Meeting documents

For members to consider the attached report.

Contact officer: Elaine Hassall 01296 585364

In 2011 Buckinghamshire County Council replaced AVDC as the Travel Concession Authority (TCA) and took over responsibility for the administration of concessionary travel. Also, AVDC and BCC entered into a delegation agreement which allowed AVDC to administer a discretionary concessionary travel token scheme on behalf of the County. The discretionary concessionary transport scheme, in the form of taxi tokens originally operated alongside Aylesbury Vale Dial-a-Ride service, which closed in March 2016. The discretionary concessionary taxi token scheme was an alternative option for people that qualify for a free bus pass, do not have access to their own private transport and meet the following eligibility criteria:

·         in receipt of the state pension and cannot use buses because of disability or frailty 

·         have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act

AVDC purchased the tokens from an external specialist company, National Transport Tokens Ltd. Those qualifying could apply for up to £90 of tokens per year which they spent with a participating local taxi firm on essential journeys. The tokens could be used to fully or partly fund a journey in a taxi up to the cost of £15. The taxi firm then had to exchange the tokens for payment through the specialist company from which the council sourced the tokens.

There had been a significant decline in the number of participating taxi operators involved in the scheme (from 21 operators in 2011 to 5 in 2017). This was due to it not being financially viable for operators to do so because the minimum value of tokens that they could exchange with the company was £100 and the number of journeys that they were being asked to provide was not high enough to make this worthwhile. Operators would continue to accept the tokens up until 30 September 2018; after this date the tokens would not be valid. This was an optional service that taxi companies could choose to offer their customers and they were under no obligation to provide it. Current taxi operators were from Aylesbury, Wing and Winslow, and only two offered wheelchair accessible vehicles. There were no operators who supported the scheme in Buckingham.

There had also been a decline in the number of users of the scheme from 314 in 2012, 184 in 2017 and 116 so far in 2018. The scheme was fully funded by AVDC and the budget was £33,400 per annum. The current cost to provide the scheme was £7,200 per annum which covered staffing and recharge costs.  The remainder of the budget was available to source the provision of tokens. A review had been conducted on the service which included the following:

·         Mapping of current community transport in the Vale.

·         A survey of current users.

·         Consultation with the Transport Hub.

·         National research on older people and transport needs.

·         Conversations with community and statutory partners.

·         Review of scheme as it currently stands.

·         Research on what other options are available in other areas of the county.

·         Commissioning of Community Impact Bucks to signpost existing users to alternative provision.

Officers noted that review had highlighted that the majority of service users were from Aylesbury Town Centre and that no suitable alternatives had been found. The report the Committee received outlined the outcome of the review and proposed two viable options: cease the service and/or retain current funding for a limited period to fund new or existing community transport schemes. Members were asked to comment on these two options. A statement was read out by the Chairman regarding this item on behalf of the Cabinet Member who was unable to attend the meeting.

The Committee considered that those most affected by the scheme’s removal in Aylesbury Town Centre already had alternative transport such as bus routes. On the other hand, Members saw merit in ring fencing the current funding for future consideration if a comparable scheme could be found. The Committee also emphasised that if the service was to cease then it should be made clear that this was separate to the survey and review being carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council in relation to council supported rural bus services.

RESOLVED –

That the Committee’s comments be noted and that Cabinet give consideration to retaining some of the current funding within the budget for a time limited period for the purpose of funding new or existing community transport schemes. If none can be found then the provision of the concessionary transport scheme should be ceased.