Bus Service Provision

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Campaign for Better Transport

To whom it may concern,

I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am gathering information on bus and public transport provision in Lancashire as part of our Save the Buses campaign, which maps cuts to bus services across the country. We know that the Government have 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:

1. What is Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus services in 2014/15?

2. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus services in 2013/14?

3. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus services in 2012/13?

4. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus services in 2011/12?

5. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus services in 2010/11?

6. What is the budget for supported bus services as a percentage of the total transport budget? (For the purposes of this request 'transport' includes highway maintenance, home to school/college transport; adult social care transport; demand responsive transport; special educational need transport and voluntary driver schemes, cycling and walking, roads spending, supported bus services and fares).

7. How many and which supported routes have had cuts in services in the fiscal year 2014/15 (for example loss of weekend or evening services)?

8. How many and which supported routes have been completely withdrawn in the fiscal year 2014/15?

9. What changes have been made to non-statutory concessionary fare schemes in the fiscal year 2014/15?

Yours faithfully,

Martin Abrams
Campaign For Better Transport

Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr Abrams,

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your email dated 10th September
2014, in which you request the disclosure of information under the
provisions of the above Act.

 

I can confirm that your enquiry will now be assigned to an Officer who
will commence a search for the information you require and they will
respond in due course. The deadline date for issuing you with a full
response is 8th October.

 

We will endeavour to provide a response well in advance of this date,
however, should we envisage any delays, or require more details from you,
we will contact you immediately.

 

If you have any queries about the above, please do not hesitate to contact
us, quoting ref. 826.1213

 

Yours sincerely,

 

On behalf of the Access to Information Team

Access to Information Team

Lancashire County Council

[1]www.lancashire.gov.uk

 

 

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Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr Abrams,

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Further to your email dated 10^th September, in which you request the
disclosure of information under the provisions of the above Act, we are
now in a position to respond.

 

1. What is Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus
services in 2014/15?

18,484,360

With regard to the reduced 2014/15 figure, please see the explanation
below:

- we no longer provide contracted services to colleges since July 2014 and
therefore there is a significant reduction in costs associated with
providing services.

- there has been a general reduction in prices from contractors due to the
economic climate, keen to obtain work.

- general good housekeeping, reduction in the number of contracts for bus
services where services can be combined or re-routed etc, lower tender
prices from contractors to win work.

 

2. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus
services in 2013/14?

21,041,959

 

3. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus
services in 2012/13?

19,599,829

 

4. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus
services in 2011/12?

20,500,903

 

5. What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported bus
services in 2010/11?

Due to the way the information was recorded we have been unable to provide
a figure for 2010/11

 

6. What is the budget for supported bus services as a percentage of the
total transport budget? (For the purposes of this request 'transport'
includes highway maintenance, home to school/college transport; adult
social care transport; demand responsive transport; special educational
need transport and voluntary driver schemes, cycling and walking, roads
spending, supported bus services and fares).

34%.

 

7. How many and which supported routes have had cuts in services in the
fiscal year 2014/15 (for example loss of weekend or evening services)?

There have been no Lancashire County Council supported bus routes cut in
2014/15

 

8. How many and which supported routes have been completely withdrawn in
the fiscal year 2014/15?

There have been no Lancashire County Council supported routes completely
withdrawn in 2014/15.

 

9. What changes have been made to non-statutory concessionary fare schemes
in the fiscal year 2014/15?

The only change in the Concessionary Fares Scheme for 2014/15 was the
withdrawal of use concessionary passes on the Blackpool trams for non
Blackpool residents. Trams are not part of the Statutory ENCT Scheme which
is for buses only.

 

 

I apologise for the delay in responding, in the event that you wish to
complain about the manner in which your enquiry has been handled, you
should write in the first instance to The Freedom of Information Officer,
Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78, County Hall, Preston PR1 8XJ, or
email [1][Lancashire County Council request email]

 

If, after this stage, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer
the matter to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are as
follows:

 

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel:                   01625 545700

Email:               [2][email address]

Website:           [3]http://www.ico.gov.uk

 

Your request will now be closed as of this date.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Mr A Martin

Access to Information Officer

Freedom of Information

Lancashire County Council

PO Box 78

County Hall

Preston

PR1 8XJ

 

Tel:         (01772) 531116

Email:     [4][Lancashire County Council request email]

 

 

Don't forget to apply for your child's [5]secondary school place by 31
October 2014.

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Campaign for Better Transport

Dear Mr Martin,

Thank you for your response. I would just like to confirm some of the details in questions 1-6.

For questions 1-5, I am looking for the figures for council funding for supported bus services, without any extra sources of funding (such as Section 106 funding and BSOG).

Therefore for questions 1-5, please could you confirm that the figures refer only to the budget for council funding for supported bus services? For question 6, please could you also confirm that the figure you have given me (34%) refers only to the budget for council funding for supported bus services, as a percentage of the total transport budget?

Yours sincerely,

Martin Abrams

Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr. Abrams,

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your email dated 21^st October
2014, in which you request further information under the provisions of the
above Act.

 

I can confirm that your enquiry will now be assigned to an Officer who
will commence a search for the information you require and they will
respond in due course. The deadline date for issuing you with a full
response is 18^th November.

 

We will endeavour to provide a response well in advance of this date,
however, should we envisage any delays, or require more details from you,
we will contact you immediately.

 

If you have any queries about the above, please do not hesitate to contact
us, quoting ref. 826.1363

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

On behalf of the Access to Information Team

Access to Information Team

Lancashire County Council

[1]www.lancashire.gov.uk

 

Don't forget to apply for your child's [2]secondary school place by 31
October 2014.

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Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr Abrams,

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Further to your email dated 21^st October, in which you request the
disclosure of information under the provisions of the above Act, we are
now in a position to respond.

 

Please see the comments below in response to your request:

 

The effect of removing Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) from the figures
only impacts on financial years 13/14 and 14/15 as the BSOG was only
devolved direct to Lancashire County Council from DfT from January 2014. 
The revised budget figures and percentage calculation are as follows:   

 

1.    What is Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported
bus services in 2014/15? – Excluding the BSOG funded element the total
budget is £16,769,970. (Section 106 funding was already excluded from the
original response)

 

2.    What was Lancashire County Council’s total budget for supported
bus services in 2013/14? - Excluding the BSOG funded element the total
budget is £20,613,361. (Section 106 funding was already excluded from the
original response)

 

6.   What is the budget for supported bus services as a percentage of
the total transport budget? (For the purposes of this request 'transport'

includes highway maintenance, home to school/college transport; adult 
social care transport; demand responsive transport; special educational 
need transport and voluntary driver schemes, cycling and walking, roads 
spending, supported bus services and fares). 32%.

 

 

I trust that our response is to your satisfaction, but in the event that
you wish to complain about the manner in which your enquiry has been
handled, you should write in the first instance to The Freedom of
Information Officer, Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78, County Hall,
Preston PR1 8XJ, or email [1][Lancashire County Council request email]

 

If, after this stage, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer
the matter to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are as
follows:

 

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel:                   01625 545700

Email:               [2][email address]

Website:           [3]http://www.ico.gov.uk

 

Your request will now be closed as of this date.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Mr A Martin

Access to Information Officer

Freedom of Information

Lancashire County Council

PO Box 78

County Hall

Preston

PR1 8XJ

 

Tel:         (01772) 531116

Email:     [4][Lancashire County Council request email]

 

 

If you’re a carer for someone, we want to support you too. Find out more
about the help and support available from [5]Carers Lancashire .

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