Bus Services After the Spending Review

Further written evidence from the Community Transport Association UK (BUS 28a)

HOW TO INCREASE THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY TRANSPORT IN LOCAL TRANSPORT PROVISION

The CTA wishes to submit the following additional evidence to the Transport Committee.

The CTA believes that if Government and local authorities want community transport organisations (CTOs) to play an increased role in local transport provision, then we believe the following interventions will help to achieve this aim:

1. The development of community operated bus (Section 22) services: this is where there is greatest potential - a really significant opportunity - for local authorities (LAs) to work with community transport organisations (CTOs) to introduce new Section 22 bus services making full use of the provisions contained in the Local Transport Act. These services could be either self-contained or offer flexible provision feeding in to commercially run routes (which would help ensure their viability). While the potential is huge, particularly in rural areas, increasing provision is dependent on two actions: firstly, building awareness so that LAs, CTOs and local communities seriously consider this form of community transport provision (see above); and secondly, the need to capacity build so that CTOs can provide what will, in most cases, be a very different type of operation. The latter will require specific support to CTOs. Through capacity building there is then the opportunity to shape the market provision.

2. Securing the future of community car schemes: with consistently increasing fuel costs volunteers and volunteer organisations are now saying even more strongly that the HMRC AMAP of 40p per mile is a real barrier to volunteering. There are thousands of volunteer run community car schemes across England. If these are to be sustained, let alone further developed, then extending to volunteer drivers the 5p per passenger additional allowance that is available to all business users would demonstrate the Government’s commitment to volunteering and ensure that the contribution made to public services by volunteer drivers continues. The change would have a very tangible impact on volunteer drivers without any significant impact on Government expenditure or revenue.

3. Extending the concessionary travel concession to community transport: At present concessionary fares for pensioners and others are automatically available on public transport but not on community transport. So a pensioner who is fit to walk to the bus stop can travel free but one who is infirm or disabled may have to pay. Local authorities have the discretionary power to provide free fares on community transport, but most do not do so and in the current climate it is even less likely that they will. Extending concessionary fares to community transport users as of right would help the most vulnerable, create a more level playing field, and ensure that more community transport organisations can survive. There would be a relatively small funding cost for those local authorities which had previously not extended concessionary fares in this way, so the initial step would need to be to assess the financial implications and to reach a view on whether this could be funded, eg from a future restructure of BSOG, or as a small offset to the savings in concessionary fares which will be achieved due to reductions in mainstream bus services or through the rise in pension age.

The CTA would be pleased to give oral evidence to the Transport Committee in support of this additional written evidence.

February 2011