Decision details

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport seeking approval to give bus operators 28 days notice of any changes to the reimbursement rate for Concessionary Travel.  

(i)  To reimburse operators at a rate of 48.0p in the £, plus 6.7p per generated journey in accordance with the guidance given by the Department for Transport (DfT);

(ii)  To introduce an administration payment of 0.2p for each journey undertaken on the scheme to cover operator administration costs; 

(iii)  To retain the ticket types used in the calculation of the average fare to include day tickets, carnet (multi-trip), single and returns as per the guidance issued by the DfT;

(iv)  To delegate authority to the Head of Planning and Sustainability to enter into arrangements with some smaller operators to agree reimbursement at a fixed rate in accordance with the revised DfT guidance for 2012/13;

(v)  To delegate authority to the Head of Planning and Sustainability in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Executive Director of Corporate Services following consultation with the Cabinet Members for Environment and Transport and Leisure, Culture and Resources to make any necessary variations or changes for 2012/13 year scheme arising from the outstanding appeal to take any action necessary to give effect to the recommendations including but not limited to the service of statutory Notices (including Variation and Participation Notices) and participation in and determination of any appeal against the proposed Concessionary Fares Scheme or reimbursement arrangements for 2012/13; and

(vi)  To delegate authority to the Head of Planning and Sustainability in consultation with the Director of Corporate Services following consultation with the Cabinet Members for Environment and Transport and Leisure, Culture and Resources to consider any operators claim for additional capacity and capital costs subject to overall affordability.

To enable the Council to comply with the statutory requirement to serve bus operators with minimum 28 days notice of the reimbursement arrangements to be used during 2012/13.

It is a statutory requirement that the Council has to publish details of its proposed reimbursement calculation in advance of the scheme introduction, so the only options that could be considered are to vary the level of generation factor employed, or the level of additional costs allowed, or the proportion of non-single journeys included in the calculations.  The first two of these factors have been assessed in the light of the adjudication in February 2010 received from the Secretary of State and the contents of the Guidance issued by the Department for Transport in 2011 for use in 2012/13.