pattern of increased passenger usage, improved revenue streams, alternative funding, e.g., 106 developer funds, or other commercial and/or residential developments which may have enabled the subsidy for the service to have been reduced and improved the service's sustainability..

Aligned with the consultation was a countywide Community Impact Assessment, including Staffordshire Moorlands, which was further reviewed during post consultation service analysis.

In response to the consultation responses, of which there more than 2000 individual, company and organisation responses, a further service review was undertaken, the findings of which were included in the papers which were reviewed by the Council's Scrutiny Committee, Cabinet and Corporate Scrutiny in November and December 2017. At Corporate Scrutiny on 5 December 2017 the decision was confirmed to implement the supported bus funding revision in line with the Cabinet decision of February 2016. Consultative and governance requirements were therefore duly met.

Throughout the consultation period and the review process, there have been extensive discussions with all partners, including bus operators, community and voluntary transport providers, Parish and District Council's and political Members. At present, a tender is with service providers and includes a revised route 93 option which may provide a Biddulph town service including Biddulph Moor, Gillows Heath and Biddulph Town. The ability of the Council to fund this service alternative will be assessed once the tender submissions are received. Regrettably it was not possible to maintain the previous service, due to cost and overall passenger usage.

If you have any queries or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

In the first instance if you have any comments relating to how your request has been handled by our authority, please write to Lian Stibbs, Access Manager, Information Governance, Information Governance Unit, Staffordshire County Council, 3rd Floor, Staffordshire Place 2, Stafford, ST16 2LP or [email address] .

If you have any further comments relating to how your request has been handled by our authority, please contact the Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Many Thanks
Gemma

Gemma Allen | Access to Information Officer
Information Governance Unit
Strategy, Governance & Change
Forth Floor, Staffordshire Place 1
Tipping Street, Stafford, ST16 2DH
T: [email address
 : www.staffordshire.gov.uk

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