Issue - meetings

To give consideration to the potential changes to the Council’s support for public transport.

Consideration was given to a report informing Members that the Council currently spends £2.2million (net of income) supporting public transport in the Borough. The adopted Business Plan (2012-15) for Cheshire East Council anticipated a reduction of £0.5million in that support. However this was now more likely to be around £0.75million, subject to a full public consultation on the equality impacts. The report set out a series of options for how best to meet the transport needs of local communities within the context of reduced budgets.

The Transport Manager highlighted that appropriate alternative provision would be found for children entitled to transport under the Council’s Home to School Transport Policy, one possibility would be a smaller private hire vehicle

During a detailed debate of the report, Members made the following comments:

·         The Committee needed to give consideration to the full responses from the consultation and also receive details of the impact previous years cuts had on the public.

·         Children were being discriminated against as buses were often their only form of transport available, the proposals could be denying access to education and social activities.

·         The report to Cabinet should refer to the fact that meetings with representative groups had taken place outlining the proposals to fulfil the obligations to engage as well as consult with affected groups.

·         There were also savings being made through changes to te Council’s Home to School Transport Policy. This report did not give full details of the level of support to be reduced by the Council as a whole.

·         The elderly would also suffer as a result of the proposals as they may be cut off from essential services.

·         The survey may not have been accessible to all those affected by the proposals. Drop in sessions need to be held in hard to reach areas.

The Committee agreed that it wished to consider the full results of the consultation and proposals prior to them being submitted to Cabinet in October 2012. The report should map those responses to the consultation to ensure that no areas had been missed.

RESOLVED

That the Committee receive the Cabinet report at its meeting scheduled to be held on 18 September 2012. The report should include a map of those responses to the consultation to ensure that no geographical areas have been missed.