The Strategic Transport Manager presented the report found on pages 21-104 of the agenda.

It was enquired if any other forecasts had been carried out such as instead of having a bus running seven days a week, perhaps having it running four days a week per route.

Officers explained they hadn’t looked at the alternatives in terms of how that

provision would be provided, as they had been looking at the value of money the service provides, it was commented there was that option for Officers to go away and to look at all various different opportunities. Members herd how in reality if Officers looked at reducing the number of days services were run it would be a proportional cost reduction as the vast majority of the cost in providing the services was the labour cost and the fuel cost rather than the provision of the bus itself.

The Committee were advised the additional cost to provide the service was

only £18,000 due to the fact that the Council had been able to receive additional grants, if it wasn’t for these grants the additional cost would have been £100,000. If the Council were to continue next year and maintain the service it could be as much as an additional £200,000.

Councillor Gledhill congratulated Officers on the way they carried out the consultation, he commented it was the first time he’d seen a consultation that

pretty much ticked every single box when it came to giving people the ability

to interact with the Council.

He went on to raise concerns that supplying a bus service was a historic and ongoing issue with a local Councillor saying it was for residents in certain areas to use the bus services or there was a risk of losing them.  He continued by commenting a number of the popular journeys were out of the borough, and he echoed Councillor Watson comments that the outer areas of the borough needed the transport support, however he also felt that residents should also have the understand they may need to use more than one bus to complete a journey as many residents across the Borough were already doing.

The Committee agreed to suspend standing orders at 9.10pm to allow the agenda to be completed

Officers were thanked for the report, with Members observing it was pleasing to see the inclusion of the impact assessment. It was mentioned by the committee that they didn’t want to see the services around the Borough lost as they were used not just because of the hospitals but also people taking their children to school.  The cost element to providing the service was acknowledged however it was commented that it was also important to think about residents who lived in the villages and had no other mode of transport.

It was suggested that a Hub and Spoke Model be looked into, where if required people could change from one bus service to enable them to cross the Borough, rather than increasing costs and decreasing services. It was further suggested that a new route or routes were needed to cover the outlying areas which required a service such as Purfleet, Fobbing and Corringham.

The Chair echoed the comments made by Members as to receiving additional specific information on what an alternative route to cover all three options would look like, whether it would be possible to develop a Thurrock wide fair scheme and what it would look like.

Councillor Anderson suggested that Councillor Gledhill’s suggestion that “a further report be presented to the Committee to give options for a new possible route or routes which could be included into a hub and spoke system covering the outside Villages and to look at the option of a flat fee across the Borough” replace recommendation 1.2 within the report.

This was agreed by the Committee.

RESOLVED

1. For Members of Planning, Transportation and Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the report and supporting appendices for presentation to Cabinet.
2. A further report be presented to the Committee to give options for a new possible route or routes which could be included into a hub and spoke system covering the outside Villages and to look at the option of a flat fee across the Borough.