Socially necessary bus services - Find a freedom of information request

We would like to ask some questions relating to the provision of socially necessary bus services by your council.

1. As per clause 63 of the 1985 Transport Act, when was the last time your council assessed the need to meet any public transport requirements within their area and were any deficiencies found which would not in their view be met apart from any action taken by them for that purpose?

2. When your council last made the assessment as per clause 63 of the 1985 Transport Act referenced above in question 1, how many parishes were considered to have public transport requirements which would not be met apart from action taken by the council, and what was the 2011 census population of these parishes?

3. How many of the parishes assessed as having public transport requirements which would not be met apart from action taken by the council are currently having those public transport requirements met by the council?

4.If a decision has been made not to meet the public transport requirements, which would not otherwise be met, of any parishes surveyed under clause 63 of the 1985 Transport Act, what assessment was made of the potential cost of meeting the needs identified in the survey, and what criteria were used to reach the conclusion not to deliver those services?

5. If a decision has been made not to meet the public transport requirements of any parishes surveyed under clause 63 of the 1985 Transport Act, what assessment was made of the knock on costs to other authorities or other budgets arising from not delivering those services, and if so what was the value of those costs?

6. In order to carry out your clause 63 responsibilities, how do you gather information regards changes in demand for rural bus services?

a. Do you engage with Parish Councils and if so is this on a routine basis or an ad hoc basis?

b. If routine, how frequently?

c. Do you have any other ways of ensuring you understand how demand is changing at a local level?

1. The council is constantly assessing the public transport offer across the county of Lincolnshire. The Council spends over £5.5M annually to provide socially necessary bus services not provided through the commercial network. As part of these supported services the Council provides a network of demand responsive minibuses (branded CallConnect) which covers the whole county (only areas not currently served by CallConnect are a few major urban centres like Lincoln and Grantham where commercial activity is higher).

2. The CallConnect network fills the gap for the vast majority of parishes where a commercial service would not be sustainable. The only buses serving these villages would otherwise be the once a day school bus during term time only. The population of Lincolnshire in the 2011 census was 713653. Minus Greater Lincoln and Grantham from the countywide figure and the population covered by CallConnect services is estimated at 530878, covering 510 parishes.

3. CallConnect serves all of the 510 parishes identified as having public transport requirements.

4. Not applicable because of the flexibility of Lincolnshire County Council's (LCC) demand responsive transport and the large number of services available, no community however small is left without public transport provision. The CallConnect service is demand led and over the years the Council has been responsive to requests for extended operating hours etc. The network has been growing since 2001 so the Council considers this to be a success measure along with passenger numbers which still continue to increase year on year.

5. Not applicable

6.

a. Given the number of parishes within the county this is done on an ad-hoc basis. If there is a change to the commercial network which will have a significant adverse impact on a community LCC usually engage with the Parish Council to discuss options available. In addition are happy to meet any parish group who feel that services in their area can be adapted to better meet their needs and who want to discuss their ideas.

b. LCC also attends a number of Local Authority and Community organised events throughout the year to engage with existing and prospective passengers. LCC receive statistical passenger returns on its supported services along with ENCT passenger data countywide. In addition, because CallConnect passengers are booked through the central booking centre, LCC are able to see if demand is low in a particular area and as appropriate then engage locally through road shows and/or distribution of publicity

In Lincoln LCC have periodic bus surgeries hosted by Bus Users UK and have used Transport Focus to conduct their annual survey more widely within Lincolnshire.

LCC hold individual liaison meetings on a regular basis with our bigger operators to discuss changes and trends within the network and also host periodic Operator Liaison Meetings where all operators may attend together.

LCC maintain a presence through social media and the Council's website, and within each of its engagement methods the Council invites feedback from all sources.