BOROUGH OF POOLE
TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2008
REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
ON THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL SCHEME AND COMMUNITY TRANSPORT
1. Purpose and Policy Context
1.1 To inform Members of the latest position following the implementation of the 2008 English National Concessionary Fares scheme.
1.2 To recommend an alternative concession to the concessionary bus pass for people unable to access ordinary bus services that would be available for use on community transport services. It is estimated that that the cost of this will be £50,000 in 2008/09.
1.3 To support the on-going development of community transport in the South East Dorset conurbation including the contribution of £15,000 towards the costs of a Community Transport Development Manager based at NHS Bournemouth and Poole.
2. recommendations
2.1 It is recommended that:
(a) The latest position with take-up, usage and costs of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme be noted.
(b) Members support and recommend to the Portfolio Holder the introduction of an alternative concession to the bus pass for residents unable to access bus services for use on community transport at an estimated cost of £50,000 in 2009/10 (subject to approval in the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2009/10).
(c) Members support and recommend to the Portfolio Holder the contribution to the development of community transport in the South East Dorset conurbation (subject to the approval of £15,000 for 2009/10 in the Medium Term Financial Plan).
3. Information
3.1 The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme introduced from 1 April 2008 enhanced the concession by permitting free off-peak bus travel in the whole of England. Previously travel had been confined to local scheme areas.
3.2 A requirement of the scheme was the reissue of all bus passes to a new national design. Significantly, there was a mandatory requirement for the passes to be smartcards with the ultimate benefit of tracking usage once all buses were fitted with smartcard readers.
3.3 The Council received financial support from the Department for Transport (DfT) for the implementation of the new scheme in the sum of £131,000. DfT supplied details of a framework contractor for the bulk re-issue of the passes, however, the Council used an alternative supplier offering better value for money. Over 27,000 passes were re-issued and 95% of these were received by the concessionaire on 31 March 2008 with most of the rest delivered by mid-April. This compared exceptionally well with other Concessionary Travel Authorities (CTAs) in the country.
3.4 Most CTAs have continued to use third party smartcard suppliers for their on-going bus pass issues. However, the Borough of Poole has upgraded its in-house pass issuing equipment and has been able to continue to offer the “while you wait” service to its residents. This was up and running on 1 April 2008 and as far as can be ascertained was the only service of its type in the region to achieve this. The pass issuing facility has been well received by customers. It is centrally located and applicants do not need to obtain their own photographs as these are taken for them.
3.5 The government provided £596,000 for 2008/09 as a special grant to cover the additional costs of the English National scheme (further index-linked payments have been identified for the next three years). This is in addition to an estimated £832,000 provided for the enhancement of the statutory minimum scheme from half-fare to free travel. The current budget of £3,014,000 includes £1,586,000 of Council funding (though this may include a small amount of Revenue Support Grant from the half-fare scheme which had a budget of £451,000 in 2005/06). Expenditure to the end of September amounts to £1,283,000. Taking account of recent fares increases, it is expected that the expenditure on operator reimbursement will be approximately £2,544,000 in 2008/09.
3.6 Take-up of the new concession has been strong. There are now over 30,000 passes in circulation in Poole and the take up-rate amongst over-60s is approaching 80%. Use of the pass has also been strong with an increase in journey numbers during the first 6 months of 17.56% (to 1.4m) compared with the same period last year. However, concessionary travel is weather dependent and the poor summer will have reduced this level of increase. Reimbursement costs for the same period have increased by 13.35%. Bournemouth Borough Council has seen sharper increases than Poole and a comparison of both authorities is shown in Appendix A (attached).
4. Proposal for alternative bus pass
4.1 The statutory requirement for the acceptance of the English National Concessionary Travel pass relates only to registered local bus services and does not extend to community transport. Whilst the introduction of low-floor buses and associated improvements to infrastructure at bus stops is making conventional buses more accessible, there are residents who are unable to access them due to difficulties with their mobility. Many of these people rely on community transport for which they are required to pay a fare, though heavily subsidised by the Council.
4.2 Until 2005/06, the Council offered a supply of National Transport travel tokens as an alternative to the then half-fare concessionary bus pass. This was withdrawn as part of the Budget Strategy and coincided with the introduction of the free travel scheme. £30 of travel tokens was issued for the payment of £5 and 812 residents took the concession in its final year. The tokens could be used in most local taxis and were also accepted by many bus companies across the country.
4.3 There was anecdotal evidence of fraudulent use of travel tokens. There was also concern that the concession may be poorly targeted with some people saving them over several years until the time came to give their cars up or using them towards the cost of non-local taxi journeys e.g. to Gatwick Airport.
4.4 Nevertheless the withdrawal of the travel tokens did result in hardship for many people. This has been evident both from the level of complaint at the time of the withdrawal and in subsequent consultation with older and disabled people. Indeed, Poole’s Older People Strategy has highlighted this as a particular issue and has pledged to investigate options and secure funding for a concession to replace the token scheme to enable increased mobility for those with the greatest need.
4.5 It is proposed that rather than reintroduce travel tokens, a book of vouchers for use on the Poole Community Transport Service be offered as an alternative to the English National concessionary travel pass. Revenue from the community transport scheme which includes Dial-a-Bus and the voluntary car scheme is returned to the Council to off-set costs. The vouchers would have a limited life (possibly two years). It would be necessary to simplify the Dial-a-Bus fare-scale to accommodate the use of vouchers.
4.6 The effect of the voucher concession would be to provide financial support to people using Poole Dial-a-Bus and the voluntary car service to the same value as the bus pass. Once the vouchers were used, passengers would be required to pay the relevant fare or charge (currently up to £2.40 return for Dial-a-Bus and £3.00 for up to 5 miles for voluntary car journeys). It is expected that the concession will result in an increase in demand for community transport which could result in the need to increase the number of vehicles operating on the Dial-a-Bus service and the number of voluntary car drivers.
4.7 It is suggested that the value of the alternative concession be set to reflect the average cost of the English National concessionary bus pass in Poole which is approximately £85 per annum. The concession would only be available for use by members of the Poole Community Transport Service where eligibility criteria apply. There are currently 530 members of the community transport scheme though this number is increasing. It is expected that the scheme would cost approximately £50,000 in 2009/10. Members of the Transportation Advisory Group are asked to support this proposal (subject to available funding).
5. Community Transport Development in South East Dorset
5.1 The Borough of Poole is working with partners in South East Dorset including the voluntary and health sectors on the development of a conurbation-wide community transport service. NHS Bournemouth and Poole (formerly PCT) are taking the lead on the recruitment of a Community Transport Development Manager with the costs being shared between NHS Bournemouth and Poole, Bournemouth Borough Council and the Borough of Poole.
5.2 The commitment from the Borough of Poole is £15,000 per annum for 2008/09 and 2009/10. £15,000 has been identified in the current year’s bus subsidy budget due to a lower than anticipated recharge from Dorset County Council for cross-boundary bus services. Members of the Transportation Advisory Group are asked to support this proposal (subject to funding being identified in 2009/10).
5.3 A further report detailing developments in community transport provision will be brought to a future meeting of the Transportation Advisory Group.
JULIAN McLAUGHLIN
Head of Transportation Services
Background Papers
APPENDIX A: Number and Costs of Concessionary Travel Journeys in Poole and Bournemouth – not available electronically
Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact
John McVey (01202) 262221
12 November 2008 TAG271108
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