County and Borough Council Information
5th January 2015
Surrey County Council is reviewing local bus services and wants to hear which services matter most to local residents. They are holding a series of roving bus events around Surrey and the event in the Waverley area is taking place from 9.30-11.30am on Saturday 10 January in the High Street in Godalming, by the Wetherspoon’s pub.
You can also have your say by completing the questionnaire at surreycc.gov.uk/transportreview, picking up a copy from libraries and local council offices or calling 0300 200 1003.
Email received by the clerk on 8th October 2014
Dear colleague,
As you know, Surrey County Council is subject to enormous pressures on our funding. Increased demand for essential services such as adult social care and school places, coupled with reduced Government funding, means we need to review our spend on all the services we provide for the county’s residents.
One of those services is local transport where the council currently spends around £8.9m a year subsidising public buses, one of the highest spends in South East England. We also spend £640,000 per year on Community Transport and £8.7m on concessionary fares, including some extra discretionary concessions for people with disabilities.
We are therefore carrying out a review of local transport services in the county, with the aim of making significant savings in this area over the next three years. The views of residents and partners will from a key part the review, and we have therefore launched a consultation. I would welcome your support in letting residents know about the consultation and encouraging them to give us their views via the online survey.
The review will focus on the following three aspects of local transport.
· The council’s subsidy of all local bus services.
· The provision of community transport in the county, and how this can be made more commercial.
· SCC-funded discretionary concessions:
Ø Free travel for disabled person’s pass holders at all times (the statutory requirement is between 9.30am and 11.00pm Monday-Friday and all day at weekends and on public holidays).
Ø Companion passes issued to qualifying Surrey residents (already disabled or older person’s pass holders) who cannot travel without assistance, enabling free travel for a friend, carer or relative.
The aim of the review is to make savings while maintaining the services that residents rely on most, such as services that get people to work, hospitals and schools. To help achieve this, we have launched a public consultation, running from now until 14 January 2015. Plans will only be drawn up after residents, partners, bus-user groups and other stakeholders have had their say.
Alongside consulting with residents and other stakeholders, the review will also include development in the following areas:
· Better procurement of local bus contracts
· Better use of developer contributions to support services
· Joint marketing with bus operators to increase the viability of Surrey’s bus market.
To take part in the consultation residents and stakeholders can complete the online survey, which will be widely promoted via our website and other digital channels.
A hard-copy of the survey will also be available, from early November, from libraries, district and borough and parish council buildings and bus stations, and we will advertise the consultation via a poster campaign at bus stations, on buses and in other public buildings throughout Surrey.
Surrey County Council Members will be able to contribute their views at workshops which have been set up for each of the 11 local committees. Please see the attached schedule for details. You can also give your views on the consultation via the online survey, or by emailing localtransportreview@surreycc.gov.uk. Further information about the review and proposed savings can be found in the Cabinet report, which was agreed on 23 September.
Your support in letting residents know about the consultation and encouraging them to complete the survey will help us to ensure we spend the budget providing the services they need the most.
Kind regards,
Mike Goodman
Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning
County Councillor for Bagshot, Windlesham & Chobham
