Bus service provision

The request was successful.

Dear Plymouth City 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 How many and which supported routes are likely to be completely withdrawn in the fiscal year 2018/19?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 How many and which supported routes have been completely withdrawn in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18, listed for each year?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

Dulling, Darren, Plymouth City Council

Dear Chris

 

Thank you for your email requesting bus and public transport provision as
part of the Save our Buses campaign.

The application was received on 22 March 2018.

 

The Council will seek to provide the information that you have requested
within the next 20 working days, or let you know how you can obtain it. We
may not be able to provide all you have requested; if we do not hold the
information, or if an exemption or exception to providing the information
applies. We will explain if we cannot provide what you have requested.

 

Information is usually provided free of charge, but if there could be a
fee, we will tell you about any charge before we retrieve the information.

 

We usually provide the information in either electronic or paper format,
depending on how you made your request and how the information is held. If
you would like our response to be in a particular format then please let
me know, but there may be a charge.

 

If you have any questions concerning information requests then please look
at the Council’s web pages:
[1]http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/coun...
or contact me using the details above. If I am unavailable please leave a
contact telephone number.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Darren Dulling
Planning Technical Supervisor
Strategic Planning & Infrastructure
Plymouth City Council
Ballard House

West Hoe Road
Plymouth
PL1 3BJ

T +441752307838
E [2][email address]

[3]www.plymouth.gov.uk

 

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King, Nick, Plymouth City Council

1 Attachment

 

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References

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1. https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Dear Nick,

Many thanks for the information. However, there appears to be quite a difference for the 2016/17 budget you have given me now at £263,201 and the projected budget for 2016/17 which you gave us in December 2016 as being £384,029.

Could you clarify which figure is correct? It could be that provisional figure was wrong or it could be that it inadvertently included BSOG and S106 funding.

Many thanks,

Yours sincerely,

Chris Todd

King, Nick, Plymouth City Council

Dear Chris

Both figures are correct. The question relating to 2016-17 in the latest request asks for the spend that year and not the budget. The budget in 2016-17, excluding BSOG and S106, was £384,029. However, the spend was less than budget as additional external sources of funding were received in that year and used to support the relevant services. Therefore the spend from the Council's own budget was £263,201.

Your sincerely
Nick

Nick King
Planning Technical Support Manager
Strategic Planning and Infrastructure
Plymouth City Council
Ballard House
West Hoe Road
Plymouth
PL1 3BJ

T +441752304471
E [email address]
www.plymouth.gov.uk

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Dear Nick,

Thanks for the speedy clarification.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Todd