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Transcript of Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Meetings ...
Communities Overview & Scrutiny
Committee
Date: Wednesday, 23 September 2020 Time: 2.00 pm Venue: Virtual Meeting
Membership Councillor Clare Golby (Chair) Councillor Dave Shilton (Vice-Chair) Councillor Jenny Fradgley Councillor Seb Gran Councillor John Holland Councillor Andy Jenns Councillor Keith Kondakor Councillor Andy Sargeant Councillor Bhagwant Singh Pandher Councillor Andrew Wright Items on the agenda: -
1. General
(1) Apologies
(2) Member's Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-pecuniary Interests
(3) Chair's Announcements
(4) Minutes of Previous Meeting 5 - 14
(i) Minutes of the meeting on 17 June 2020 (ii) Minutes of the meeting on 23 July 2020 (Election of Chair and Vice-Chair)
2. Public Speaking
3. Questions to Portfolio Holder
15 - 16
(1) Economic Development Update
17 - 22
Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee Wednesday, 23 September 2020
Page 2
4. Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
23 - 44
5. Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report
45 - 248
6. One Organisational Plan Quarterly Progress Report
249 - 256
7. Quarter 1 Performance Progress Report
257 - 264
8. Communities OSC Work Programme
265 - 268
9. Urgent Items
Monica Fogarty Chief Executive
Warwickshire County Council Shire Hall, Warwick
Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee Wednesday, 23 September 2020
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To download papers for this meeting scan here with your camera
Disclaimers
Webcasting and permission to be filmed Please note that this meeting will be filmed for live broadcast on the internet and can be viewed on line at warwickshire.public-i.tv. Generally, the public gallery is not filmed, but by entering the meeting room and using the public seating area you are consenting to being filmed. All recording will be undertaken in accordance with the Council's Standing Orders.
Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests Members are required to register their disclosable pecuniary interests within 28 days of their election of appointment to the Council. A member attending a meeting where a matter arises in which s/he has a disclosable pecuniary interest must (unless s/he has a dispensation): • Declare the interest if s/he has not already registered it • Not participate in any discussion or vote • Must leave the meeting room until the matter has been dealt with • Give written notice of any unregistered interest to the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of the meeting Non-pecuniary interests must still be declared in accordance with the Code of Conduct. These should be declared at the commencement of the meeting The public reports referred to are available on the Warwickshire Web https://democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/uuCoverPage.aspx?bcr=1
Public Speaking Any member of the public who is resident or working in Warwickshire, or who is in receipt of services from the Council, may speak at the meeting for up to three minutes on any matter within the remit of the Committee. This can be in the form of a statement or a question. If you wish to speak please notify Democratic Services in writing at least two working days before the meeting. You should give your name and address and the subject upon which you wish to speak. Full details of the public speaking scheme are set out in the Council’s Standing Orders.
Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee
Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Minutes Attendance Committee Members Councillor Alan Cockburn (Chair) Councillor Dave Shilton (Vice-Chair) Councillor Jenny Fradgley Councillor John Holland Councillor Andy Jenns Councillor Keith Kondakor Councillor Caroline Phillips Councillor Andrew Wright Portfolio Holders Councillor Peter Butlin (Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property) Councillor Jeff Clarke (Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning) Councillor Andy Crump (Portfolio Holder for Fire & Community Safety) Councillor Kam Kaur (Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation) Councillor Izzi Seccombe (Leader of the Council) Councillor Heather Timms (Portfolio Holder for Environment, Heritage & Culture) Officers David Ayton-Hill, Assistant Director - Communities Isabelle Moorhouse, Trainee Democratic Services Officer Mark Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities Scott Tompkins, Assistant Director for Environment Services Louise Richardson, Policy Lead Sushma Soni, Corporate Policy Lead Gereint Stoneman, Strategy and Commissioning Manager (Corporate Policy) Other Members Present Councillor Mark Cargill Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group) External Speakers Malcolm Holmes (Executive Director, West Midlands Railway Executive) Francis Thomas (Head of Corporate Affairs, West Midlands Trains) Jonny Wiseman (Customer Experience Director, West Midlands Trains)
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Page 1 of 7 Agenda Item 1(4)
Page 2 Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee 17.06.20
1. General
(1) Apologies None.
(2) Member's Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-pecuniary Interests
None.
(3) Chair's Announcements
None.
(4) Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the 12 February 2020 were approved as a true record, subject to the following
amendments; Councillor Keith Kondakor raised whether streetlights being left on in windy weather conditions was what was stated in the meeting.
2. Public Speaking There were none. 3. Questions to Portfolio Holder Following concerns raised by Councillor Keith Kondakor regarding the lack of road allocation in Nuneaton and Bedworth and the effects of Covid-19, Councillor Jeff Clarke (Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning) stated that Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council had been consulted with and temporary measures have been implemented. Councillor Clarke continued that if more permanent measures were requested, then these requests could be made, or the delegated councillor budget could be used. He concluded that £6 million will be spent by Warwickshire County Council on highway and cycling safety schemes. Following a supplementary from Councillor Kondakor, Councillor Clarke stated measures will be implemented on the ring road in Bedworth and temporary schemes are being utilised to ensure the correct schemes are enforced. Councillors Jenny Fradgley and Dave Shilton expressed gratitude to the Highways and Engineering Teams for their work in Stratford Upon Avon and Kenilworth respectively. Councillor Fradgley added that she requested an update on how the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) are working on smaller projects and asked how government funding is being used in Warwickshire. Councillor Izzi Seccombe (Leader of the Council) clarified that the government asked the council to provide short-term safe spaces in town centres, but some town centres are more pedestrianised then others. All the district and borough councils have been involved but the systems implemented were short-term solutions to improve the economy. Mark Ryder (Strategic Director for Communities) added that his team and the LEP are looking at projects that could obtain extra government funding, like the cycling schemes but it is nationally
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Page 3 Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee 17.06.20
competitive. Warwickshire County Council had demonstrated to the DfT (Department for Transport) that the allocated money was spent appropriately but the allocated money is less than the cycle schemes so this will negatively affect the council budget. Mark Ryder concluded that they are still finalising permanent cycle schemes, but city centres are more likely to be prioritised by the government then smaller town centres; it was agreed that updates will be provided on the cycle scheme bids. In response to Councillor Caroline Phillips, Councillor Clarke reiterated that the schemes implemented in Nuneaton are government led temporary schemes and different measures would need to be implemented for a cycling scheme. Councillor Kondakor asked for updates on the electric bus scheme. 4. West Midlands Railway Executive and West Midlands Trains Malcom Holmes (Executive Director, West Midlands Railway Executive) explained that the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) are a partnership of local authorities across the West Midlands, including Warwickshire County Council, and the De Facto rail authority for the region. The WMRE works with the DfT and they manage the contract for rail services and undertake rail strategy work in the West Midlands. Since March 2020, passenger numbers have plummeted on trains which have been consistent with government guidance to avoid public transport. This had risen slightly when shops reopened, and they are currently operating 70% of the timetables to maximise social distancing with an aim to increase this to 80% in July 2020. Malcom Holmes continued that they had established a coordination group with Network Rail in the region which led the rail response to Covid-19. The rail industry have calculated their capacity in order to enforce social distancing and have slightly reduced trains on the Coventry line in Warwickshire; they have been in contact with Chiltern regarding the lack of trains through Warwick. The West Midlands Railway services are running as normal on the Leamington Spa to Coventry and Nuneaton line. Social distancing measures have been administered across West Midland stations, when passengers are at a higher capacity there could be delays due to social distancing. The WMRE have been working with Midlands Connect on a project called Birmingham Airport Connectivity which will connect the Thames Valley, Oxford and Leamington Spa to Newcastle via Coventry and Birmingham Airport. Midlands Connect are working on a business case to double some of the existing single line section on the route between Leamington and Coventry, but this will not allow an improvement to the local service for Kenilworth without full doubling of the route. Therefore, further work had been commissioned between Midlands Connect, the DfT and Network Rail to assess the benefits of running a second local rail service which supports the full doubling of the route. Malcom Holmes stated that phase one of HS2 (High Speed Railway) has recently been given the formal ‘notice to proceed’ by government, and that a revised HS2 business case had been published which showed in most scenarios, it will have a positive value for money. Malcom Holmes expressed the WMRE concerns about the business case as it did not refer to northbound services in Phase 2A after the initial route going northwards. He continued that there will be huge benefits for the West Midlands being connected to the north and Scotland, but there is a risk that this
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Page 4 Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee 17.06.20
service will not be provided through HS2 infrastructure until the completion of Phase 2B. The National Infrastructure Commission is undertaking a review into HS2 Phase 2B and WMRE had stressed the importance of an early direct service introduction northbound in its response. Malcom Holmes concluded that the West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy was published in January 2019; however, due to the long term economic and commuting impact of Covid-19, this had led to a need to undertake a review, and this work is underway.
Following a question from Councillor Kondakor, Malcom Holmes agreed to query about the work
progress on ‘KNUCKLE 3.1’, which will provide direct services again between Coventry and
Nuneaton. The WMRE are in discussion with the DfT in regard to having more responsibility for the
cross-country services that operate in Birmingham, Nuneaton, Leicester and Stanstead rail
corridors. Since these services are run by Cross-Country and run outside the area WMRE cover,
they have insufficient capacity and higher fares; therefore, WMRE are proposing that this route is
operated by the local train operator. He concluded that train timetables post-HS2 are still being
reviewed and finalised. Councillor Kondakor and Malcom Holmes discussed the line north of
Coventry being electrified.
In response to Councillor Shilton, Malcom Holmes reiterated that Covid-19 had impacted West Midlands Trains’ efforts to increase the number of train crew to avoid cancellations and disruption that was experienced during autumn 2019, they have a contractually committal remedial plan with the DfT to improve performance. He added that providing extra carriages depends on route demand and would be unlikely in the short term. Malcolm Holmes concurred with to Councillor John Holland, that Warwickshire should maximise local rail services to benefit the region but the line needs expanding and improving. The WMRE are working on rail schemes that would benefit Warwickshire and the Warwickshire’s Rail Strategy influences the West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy review. Councillor Peter Butlin (Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property) informed the committee that the West Midlands Economic Development Board are developing plans for economic regeneration post-Covid-19 and the new railway strategies should aid this. In response to Councillor Clarke, Malcom Holmes stated that Warwickshire is one of the most rail proactive West Midland authorities and agreed to support where possible with longer-term aspirations for northbound services from Nuneaton and other developments. Following a question raised by the Chair, Malcom Holmes stated that it is anticipated that the line through Kenilworth station would still be fully doubled track in the future. Jonny Wiseman (Customer Experience Director, West Midlands Trains) introduced himself to the committee. He stated that the Covid-19 crisis allowed West Midlands Trains (WMT) to run an effective timetable, enabling them to see what can be achieved in future. WMT negotiated with their stakeholders and WMRE to ensure timetables meet demand and capacity. Since opening, Kenilworth station’s footfall and ticket sales increased annually but Covid-19 halted this; social distancing measures and protective screens have been implemented. Regionally, a reduced timetable was implemented in April 2020, but this had been expanded since. A significant number of WMT colleagues were self-isolating but this has reduced, allowing WMT to implement their timetables. Jonny Wiseman continued that cleaning and the cleaning staff have been increased; face mask posters, social distancing measures and floor markings have been implemented in
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stations. Jonny Wiseman concluded that they will be providing face masks from the 6th July when their timetables are increased. Francis Thomas (Head of Corporate Affairs, West Midlands Trains) informed the committee that WMT have worked with West Midland based authorities and transport operators to raise public awareness of what WMT are doing and provide consistency; this included 220 media appearances. WMT stakeholders have been updated with newsletters which is available to the public. Francis Thomas continued that they had attended other council meetings and provided virtual briefings to spread awareness and extend their messages reach. Commuters have been encouraged to travel at quieter periods and only when necessary; testimonials from frontline staff have been used too. Francis Thomas concluded that social distancing would be a problem at 20% of the normal capacity and WMT are encouraging commuters to buy and obtain refunds for their tickets online. The Chair thanked all the speakers for attending the meeting. 5. WCC Covid Recovery Approach
Mark Ryder introduced the item. The paper built onto the Covid-19 recovery report that was
presented at June’s Cabinet meeting and set out the direction for recovery. Mark Ryder continued
that recovery is at various spatial levels and everything is interlinked; for example, public transport
being affected and effecting the wider economy. The recovery phase was split into three stages: a
foundation stage which included improving council services and helping local businesses, a
consolidation and acceleration phase. Mark Ryder concluded that Cabinet agreed four themes of
the recovery approach: Place, Economy & Climate, Community and Voluntary Sector, Health,
wellbeing and social care and the Organisation, including the reinstating of services.
It was clarified that the four working groups will produce a report for Cabinet in September. Councillor Holland suggested setting targets for performance indicators. In response to Councillor Kondakor, David Ayton-Hill (Assistant Director – Communities) stated that tourism was flagged as a key sector of work in order to help local businesses, whose trade relies on tourism, to continue. Local businesses are being informed on how to market to and accommodate for domestic tourists, especially in rural areas which are likely to have more tourists. Coventry have altered their City of Culture plans so their programme will run from April 2021 until March 2022. This change is being reviewed to it could feedback into Warwickshire’s tourism sector. Resolved: That the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
1. Receives the County Council’s approach to Covid-19 Recovery, as set out in the attached Cabinet report.
2. Commented on the specific issues relevant to the remit of this Committee that should be considered in the development of the Recovery Plan which is due to be submitted to Cabinet in September.
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Page 6 Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee 17.06.20
(1) Economic Development Update
In response to the Chair, David Ayton-Hill stated that Warwickshire County Council are set to receive £800 million in government economic recovery grant payments, but this will be withdrawn in future when businesses return to normal. The Council will help businesses to return to normal before funding is withdrawn. The update was noted by the committee.
6. School Safety Zones and Routes Concluding Report
Councillor Fradgely introduced the item and thanked all the officers involved on the TFG. In the last School Safety Zones meeting, members agreed there was more work to do in regard to educating children and parents on walking to school rather than being driven. Councillor Fradgley concluded that due to the Council’s climate change agenda and the Covid-19 crisis, the new TFG as recommended in the report, would be beneficial now. Councillors Kondakor and Holland stated that a slower speed limit needs to be implemented around all schools. Councillor Philips informed the committee that if enough 20mph signs are erected in an area then PCSO’s (Police Community Support Officers) will enforce them. Councillor Kondakor added that economic and housing growth in Warwickshire have made roads a barrier for cyclists and pedestrians. Councillor Andy Crump (Portfolio Holder for Fire and Community Safety) stated that the Road Safety team were reminding parents to slow down around schools and there have been a list of programmes carried out, but peer pressure is also needed. He concluded that there is a need to carry out programmes that encourage walking. Resolved:
That the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
1) Notes the developments carried out by officers as part of the School Safety Zones Task Force since April 2015
2) Agrees that a Task and Finish Group be established to explore education-based ways of encouraging more children to walk / scooter / cycle in safety to their schools and report on costed options to inform the refreshed MTFS (Medium Term Finance Strategy).
7. Communities OSC Work Programme Councillor Kondakor queried if electric buses could be incorporated into the bus provision item coming to September’s committee. Resolved That the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee notes the work programme
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8. Urgent Items None. 9. Reports Containing Confidential or Exempt Information Resolved That members of the public be excluded from the meeting for the items below on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of confidential or exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended. 10. Exempt Minutes for 12 February 2020 Resolved The exempt minutes of the 12 February 2020 meeting were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair. The meeting rose at 15:45
…………………………. Chair
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Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee
Thursday, 23 July 2020
Minutes Attendance Committee Members Councillor Dave Shilton Councillor Jenny Fradgley Councillor Clare Golby Councillor Seb Gran Councillor John Holland Councillor Andy Jenns Councillor Keith Kondakor Councillor Andy Sargeant Councillor Bhagwant Singh Pandher Councillor Andrew Wright 1. General
(1) Apologies None.
(2) Member's Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-pecuniary Interests
None.
2. Election of Chair Councillor Dave Shilton proposed that Councillor Clare Golby be Chair of the Committee. This was seconded by Councillor Andy Jenns. Councillor Keith Kondakor proposed that Councillor Seb Gran be Chair of the Committee. There was no seconder. Resolved That Councillor Clare Golby be elected Chair of Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 3. Election of Vice Chair Councillor Clare Golby proposed that Councillor Dave Shilton be Vice Chair of the Committee and was seconded by Councillor Andy Wright.
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Page 2 Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee 23.07.20
There were no other nominations. Resolved That Councillor Dave Shilton be elected Vice Chair of the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
…………………………. Chair
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Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee
23 September 2020
Questions to Cabinet and Portfolio Holders
Recommendation
That the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers the forthcoming Cabinet and Portfolio Holder decisions relevant to its remit, asking questions and considering areas for further scrutiny, where appropriate.
1.0 Cabinet and Portfolio Holder Decisions
1.1 The decisions relevant to the remit of the Committee are listed below. Members are encouraged to seek updates on decisions and identify topics for pre-decision scrutiny. They are also encouraged to submit questions to Democratic Services two working days before the meeting, in order that an informed response may be given. The responsible Portfolio Holders have been invited to the meeting to answer questions from the Committee.
1.2 The list was last updated from the Forward Plan on 24 August 2020.
Decision Title Description Date Decision Maker
Home to School Transport Policy
Recommendation to Cabinet following public consultation on the proposed change to the definition of a pupil's qualifying school
10 September 2020
Cabinet
Place Shaping – Update paper
n/a 10 September 2020
Cabinet
On-street parking management changes
Revised proposals for on-street parking management in the light of consultation feedback and the impacts of Covid-19
8 October 2020
Cabinet
Local Transport Plan Refresh
Proposed project to develop a new Local Transport Plan to reflect the latest drivers and priorities for Warwickshire
8 October 2020
Cabinet
Transforming Nuneaton (Highway Improvements) CIF Bid
CIF bid for highway improvements 13 October 2020
County Council
(Exempt) Transforming Nuneaton - Vicarage Street Development Site.
A report concerning a site linked to the regeneration of Nuneaton town centre.
12 November 2020
Cabinet
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2.0 Background Papers
None
Name Contact details
Report Author Isabelle Moorhouse [email protected]
Assistant Director
Sarah Duxbury
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Communities O&S – September 2020
Economic Development Update
The following briefing note provides an update to the Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee on recent economic development activity in Warwickshire. It covers work undertaken by County Council officers and partners across a range of services and areas as well as other key pieces of relevant news and information.
Warwickshire County Council
Significant work continues on economic recovery planning and a range of initiatives to support businesses and the economy. Cabinet have now approved allocations of £608,418 from the Place Shaping and Capital Feasibility Investment Fund to support the next phase of the economic recovery in Warwickshire and the Council’s Covid-19 Recovery Plan. The projects are: o Survive, Sustain, Grow
The funding will be used for an intensive business survival programme for businesses most affected by Covid-19. Specialist advisors will work with business owners on a bespoke, 1:1 basis to review the business and its financial position, explore diversification and growth options, and to help them develop an action plan. The programme will focus on sectors most affected by Covid-19 (retail, tourism, hospitality & leisure, and manufacturing). It will be complemented by existing/ new finance support including new CIF retail and Covid-19 recovery grants.
o Art Challenge for Economic Recovery The project aims to enliven and provide creative ways to support safe movement, social distancing and community confidence around our town centres and outdoor spaces, to encourage shoppers and visitors back to the high street and to support active travel. The project will also create linkages with initiatives being delivered as part of Coventry City of Culture, strengthening Warwickshire’s contribution to 2021 and to the celebration of art and culture in public spaces. Creative place curators will be commissioned to deliver a £194,000 Government capital grant, through the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, for art and culture based public realm regeneration in the north of the county as well as to deliver art interventions elsewhere across the county.
o Employee Assistance for Economic Recovery
This project focusses on a Mental Health and Wellbeing support offer to independent micro high street businesses, through expanding the WCC Employee Assistance Provision. It will provide a paid for support mechanism which allows for staff from these businesses to access counselling and other resources which would not normally be available to them.
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o Marketing and Promotion for Economic Recovery The funding is to support an enhanced marketing campaign to promote Warwickshire as an open and safe tourism destination, to include support for existing Destination Management Organisation activity, additional targeted collective marketing, and support for small independent tourism businesses. The focus will be on promoting rural tourism to relevant domestic markets. It will require a coordinator, a commissioned consultant, to steer and deliver the work, liaising with multiple local, regional and national partners.
o Tech Challenge for Economic Recovery The funds will be used on the two winning ideas from a competition to encourage projects and ideas to come forward that can help support the retail and cultural sectors with solutions to the challenges they face. The aim is to encourage businesses to adapt to the Covid-19 crisis, ensuring jobs are retained, whilst adopting a more digital approach and increasing skills levels and confidence of introducing digital capabilities into their business.
These projects are the first investments from the £4 million earmarked by Cabinet to support the immediate economic recovery phase.
Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust has now allocated loans worth £1.56 million to 15 small businesses in Warwickshire as part of the Government (CBILS) Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. CWRT – a not-for-profit, FCA accredited finance provider – are among the approved lenders for the CBILS alongside all the major banks. WCC moved quickly in March to agree a loan to CWRT to allow it to support small businesses unable to secure loans from mainstream lenders. WCC’s £1 million loan was followed by a further £750,000 from NBBC, RBC and WDC. The CWRT loans have so far safeguarded 217 jobs across Warwickshire and they are expected to support the creation of at least 44 new jobs as the economy recovers.
WCC has launched a new £250,000 Retail and Hospitality Recovery and Investment Grant Fund to support the retail and hospitality sectors in the county. Small businesses in these sectors could apply for grants of between £2,000 to £7,500 to put towards the costs of capital investments. This could be refurbishing or refitting property to increase footfall, creating an online sales presence, investing in dedicated IT and computer software or the purchase of minor equipment. 192 applications worth £1,090,194 were submitted in Round 1 which closed on 11th September 2020. It is expected that there will be further opportunities to apply later in the year. This grant scheme is funded through previous allocations from the Capital Investment Fund to the wider small capital grants programme for business, and a further extension of £750,000 to this programme to provide additional support was approved by Cabinet in September.
WCC has launched a further phase of its Digital Training Programme for Retailers. It is open to all “bricks and mortar” retail and hospitality businesses to help reach and connect customers through online and social media tools. Covid-19 has shown that now customers are online more than ever before and the
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workshops will help retailers embrace digital trends to grow their business. Interest has been very strong, highlighting the important role that digital platforms will play in the recovery of the retail sector. It is delivered by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Stories Marketing: https://www.cw-chamber.co.uk/business-support/towncentres/
Covid Secure in the Workplace – WCC and its local authority partners are continuing to advise businesses on how they can operate safely in light of updated guidance from Government. This includes practical guidance and webinars where businesses can hear from a panel of experts from Public Health, Environmental Health, Trading Standards and Community Safety, Fire and Rescue and Warwickshire Police. https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/coronavirusbacktoworkguidance
“Buy Local” PPE campaign – WCC is encouraging local businesses to source
their personal protective equipment from local suppliers. The ‘Find it in CW’ portal
and CW Chamber Recovery Hub both list businesses based in the area that
supply PPE. The message is part of the wider campaign encouraging us all to
“Buy and Eat Local”.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Duplex Investment Fund – which provides a combined loan and grant to businesses towards the costs of capital investments – has supported a further Warwickshire business. Duplex has now provided loans worth £359,848 to six businesses in Warwickshire across a range of sectors. The investments have safeguarded 30 jobs and are expected to create a further 21.5 jobs. Duplex is funded by a £1 million loan from WCC’s Capital Investment Fund as well as by funding from Coventry City Council, the Government’s Growth Deal and Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership. One of the first businesses supported by Duplex, XPD Print Limited in Offchurch, was featured in the press in August: https://www.cwlep.com/news/investment-and-expansion-warwickshire-printing-business.
WCC’s Small Capital Grants Programme – which provides grants to small businesses with growth plans – has supported a further three businesses. The three grants worth £43,128 are expected to create 5.5 jobs. The programme has now provided grants worth over £1.68 million to 91 businesses, unlocking over £3.35 million of private sector investment and creating 172 new jobs across the county. A luxury chocolate maker based in Leamington, Cenu Cacao, and an exhibition and display specialist based in Harbury, Kaleidoscope Displays Ltd (K Display), were the latest grant recipients to feature in Warwickshire Means Business in August: https://business.warwickshire.gov.uk/august-27-2020/news-in-brief/luxury-chocolate-shop-opens-its-doors-in-leamington https://business.warwickshire.gov.uk/august-27-2020/news-in-brief/warwickshire-exhibition-specialists-growing-their-services
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Kickstart – Government has launched the new Kickstart scheme which will create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country. The scheme will create six month placements open to those aged 16-24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. There will also be extra funding to support young people to build their experience and to help them move into sustained employment after they have completed their Kickstart-funded job. Employers will receive funding for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions. DWP are now accepting applications from employers and groups of employer. The first placements are likely to be available from November. WCC officers are working with DWP and other partners (WMCA, CCC, Chamber of Commerce) to co-ordinate promotion of the scheme in Warwickshire and to encourage and to support employers to participate. We are also considering what role WCC should play as an employer in our own right.
Redundancy support – WCC officers are working with DWP and other partners (CWLEP Growth Hub, Chamber of Commerce, CCC, etc) to develop, promote and implement a joined-up approach to redundancies across Warwickshire including support packages for both businesses and employees. We are also developing a new “staff sharing model” to help businesses avoid job loss and address skills shortages.
Digital careers offer – We are supporting secondary schools and colleges to adapt their careers work to digital content, and to create a “Future Careers Digital Market Place” (films for use in careers talks and a forum for digital careers events and interactive employer engagement). A pilot programme is being supported by the Skills for Employment programme and it is hoped that a further allocation from the Place Shaping and Capital Feasibility Fund will allow a significant expansion to the activity.
Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership / CWLEP Growth Hub
The Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) has been with Government to promote and facilitate the new Getting Building Fund. The CWLEP undertook a call for projects, and considered 21 projects totalling £21.6m before negotiating and agreeing which projects in Warwickshire would be funded. Eight projects, which are now undergoing detailed assessment by the CWLEP ahead of any grant offer letters being sent, have been successful in securing funding totalling £8.1m, including four from Warwickshire County Council. The four WCC projects are:
o the Warwickshire Cycle Links project which will deliver 7km of new or improved cycle routes (£1.9m)
o the Warwickshire Green Recovery Project which will invest in EV charging point infrastructure (£350k)
o the North Warwickshire and Nuneaton Arts Challenge Fund (£195k), and o Holly Walk Digital Creative Office Space in Leamington (£500k)
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The other projects supported are: workspace for creative businesses in the Co-op Building in Nuneaton; funding to support the development of a retirement village in Rugby; investment in Stratford College to enhance training delivery; and new waterside pathways and parking in Stratford to create a new route into the town centre.
CWLEP Growth Hub – WCC continues to work closely with CWLEP Growth Hub, Chamber of Commerce, the FSB, our District & Borough Councils and other partners to co-ordinate and provide support to local businesses. It is estimated that the partners have supported 3,000 businesses since 1st March 2020. Growth Hubs have also been administering new ERDF specialist grants on behalf of Government. CWLEP Growth Hub had an allocation of £312,000 from the new £20 million scheme and a further £188,000 from a £10 million Kick-starting Tourism Package specifically for tourism businesses. Small and medium sized enterprises were able to apply for small grants towards the costs of specialist professional advice such as HR, legal or financial expertise, adopting new technology and online systems, and purchasing minor equipment. The scheme – which was expected to support 200 businesses across Coventry and Warwickshire – was opened for applications on 24th August 2020. It had to close on 26th August due to the overwhelming demand. Applications are now being assessed and the CWLEP Growth Hub has confirmed that the grants will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis.
The CWLEP are working on a Reset Strategic Framework, which seeks to review, update and expand the existing Strategic Economic Plan for the Coventry & Warwickshire area and set the key priorities and opportunities for growth and investment in the sub-region in a post-Covid economy. The plan will be important in shaping potential future investment programmes from Government, and will provide a clear set of jointly agreed strategic priorities across the private and public sector to support economic recovery and growth.
The CWLEP, working with CCC and WCC, are creating a “Golden Book” (a pitch document for inward investment) for a “Gigafactory”. Gigafactory is a term coined by the Tesla company to describe their factory in Nevada, because it was designed to produce batteries with ‘gigawatt-hours’ of storage capacity. It has since been used to describe any large facility for the production of batteries, and sometimes vehicles on the same site, in excess of 1m sqft. By way of illustration, the largest factory building in Warwickshire is BMW’s engine plant at Hams Hall, which is 1m sqft, and constructed in 2000. The most recent building of that scale locally is Euro Car Parts at Birch Coppice, which is 778,000sqft and was completed in 2015. Department for International Trade (DIT) states that the Gigafactory investment will bring investment of £1bn - £1.8bn and 3000 new jobs. There are five potential locations for a Gigafactory in Coventry & Warwickshire:
o J9 M42 Strategic Employment Site (IM Properties) o MIRA Technology Park – Southern Manufacturing Sector (HORIBA-MIRA) o Coventry Airport Site (CCC/ Rigby Group) o Segro Park Coventry Gateway (formerly known as Coventry &
Warwickshire Gateway) - SEGRO
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o Gaydon Employment Hub, Stratford-on-Avon (Gaydon employment land extension) – CEG/ Bird Group
Business News
Lotus Cars has announced that it is to establish a new advanced technology centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne campus. The centre will also be home to a new headquarters for the company’s engineering consultancy.
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Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Presentation to Warwickshire County Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee
23 September 2020
Paula DeasCWLEP Deputy Chief Executive
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Agenda Item
4
Martin Yardley – Chief ExecutivePaula Deas – Deputy Chief ExecutiveKate Hughes – Head of Strategy & EngagementCraig Humphrey – Growth Hub MDIain Patrick – Company SecretaryNicky Cox – Office ManagerApril Wickens – Executive Assistant Stacy O’Connor – Digital Creative LeadGemma Gathercole – Productivity & Skills ExecAndy Davis - Strategy & Analytics ExecNic Erskine – Exec Director C&W Place &
Champions
Cllr Izzi Seccombe: Leader, Warwickshire County CouncilCllr George Duggins: Leader, Coventry City CouncilNick Abell: Chair, CWLEP; Chairman Wright HassallCllr David Wright: Leader, North Warks Borough CouncilCllr Julie Jackson: Leader, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council Cllr Andrew Day: Leader, Warwick District CouncilCllr Sebastian Lowe: Leader, Rugby Borough CouncilCllr Tony Jefferson: Leader, Stratford on Avon District CouncilCllr Stuart Bray: Leader, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council
CHAIRNick Abell
Jonathan Browning: Cllr Jim O’Boyle: Cabinet Member, Coventry City CouncilJess Jeetly: Founder, Jeetly Fashion Cllr Peter Butlin: Deputy Leader, Warwickshire County CouncilSean Farnell: Partner, Burgis & Bullock (Chamber/FSB Rep.) Cllr David Wright: Leader, North Warks Borough Council Parveen Rai: Director, Rai Property Investments Cllr Julie Jackson: Leader, Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough CouncilSarah Windrum: CEO, Emerald Group Cllr Jill Simpson-Vince: Cabinet Member, Rugby Borough Council Nick Spencer: Director, Jaguar Land Rover Cllr Andrew Day: Leader, Warwick District CouncilZamurad Hussain: MD, HBT Communications Cllr Tony Jefferson: Leader, Stratford on Avon District CouncilMarion Plant: CEO, North Warks & South Leics College Cllr David Bill: Deputy Leader, Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council Helen Peters: CEO, Shakespeare’s England (observer status)Tony Minhas: MD, Foleshill Metal Finishing Ltd
Prof John Latham: Vice-Chancellor, Coventry UniversityProf Stuart Croft: Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick TBC: FE College Principals: (observer status)
C&W Growth Hub Ltd
Growth Hub
Subsidiary Board
Finance & Governance
Board Wider Executive GroupPaula Deas Deputy Chief Executive, CWLEPMartin Yardley Chief Executive, CWLEPBarry Hastie Section 151 Officer, CCCMonica Fogarty Chief Executive, WCCSteve Maxey Chief Executive, NWBC Mannie Ketley Executive Director, RBCChris Elliott Chief Executive, WDCDavid Buckland Executive Director, SDCBrent Davis Managing Director, N&BBCBill Cullen Chief Executive, H&BBCCraig Humphrey MD, C&W Growth HubIain Patrick Company Secretary, CWLEPClive Winters Associate Pro-VC, Coventry UniversityKate Hughes Head of Strategy & Engagement,
CWLEPStacy O’Connor Digital Creative Lead, CWLEPGemma Gathercole Productivity & Skills Executive, CWLEPAndy Davis Strategy & Analytics Executive, CWLEP
Planning & Housing
S M E Group International
Productivity & Skills
Culture & Tourism
Transport & Infrastructure
Digital & Creative
Sean Farnell (Int’mChair)John LathamCllr Tony JeffersonParveen RaiZamurad Hussain (Int’m)
Martyn Hollingsworth (Chair)Martin YardleyMonica FogartyBrian Colquhoun
Les Ratcliffe (Chair)David Shortland
Programme Delivery Board
Nick Abell (Chair)Zamurad HussainTony Minhas
Coventry & Warwickshire, Hinckley & Bosworth Joint Committee
Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Board - Transition
CWLEP Board Directors Members of• WMCA Board – Nick Abell (Interim Chair)• Strategic Economic Development Board – Nick Abell• Audit & Standards Committee - Sean Farnell• Scrutiny Committee - Sarah Windrum• WM5G board - John Latham• Investment Board - Nick Abell, Tony Jefferson• Housing and Land Delivery Board - Peter Butlin/Bill Blincoe• Regional Skills Advisory Board - Marion Plant
Infra-Structure – Power
CWLEP Executive &Secretariat
Nick AbellMartin Yardley/Paula Deas
Sean FarnellCraig Humphrey
Sarah WindrumStacy O’Connor
Helen PetersSteve Maxey/Kate Hughes
Peter ButlinMartin Yardley/Bill Blincoe
Stuart Croft/Marion PlantGemma Gathercole
Jim O’BoyleMark Ryder
C&W HS2
Working Group
Business Festival
C&W Place Board
C&W Champions
Ltd
Growth Hub Business Solutions
Ltd
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• LEPs established to drive the government's growth agenda at local level, to support growth in jobs and productivity and also local economic resilience - to withstand both local and global economic shocks in future.
• We work in collaboration with our private and public partners and local anchor institutions and in the context of regional and national organisations and their own strategies.
• Our aim is to deliver innovative and sustainable interventions and activities, to provide the support and drive growth that will complement and add value to the existing programmes and plans of others where there exist.
Our role
CW Economic Reset Taskforce
and Business Groups
Transport & Infrastructure
Planning & Housing
Culture & Tourism
Digital & Creative
Productivity & Skills
SME
International
CW Champions
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A46 STANKS ISLAND
FUNDED BY LOCAL GROWTH FUND
ALLOCATION
THROUGH COVENTRY AND
WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIP
A452 EUROPA WAY CORRIDOR
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2022
ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA
WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE STEM
TRANSFORMING NUNEATON
TRIDENT APPRENTICESHIP CENTRE
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY –
COSTUME WORKSHOP
SHAKESPEARE’S HENLEY STREET
£43.5M
GROWTH DEAL FUNDINGSECURED
AND ALLOCATED FOR WARWICKSHIRE
EXPECTED BY THE END OF THE PROGRAMME
TO CREATE…
1,352NEW JOBS AND
APPRENTICESHIPS
3,962NEW HOMES
18.54KM
NEWLY BUILT AND
RESURFACED ROAD
CONSTRUCTION CENTRE
LEAMINGTON
WARWICK ARTS CENTRE
3,139INDIRECT JOBS
11,312M2
COMMERCIAL SPACE
2,427M2
NEW SKILLS SPACE
……………………………………………………………….…….
……………………………………………………………….…….
……………………………………………………………………..
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Page 5 of 21
FUNDED BY LOCAL GROWTH FUND
ALLOCATION
THROUGH COVENTRY AND
WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIP
£4.1MGROWTH DEAL FUNDING ALLOCATED
TOWARDS A46 STANKS ISLAND
The A46 Stanks Island will…
ADDRESS SERIOUS CONGESTION ON THE A46
STRATEGIC ROAD NETWORK BY CARRYING OUT
HIGHWAYS WORKS THAT WILL IMPROVE TRAFFIC
CIRCULATION DURING PEAK PERIODS, ADDRESS
TRAFFIC QUEUES ON THE A46 SLIP ROADS AND
PREPARE FOR FUTURE PREDICTED TRAFFIC INCREASES
……………………………………………………………….…….
CONTRIBUTE TO WARWICKSHIRE’S COMMITMENT TO
REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS THROUGH
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL OPTIONS
……………………………………………………………………..
A46 Stanks Island
……………………………………………………………………..
IMPROVE WARWICKSHIRE’S TRANSPORT
INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENHANCE WARWICKSHIRE’S
ATTRACTIVENESS AS A PLACE TO INVEST
“These works will do a lot to ease transport pressures on Stanks
Island and the Birmingham Road corridor in Warwick and
commuters will see a huge improvement once they are finished.
The works will also make it possible to cycle or walk into Warwick
from the surrounding areas contributing to Warwickshire’s
commitment to increasing opportunities for sustainable travel and
reduced carbon emissions.”
- Councillor Jeff Clarke, WCC, Transport and Planning
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FUNDED BY LOCAL GROWTH FUND
ALLOCATION
THROUGH COVENTRY AND
WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIP
£3.6MGROWTH DEAL FUNDING ALLOCATED
TOWARDS EUROPA WAY CORRIDOR
EUROPA WAY CORRIDOR WILL:
……………………………………………………………….…….
IMPROVE TRAFFIC FLOW AND REDUCE JOURNEY
TIMES, BENEFITTING COMMUTERS AND BUSINESSES
AND MAKING THE REGION A MORE ATTRACTIVE
PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND INVEST IN
……………………………………………………………………..
A452 Europa Way Corridor
……………………………………………………………………..
CONTRIBUTE TO THE REDUCTION OF LOCAL CARBON
EMISSIONS BY PROVIDING EASIER ACCESS TO
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL OPTIONS LIKE CYCLING AND
WALKING
"This area is key to Warwickshire's economy and it needs a robust
transport infrastructure if we are to attract and retain businesses
and the employment they bring. The transport improvements
around Europa Way will benefit both residents and businesses by
reducing congestion and journey times, while the sustainable
travel improvements will give people a greater range of travel
options.”
- Councillor Jeff Clarke, WCC, Transport and Planning
CONTRIBUTE TO THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES, A
NEW SCHOOL, OPEN SPACES, AND COMMUNITY
FACILITIES TO ENSURE FUTURE SUSTAINABLE
GROWTH IN THE REGION
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FUNDED BY LOCAL GROWTH FUND
ALLOCATION
THROUGH COVENTRY AND
WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIP
£7.5MGROWTH DEAL FUNDING ALLOCATED
TOWARDS TRANSFORMING NUNEATON
Transforming Nuneaton will:
……………………………………………………………….…….
DRIVE INVESTMENT (UP TO £50M) AND CREATE
NEW JOBS (UP TO 400) AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LOCAL PEOPLE
……………………………………………………………………..
Transforming Nuneaton
……………………………………………………………………..
“In partnership with Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council,
Warwickshire County Council, through its many roles including
land owner, investor, highway and strategic transport planning
authority, is proud to be driving change in this great town.
Nuneaton has so much to offer and working together with all
stakeholders in the town our vision is to fully maximise that offer
to make Nuneaton a great place to live and work in and visit."
- Catherine Marks, Programme Manager
DELIVER THE TRANSFORMATION OF NUNEATON
TOWN CENTRE, BY IMPLEMENTING MIXED-USE
REGENERATION FOR BOOSTING ECONOMIC GROWTH
CREATE A BETTER, DIVERSE AND SUSTAINABLE
OFFER FOR LOCAL PEOPLE IN TERMS OF RETAIL,
LEISURE AND EMPLOYMENT RESULTING IN NEW
BUSINESSES INVESTING IN THE TOWN)
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FUNDED BY LOCAL GROWTH FUND
ALLOCATION
THROUGH COVENTRY AND
WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE
PARTNERSHIP
£1.79MGROWTH DEAL FUNDING ALLOCATED
TOWARDS CWG 2022 AT ROYAL
LEAMINGTON SPA
CWG 2022 at Royal Leamington Spa
will…
……………………………………………………………….…….
……………………………………………………………………..
Commonwealth Games 2022
at Royal Leamington Spa
……………………………………………………………………..
“The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will put Royal
Leamington Spa on the global stage with thousands of spectators
arriving at the town’s railway station. The funding will also
enhance the existing bowling greens and buildings within Victoria
Park to provide world class facilities for players, officials and
visitors alike.”
- Nick Abell, Chair, Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise
Partnership
MAKE ESSENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS TO BOWLS VENUE
SERVICES - POWER, SEWAGE, DATA, SECURITY ON
SITE TO ENABLE A SUCCESSFUL CG BOWLS AND PARA
BOWLS COMPETITION
REDEVELOP LEAMINGTON SPA’S RAIL STATION
FORECOURT AND STATION UNDERPASS AS PART OF
A SUITE OF IMPROVEMENTS TO BOOST
INFRASTRUCTURE IN ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA
AHEAD THE BIRMINGHAM 2022 COMMONWEALTH
GAMES.
ATTRACT FURTHER INVESTMENT AND REAPEAT
VISITORS TO THE REGION THROUGH A POSITIVE
COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2022 LEGACY
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Coventry & Warwickshire’s economy – pre-CovidWhere we were in March 2020……..
• Over the previous decade CW economy had grown at a rate unsurpassed by any other LEP area in the country
• Economic growth, measured by total GVA and productivity, both grew by 45%
• Manufacturing, showed outstanding performance as the fastest growing sector in the country, growing over 110% over the decade
• CW employment rate stood at 75.9%, and grew by 5.4% since 2014, faster than growth seen in the WMCA area (4.2%) and England (3.8%)
• Unemployment rate of 3.8%, was lower than the regional (5.1%) and national rates (4.1%)
• Average workplace earnings in 2018 were £30,2713, having grown 12.6% since 2014. This growth was higher than any of the other LEP areas
• CW held a top 10 growth position since 2014 (15.5%) amongst all LEP areas on proportion of people aged 16-64 with an NVQ Level 4 or above, at 38.2%
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CW Local Economy - Economic recovery planning timeline
1. Crisis Response
2. Foundation (initial recovery)
3. Consolidation
4. Acceleration
Immediate financial support (grants, CBILs, Job Retention, etc.)
Automatic stabilisers (Universal Credit)
Local advice & signposting
Support businesses to safely re-open
Confidence to residents and employees
Changes to public realm
Identifying local need and developing targeted support
Evaluating impact of initial employment support measures
Realignment/repurposing of local business support
Start-up, growth, new business opportunity areas
Targeted and appropriate finance support for businesses
Kickstarting and accelerating development
Employment support and reskilling
New growth opportunities
Productivity, innovation, technology
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Exploiting changing behaviours and preferences
Inward Investment
Place-shaping
Low carbon/Green recovery
5G
Completed
UnderwayMay to August
June 2020 to Spring 2021?
2021 onwards?
Local Lockdowns
FoundationConsolidation
Acceleration
Future outbreaks or local lockdowns will result in having to go back to revisit elements of earlier phases
• There are overlaps between the phases
• Need to find the balance between health and wealth
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Economic Reset Objectives - “One Coventry & Warwickshire”
Fundamental reset of the
economy
Re-imagination of productivity. Embedded
approaches to workforce health
& wellbeing
CW as the safest place to live, work, invest, study, and
enjoy
Every business as a new business
Build on existing sector strengths
Longer term priorities, and
pipeline of projects, for future
investment and funding
A green and sustainable reset
and recovery
Recalibrated priorities for
capital infrastructure and revenue/enabling
support
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CWLEP Economic Reset Strategic Pillars
Good jobs & levelling-up
opportunities
Leading innovation
Green sustainable
future
Bold approaches
to enterprise
Re-imagining our
communities, forging global connections
Transforming infrastructure
These will: • Frame our strategy and priorities, build on strengths but also identify vulnerabilities and barriers we
need to address • Shape our funding ‘asks’ to government, also with and via the WMCA and Midlands Engine• Recognise continued uncertainty as we live with COVID-19, anticipate a new framework for devolution,
future fiscal events and prepare for exit from the EU and new international trading regimes.
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What levers and influence can we use, and when?
• Direct to government: e.g. MHCLG, BEIS, HMT and No. 10
• Through the national LEP Network
• Through the Mayor and WMCA
• Collaboration with influencers/funders and partnership working e.g. through Growth
Hub architecture, trade bodies, BRO’s and local authorities
Milestones and policy landscape:
Other Interim Funding Announcements
GBF AnnouncementPotential Departmental Announcements, e.g.
Project BIRCH
Devolution White Paper
Spending Review & Budget
Brexit/Post Transition
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1. Future Funding
• Getting Building Fund - call in June inviting proposals
• Key criteria from Government: i) Job Creation; ii) Green Recovery
• Announcements made in August 2020
• Warwickshire awarded £8.1m
• Projects to be completed in 18 months
Next Steps – our ask to you:
• Developing our Project Pipeline, working with partners
• Encouraging project ideas and development of Full Business Cases
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GETTING BUILDING FUND via
COVENTRY AND WARWICKSHIRE LOCAL
ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP
Catalyst Nuneaton
Town Centre Supports the creation of
jobs by providing flexible,
character office/workspace
to accommodate and
support new and innovative
micro and SME businesses
Warwickshire cycle
links project
New and improved cycle
routes delivered county
wide
North Warwickshire and
Nuneaton Arts Challenge
FundFund to engage local artists to
create innovative new experiences
Warwickshire Green Recovery
projectPackage of measures to encourage uptake
of electric mobility by Warwickshire
residents through expansion of on-street
charging points and a trial of E-car Clubs
Holly Walk Digital
Creative Office SpaceRenovation of WCC office in
need of significant repair and
refurbishment to create much
needed new employment space
for the growing gaming and
digital creative sector
Caldecott Square,
RugbyReturn a site back into use
by creating a high-quality
vibrant retirement scheme
Stratford Upon Avon
College Culture, Media &
Construction AssetsNew curriculum to upskills local
residents in vulnerable sectors
Stratford upon Avon
Riverside Green Corridor
Improve biodiversity, reduce traffic
impact, encourage more walking /
cycling, provide recreation space
and zero-emission gateways into
the town
£8.1M
GETTING BUILDING SECURED
AND ALLOCATED FOR
WARWICKSHIRE
EXPECTED TO CREATE…
310NEW JOBS
4700INDIRECT JOBS
569NEW LEARNERS
ASSISTED
435BUSINESSES
ASSISTED
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CWLEP Growth Hub
Warwickshire Businesses:New Engagements 2019/20 1275New Engagements 2020/21 720 (to date)
Intensive Assists 2019/20 385Intensive Assists 2020/21 435 (to date)(figures rounded)
Warwickshire Business - Grant Referrals values2019/20 145 worth £3,500,0002020/21 340 worth £1,100,000(figures rounded)
https://www.cwgrowthhub.co.uk/case-studies
Across Coventry & Warwickshire the Growth Hub has supported 2,980 businesses since 1st March and has had substantive discussions with 1,082 businesses
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UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) and Gigafactory
• 18,000m2 facility
• £126m investment
• 100 new jobs
• Supporting OEMs and suppliers
• Regional skills base
• Opened March 2020
• UK automotive battery supplychain, worth £5bn pa by 2035
• CWLEP representation on Board
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Where next?
• Reset of the economy whilst we live with Covid-19 – a One Coventry & Warwickshire approach
• White paper on Devolution expected (sometime!) – what will it bring in terms of powers and funding?
• Levelling up agenda – how we do this in Coventry & Warwickshire
• Comprehensive Spending Review – helping deliver our priorities
• Delivery … delivery … delivery in the final year of Local Growth Fund
• Increasing already strong role in strategic projects including City of Culture, Gigafactory, Commonwealth Games, Transforming Nuneaton
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1
Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee
Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report
23 September 2020
Recommendation(s)
1. To note the key findings of the Bus Services Motion Report produced by The TAS Partnership Ltd investigating the items in the Bus Services Motion endorsed by full Council on 17 December 2020
2. To note the proposed Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule consisting of
measures aimed at delivering improvements to the bus services and supporting infrastructure, which The TAS Partnership Ltd has presented in the report following consultation with bus operators, County Council officers, Borough and District officers, Department for Transport and employers
1. Background 1.1 At its meeting on 17 December 2019 the County Council agreed a Motion that
the Strategic Director (Communities) takes a report to Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee responding to the following five objectives:
1. Clarifies and prioritises the Authority’s powers and key objectives in relation to bus provision to enable more consistent and effective negotiations with bus operators. This should include investigating multi-operator ticketing, bus priority measures and improved bus information.
2. Analyses the success of Section 106 developer contributions which have been used to pump prime new bus routes over the last 10 years in Warwickshire and investigates alternative frameworks to incentivise long term successful routes around new developments if necessary.
3. Fully scopes the use of Advanced Quality and Enhanced Partnership schemes as set out in the Transport Act 2000 and Bus Services Act 2017, including engagement with operators and sets a date no later than December 2020 to assess whether implementation of the AQ or EP schemes are necessary to achieve the Authority’s key objectives.
4. Considers and assesses the resources required to successfully deliver the Council’s key objectives recognising that any strategy or objectives that emerge from this process must be fully costed before they can be presented to Cabinet and all sources of funding identified.
5. Considers the call by the “Campaign for Better Transport” report called “The Future of the Bus”
1.2 County Council Officers commissioned The TAS Partnership Ltd, a transport
consultancy specialising in public transport policy and provision, to investigate and review the five objectives and produce an independent report founded on a strong and clear evidence base.
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2
1.3 The TAS Partnership Ltd sought to provide the required support in three distinct
ways:
Consulting with stakeholders including bus operators, WCC officers, Borough and District Councils officers, Transport for West Midlands, the Department for Transport and local employers over what they think WCC is doing well currently, how it can improve and how best to encourage greater bus use;
Researching best practice examples of where bus patronage has increased and how; and
Outlining current powers and funding WCC has available to help encourage greater bus use.
2. Findings
2.1 The key findings detailed in the independent report are as follows: a) Review of WCC’s powers and key objectives in relation to bus provision to
enable more consistent and effective negotiations with bus operators: The report confirms that the County Council has powers to specify and tender contracted bus services and making de Minimis payments (i.e. paying a bus operator to run a small contract without carrying out a tender exercise) where appropriate, set concessionary fare reimbursement rate and discretionary elements. The County Council also provides and maintains on-street bus stop infrastructure and bus information, e.g. bus shelters, bus priority measures and real time information. The County Council can implement changes to road layout or limit highway access to support bus punctuality and reduce bus journey times. The County Council can object to planning applications on the grounds of detrimental impact on the bus network and lead the process of introducing a bus partnership and/or multi-operator ticketing scheme.
From consultation with bus operators the following views were expressed:
There is best practice regarding the provision of bus priority measures demonstrated by other local authorities, which the County Council could learn from;
All town centres should see some level of pro-bus measures with Stratford-upon-Avon particularly highlighted as an area of need;
Enforcement cameras covering bus priority measures, e.g. bus lanes, were deemed useful;
There is good practice in the provision of roadside publicity demonstrated in some areas, e.g. Warwick and Leamington, which could be introduced to all towns in the county;
The County Council could think about the efficient deployment of Section 106 resources when planning bus routes in order to avoid duplication, particularly regarding services running into Warwickshire which are subsidised by neighbouring local authorities; and
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3
The issue of compliance regarding tendered services was discussed with one operator who felt the County Council was not tough enough to deter or root out poor quality operators which give the industry a bad name.
The County Council could take steps to deliver schemes focused on or including bus priority measures, e.g. traffic signals, bus gates and bus lanes. Other steps include improvements to bus information, the delivery of a multi operator bus ticket in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games in 2022 considering some of the events will be in Warwickshire and filling gaps in the Warwickshire Bus Network, e.g. further services calling at Birmingham International Airport/NEC.
b) Success of S106 contributions which have been used to pump prime new
bus routes over the last 10 years in Warwickshire: When Section 106 funding securing the operation of a bus route is due to expire, an assessment of the bus route is undertaken by WCC considering patronage and revenue. In some cases, the bus operator is prepared to continue with the existing route on a commercial basis either at the existing frequency or at a reduced level of service. In other cases, the route is tendered as it stands, at a reduced level or incorporated within an existing contract subsidised by the County Council. In cases where patronage is very low, then Demand Responsive Transport or Flexibus services may be adapted to serve the development.
County Council officers provided The TAS Partnership Ltd with a list of 35 routes which receive or had received S106 funding allocated by the County Council to fund their operation serving development sites. These were divided into six different categories as follows:
I. Newly S106 Funded Routes (2):
Both new routes contracted to the County Council funded via S106 developer contributions should commence operation around September 2020.
II. Routes still S106 Funded by Original Development (7):
There are seven developments in Meon Vale, Weddington, Galley Common, Wellesbourne, Polesworth, Kineton and Newton still provided with bus services operated under contract to the County Council funded via the original developer contribution.
III. Routes still S106 funded but not by the original development (11):
The TAS Partnership Ltd commended the WCC Passenger Transport Team for being able to use new S106 developer contribution resources to continue the development of a bus service when the original developer contribution funding source has expired.
IV. No longer S106 funded and reduced in provision (4):
There are four previously S106 funded bus routes operated under contract to the County Council, which have seen a reduction in service
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4
provision. Three of the routes are still operated under contract to the County Council, and thus, receive some level of subsidy which highlights that even at a reduced provision the bus services are still not commercially viable. The other is operated commercially by the bus operator.
V. No longer S106 funded and running at the same frequency (8):
Encouragingly, there are eight bus routes which are no longer funded via a S106 developer contribution but still provide the same level of service to the relevant site. Five of these routes are operated on a commercial basis by the bus operator. The other three are operated under contract to the County Council.
VI. No longer S106 funded and increased in provision (3): Three routes have seen an increase in service provision since the S106 developer contribution funding support expired. Two of these routes are still operated under contract to the County Council. The other is operated commercially by the bus operator. The list of the Section 106 developer contribution funded bus services under the different categories is presented in Table 1 at Appendix A of this report.
The report states that there appears to be little correlation between the size of the site and the likelihood of Section 106 funding being a success. It appears that there are other factors at work instead. However, the sites which are no longer S106 funded and have seen the service provision reduced appear to have been over-provided for in the first place. The report cites examples of Best Practice around the UK for kickstarting a bus service using Section 106 developer contribution funding and ensuring buses are at the heart of any new development, which could be adopted by the County Council going forward. These are as follows: Ensure that the Developer has actively incorporates bus provision into the design and delivery of the development as follows:
Physical Highway Design:
Ensure main arterial road within the development is no less than 6.5 metres wide excluding parked cars, straight and kept clear of parked cars either through designated parking not included in the carriageway width or parking restrictions;
Ensure that the bus stops are where people want to be, i.e. no more than 400metres distance walk from local amenities and dwellings;
Ensure pedestrian access to the bus stop is of good quality including footpaths being provided on either side of main arterial road and side roads; and
Bus stops to be provided with a bus shelter even if this is only on side of the road heading towards the town centre.
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Internal Road Configuration: The configuration of the internal road should be based around what the bus will do and allow the maximum coverage of the site in the most efficient manner between the entry and exit points of the bus route. This means the developer should have research on the route being either:
The diversion of a current route into the site – this means the entry and exit points are pre-set;
The extension of an existing bus route onto the site – this means the entry point should be as close to the current terminus as possible; or
A new route – this will be focused on linking the site to the nearby large traffic generators such as the town centre, a railway station or a retail park. The entry and exit points should therefore be determined by where the route is likely to go outside of the site. If these are different from the approved Highway Authority locations, bus only roads should be used;
Where a bus friendly route would disrupt the cul-de-sac design or where two developments adjoin, there should be provision for bus only sections of road, in order to avoid costly and time-consuming double running; and
If a bus route is terminating within a development a one-way loop route may allow the greatest coverage of the site.
Marketing the Bus Service: In order to generate patronage of the bus service the occupiers of the development need awareness of its existence and benefits. This means that advertising the service to new residents is key. The report states that far too many Developers ignore the local bus service when they market their properties. The report referred to the Barratt Homes website for Warwick Gates, which fails to mention the bus service running every 15 minutes close to the site. Site plans published on Developers (and supporting parties) websites should include the location of bus stops so that potential residents can see how close they are to the house they are interested in, and how to access the service if they become residents. Welcome Packs: Promotional material for the local bus service should be included in the Welcome Pack received by residents and businesses when moving into a new development. This should include a copy of the bus timetable and a sales promotion, e.g. discounted season tickets and competitions. Bus Stops: The bus stops and complementary infrastructure such as shelters, seating, lighting and information provision play a significant part in the marketing and attractiveness of the service. Making the bus stop feel
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like part of the development, with attractive shelters, detailed and frequently updated information and branded flags offers security and comfort, drawing people to the service. Ongoing Marketing: Continuous promotion of the bus service supported by branding of the bus to raise awareness and position favourably in the minds of residents. The report highlighted locations where buses serve a development incorporating specific branding relevant to the location, e.g. Newcastle Great Park and Cambridge Guided Busway. Use of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL): The report highlights that CIL funding can be used to help bus services as follows:
Improve general road capacity or a junction to reduce congestion;
Provide bus priority measures along the route that the bus serving the site will use;
Build footways with appropriate lighting from the development to nearby bus stops;
Build a new road or upgrade an existing one to act as a bypass – by creating a suitable alternative route for through traffic a town centre could be made more bus friendly.
Demand Responsive Transport (DRT): The County Council to investigate using DRT to serve a new residential development where either:
The size of the development does not justify a fixed bus route; or
There is no obvious single traffic generator meaning a simple fixed bus route would not cater for most of the travel demand.
The report noted that DRT should not be used as a way of providing a bus service to serve a new area just to allow the Developer not to have to make the site suitable for a standard bus. The report presented a case study focused on the Arriva Click DRT service in Leicester, which provides a residential development with access to Leicester City Centre, employment at Foss Park, two universities and retail amenities.
c) Use of Advanced Quality or Enhanced Partnership:
The basic principles of the three bus partnership types available to local authorities following the Bus Services Act 2017 are as follows:
Voluntary Partnership;
Advanced Quality Partnership; and
Enhanced Partnership. In addition to this we also include franchising to complete the coverage of the Bus Service Act 2017. I. Voluntary Partnership:
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Voluntary Partnerships were one of the two types of partnerships (along with Statutory Quality Partnerships - SQPs) allowed under the Transport Act 2000 and are simple to create and have substantial flexibility. They work best where an authority already has a positive relationship with the local operator and can deliver good results in terms of service improvements and increased passenger numbers, e.g. the Service 55 (Nuneaton – Bedworth) Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) involving the County Council and Stagecoach Midlands delivered passenger growth of 59% between the period 2006-07 to 2009-10. II. Advanced Quality Partnership: In the Bus Services Act 2017 Advanced Quality Partnership (AQP) automatically replaced existing Statutory Quality Partnership set up using the Transport Act 2000. AQPs provide more flexibility than SQPs in that Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) are no longer required to provide facilities such as a new bus station or bus lanes as their contribution to the AQP, instead they can now undertake a wider range of measures as part of the partnership which indirectly improve bus services e.g. building a new road to reduce congestion at a key junction. There is no longer an obligation on LTAs to provide any measures at all. However, bus operators are unlikely to sign up to an AQP unless there was a significant investment in infrastructure. Conversely, the range of requirements that can be imposed on bus operators through an AQP has increased to include:
The specification of smart ticketing as part of any multi-operator scheme;
How bus services are marketed; and
How information on fares and ticketing is distributed. AQPs can be introduced in a relatively short timeframe of around 18 weeks, subject to bus operators not having any objections. The implementation timescale will then be based on what is included in the AQP and how it is proposed to be introduced. For example, if all operators are required to run their whole fleet as Euro V compliant, that will need a longer period than if only 50% need to be compliant for the partnership to commence. III. Enhanced Partnership: Enhanced Partnership (EP) is a halfway house between an AQP and Franchising. EP applies to a defined area and do not necessarily have to have boundaries coterminous with LTA boundaries. An EP gives the LTA(s) the ability to take over the service registration function of the Traffic Commissioner for a set area, e.g. all bus services which enter the Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth urban areas. A plan for the EP would be created jointly by the LTA(s) involved and any bus operator interested in the planned scheme. Once created the EP Plan would be put out to public consultation and include the Competition and Markets Authority as a consultee. Not all bus operators have to be in
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favour for the EP to proceed, however, all have to be invited to contribute to the plan and a yet to be defined proportion of affected operators has to agree with the scheme before it can go ahead. Although the bus operators will be able to continue in business under an EP their commercial freedom is significantly curtailed. The process of creating an EP starts with the local authority issuing a Notice of Intention and Invitation to Participate. Even if an operator within the EP area does not wish to be involved at the start, they need to be kept abreast of progress in case they wish to participate at a later stage or object to the scheme. There is no defined timescale for implementing an EP. It depends on the agreements between operators and the local authority. An EP is not designed to specify routes and frequencies for every single bus service. However, it does have several functions around this:
Specifying service change dates;
Specifying a different service change notice period if desired;
Agreeing common branding or livery if required;
Co-ordinating service timetables on joint corridors or at interchange points; and
Specifying minimum frequencies on corridors or key routes at different times of day.
An EP has more ability to influence fares than a VP or AQP. This is because an EP can set the specific types of ticket that should be made available on certain routes, corridors or in certain areas. This includes:
Design and agreement on a fare scheme to apply in the EP area;
Types of ticket such as through, multi-operator and multi-journey ticketing and pay-as-you-go capping;
Specific tickets for defined social or economic groups, such as young people or job seekers; and
Ticket types for different times of day, e.g. peaks or evenings. Implementing an EP would enable the County Council to bring together bus operators and local authorities to develop a coordinated approach towards improving bus travel in Warwickshire. Transport for West Midlands are in the process of implementing an EPs involving their (A34 / A45) SPRINT corridors in advance of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
IV. Franchising The Bus Services Act 2017 provides Mayoral Combined Authorities with the powers to implement bus franchising in their area, akin to the system operated by Transport for London. Other Local Transport Authorities (LTA) can also apply to Government for access to the same powers, where decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis. The LTA would need to submit an assessment of the proposed franchising scheme, i.e. a business case, carry out consultation, arrange the transition of staff and implementation including the operation of a service permit scheme. During the decision-making process The Secretary of State would consider
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whether the LTA could provide a relatively high level of investment certainty for the bus industry and determine whether the LTA has clear aspirations which will benefit passengers, a sensible plan in place and the right attributes to make franchising a success. Franchising requires a substantial level of capital and revenue costs to be borne by the County Council over and above existing budgets. Therefore, County Council officers do not endorse franchising due to the following considerations:
The increased people and financial resource pressures required to set up a franchising arrangement and monitor performance; and
The lack of experience and expertise within the County Council regarding managing and monitoring commercial bus operations.
V. Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule: The report put forward a proposed Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule consisting of a range of initiatives aimed at delivering improvements to the bus services and supporting infrastructure in Warwickshire, which is presented in Table 2 at Appendix B of this report. The Schedule includes a proposed Warwick – Leamington – Coventry Advanced or Enhanced Partnership, which would chiefly build upon the Service X17 Punctuality Improvement Voluntary Partnership already in place between the County Council and Stagecoach Midlands and would be expanded to include the Leamington to Warwick University section of Services 11, U1 and U2 and the Warwick to Coventry section of service X18. This would therefore need to be a partnership between WCC, Stagecoach, National Express West Midlands and Transport for West Midlands. It is suggested that the proposal be based on an EP like the one covering the A45 SPRINT corridor being delivered by Transport for West Midlands.
d) Resources required to successfully deliver the Council’s key objectives:
In order to deliver a better bus service which will attract people out of their cars WCC will require more money. This can be broken down into two streams:
I. Capital Budget - in order to provide both the bus priority needed and to improve the quality of certain bus stops and interchanges; and
II. Revenue Budget - the current budget will need expanding even if it is just to act as a kick-start fund in order to:
Maintain infrastructure;
Introduce new bus routes, in consultation with County Council officers and bus operators these include but are not limited to;
o Improved bus links to Birmingham International Airport/NEC;
o Banbury - Gaydon – Southam – Coventry; o Stratford-upon-Avon – Wellesbourne – Gaydon –
Southam – Daventry; o Nuneaton – Magna Park – Lutterworth or Rugby; and o Atherstone or Polesworth – Coleshill – Birmingham
International; o Provision of further Demand Responsive Transport
services; and
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o Provision of further Park and Ride services.
Increase service frequency both on tendered services and via deminimis on commercial services;
Reduce fares on tendered services; and
Promote bus services through effective marketing communications.
The report concludes that the biggest area of future need for the County Council regarding resources is the reinstatement of a capital budget. This is because without it WCC cannot effectively work in partnership with operators as it will not be able to deliver its side of the agreement.
Besides bus priority measures, funding is needed for investment in technology. The current Real Time Information (RTI) system does not actually show buses in real time and is only available at a limited number of locations. The County Council should support the fitting of audio-visual next stop equipment to buses if there is a central government fund to apply to. Personnel wise there is currently a recruitment process for a new member of the Transport Planning Team whose role will be to focus on buses to support the Principal Transport Planner. A key focus will be to explore opportunities for funding, develop proposals for more bus priority measures, improved RTI, and a multi-operator ticketing scheme ideally as part of a partnership with bus operators. The report recommends further investigation regarding potential shared resources with other local authorities. For example, the report highlighted that Transport for West Midlands is currently developing the "One App" which will act as a one stop shop for information about Public Transport in the area. There was confidence that this could be another area for potential collaboration with the possibility of extending the app’s reach into Warwickshire. Transport for West Midlands current arrangement with the County Council regarding managing the data relayed on the 13 RTI displays in Warwickshire and overseeing their operation and repairing faults with the data, could allow for the provision of extra displays at stops and bus stations in Warwickshire. Transport for West Midlands referred to an active working group in Coventry looking at Bus Priority during discussions with TAS Partnership Ltd. The working group is looking at improving the general provision of bus priority measures in Coventry for existing bus services and corridors. With the Commonwealth Games in 2022 forthcoming, TAS Partnership Ltd note that the Games held in Glasgow during 2014 featured dedicated Park and Ride services supported by temporary bus priority measures including temporary bus lanes and bus only roads. The organisers of the Commonwealth Games 2022 would be responsible for identifying similar bus priority measures to support the event and not Transport for West Midlands unless specifically invited to do so. Notwithstanding, Transport for West Midlands has no resources committed solely towards providing bus priority measures for the Commonwealth Games at present. Transport for West Midlands will
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be consulting with Stagecoach Midlands regarding resources needed for providing bus services during the Games and are interested in working with the County Council in ensuring that the overall public transport network is fit for purpose.
e) Considers the call by the “Campaign for Better Transport” report called “The Future of the Bus”:
Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) published its ‘The Future of the Bus’ report in September 2019. The headline point of the report is that due to changing financial circumstances more communities are becoming isolated due to the withdrawal of public transport. This leads to:
A poor living environment;
An increase in people suffering from loneliness;
An increase in the cost of living due to the need to use the car more and even own an extra car;
Closure of retail, leisure and even health facilities as demand falls due to poor access for non-car owners; and
In rural areas bus use has declined by more than 10% over ten years.
The Future of Bus report claims that bus fares have risen by 60% between 2009 and 2019. However, the TAS National Fares Survey 2019 found that the average single fare over three miles has risen by 42% since 2009 whilst the average weekly fare (used by commuters) had increased by 31% since 2009. The Consumer Price Index only increased by around 4% over the period. The Future of Bus report also stated that only 6.2% of buses on the UK’s roads are low emission. However, this is from the Government’s ‘Road to Zero’ report published in July 2018, based then on historic data, and thus, will not consider the influx of new vehicles since this period. The crux of the Future of Bus report is to call for a National Bus Strategy which should:
Increase usage of bus services nationwide;
Improve integration between public transport modes;
Set a strategy for introducing zero emission buses; and
Improve services via technology. To ensure these aims are met the Future of Bus report calls for a continuous funding stream at both local and national levels. Regarding local funding, the Future of Bus report suggests that the Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG), concessionary travel budget, NHS patient transport, school transport and social service transport funding are combined into one revenue stream. This would be alongside a capital fund. Each local authority should have to draw up a ‘Bus Investment Plan’ which sets out how and where the money will be spent. The report proposes reducing fares through:
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A standard fare discount level for under 19s either commercially or part funded (especially if free travel is offered);
Compelling operators to join a Smart Ticketing scheme;
Introduce a Mobility Credit scheme for drivers willing to drive less or trade in their car; and
Trial of some low fare areas (or even free travel areas) with either national or local government funding towards it.
However, regarding the Smart Ticketing proposal, TAS Partnership Ltd advised in their report that bus operators often refuse to join due to costs, particularly if smartcards are involved and if they were compelled to participate, they may withdraw their marginally profitable commercial bus services.
The Future of Bus report recognises that there is a high cost to providing a comprehensive bus network in rural areas and acknowledges that any attempt to improve service provision may require Kickstart funding from central government.
The TAS Partnership Ltd commented that The Future of Bus report is quite vague on what should happen in rural areas, e.g. the text hints at having a franchised type of network of rural contracted services using a single brand and with a multi-operator ticketing scheme. A franchise appears to be an expensive and bureaucratic way to achieve this. If nearly all rural services are funded by the LTA it is perfectly feasible for contracts to specify branding and acceptance of multi-operator tickets without the need for a franchise. A rural franchise would also automatically block any operator-led initiatives.
3. Impact of COVID-19 on Bus Patronage
3.1 Bus operators in Warwickshire are facing unprecedented challenges in the post COVID-19 environment. The lockdown, coupled with the closure of many high street shops, has resulted in fewer workers and shoppers needing to make journeys. Patronage and revenue generation have substantially decreased for bus services in Warwickshire over recent months since the pandemic arose.
3.2 The Government has introduced a COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant
(CBSSG) in April 2020 which is an England-wide(outside of London) funding mechanism to ensure that sufficient bus services continue to operate in the right places, and at the right times of day, during the COVID-19 outbreak to meet expected demand whilst maintaining appropriate patronage levels. Local transport authorities and bus operators both receive CBSSG payments. The CBSSG is designed to provide additional funding on top of continued payments from the public sector to bus operators (such as BSOG, concessionary travel reimbursement, home to school transport and tendered service contract payments) at pre-pandemic levels. All bus operators who receive the grant will be expected to make available sufficient capacity to run up to 50% of scheduled commercial mileage and to engage with the relevant local transport authorities
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to determine what bus services should be operated, when and on which routes. The CBSSG is designed to meet the costs of making this capacity available.
3.3 The report states that economic recovery strategies need to look beyond just the bus and at the wider economic plan to ensure that new health, employment, retail and leisured facilities are not built on greenfield sites but closer to existing higher frequency bus routes.
3.4 The impact of on plans going forward is that there will need to be emphasis on rebuilding trust and consumer confidence in using bus services. Improving the quality of bus operations and services in order to remain attractive will also be important, e.g. embracing technological innovation and digitalisation to deliver improvements to on the Warwickshire bus network. It may also be necessary to focus on delivering initiatives involving a smaller level of capacity in the first instance, e.g. Demand Responsive Transport. Impact Assessments will need to be undertaken as part of the planning process in order to avoid rebound effects from demand control and management measures, e.g. high passenger density.
3.5 The report states that another way of helping people gain confidence in using the bus is through volunteer Bus Buddies – these are people who make a first journey with someone new to buses to help guide them through the process.
4. Next Steps
4.1 If Communities OSC endorse the recommendations in this report officers will undertake the following next steps:
A. Further refresh the Bus Strategy as part of the update of the Warwickshire Local Transport Plan to include matters arising from the Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report
B. Further develop the measures in the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule presented in the Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report for consideration
C. Take a report to Cabinet seeking endorsement of the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
5. Financial Implications
5.1 Work to further develop the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule and investigate use of potential shared resources with Transport for West Midlands to be met using existing budgets held within WCC Transport Planning.
5.2 Work to further refresh the Bus Strategy in the updated Warwickshire Local Transport Plan including consultation to be met using existing budgets held within WCC Transport Planning.
5.3 A call on the Capital Investment Fund to fund delivery of some of the measures in the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
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6. Environmental Implications 6.1 At a meeting of the full council on Thursday 25 July 2019, Warwickshire County
Council (WCC) has unanimously declared a climate change emergency. As an outcome of this declaration County Council Officers in collaboration with the District and Borough councils, will develop proposals for a carbon neutral action plan for WCC to be considered by Cabinet. The Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report supports and reinforces the County Council’s to move towards carbon neutrality and some of the measures in the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule can be considered for inclusion in the carbon neutral action plan.
6.2 Increasing bus patronage to pre COVID-19 levels and beyond would contribute
to reducing the number of car journeys on the local highway network, reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality by reducing the level of Nitrogen Dioxide concentrations in Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) across Warwickshire. A standard 5 door car with 4 passengers in it produces twice as much CO2 emissions per passenger km compared to a fully laden bus according to research by Unilink in 2019. In addition, buses are an inherently clean way to travel, e.g. a fully loaded double decker bus can take up to 75 cars off the road hence reducing congestion and improving the environment.
Appendices Appendix A: Table 1 - List of the 35 Section 106 Developer Contribution Funded
Bus Services under the Different Categories Appendix B: Table 2 - Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
Background Papers 1. Bus Services Motion Report - Warwickshire County Council (The TAS
Partnership Ltd, July 2020) 2. WCC Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) Form - Warwickshire Bus Services
Motion
Name Contact Information
Report Author Nigel Whyte [email protected]
Assistant Director David Ayton-Hill [email protected]
Lead Director Strategic Director for Communities
Lead Member Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning
The report was circulated to the following members prior to publication: Local Member(s): NONE. Other Members: Cllr Heather Timms (Portfolio Holder for Environment and Heritage & Culture), Councillors Clare Golby, Dave Shilton, John Holland, Jenny Fradgley and Keith Kondakor
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Appendix A Table 1: List of the 35 Section 106 Developer Contribution Funded Bus
Services under the Different Categories A) Category: Newly S106 Funded Routes (2)
Development Location
Estimated Current
Number of Dwellings
Bus Service Serving Site
Frequency Future Improvements
Campden Road, Shipston-on-Stour
130
51 Every Two Hours
None (491 dwellings upon
completion)
Lighthorne Heath 20 77 and 77A Hourly Service frequency to be increased to every 30 mins
upon further development of site (3,000 dwellings upon
completion)
B) Category: Routes still S106 funded by original development (7)
Development Location
Number of Dwellings
Bus Service Serving Site
Original Provision Current Frequency
Long Marston, Meon Vale
550 1,2 & 3 Increased frequency & diversion
Service Nos. 1,2 & 3
Every 30 mins
Nuneaton, Weddington Road /
Lower Farm
414 1 & 2 Extended Service 1 & 2 Every 15 mins
Galley Common, Plough Hill Road
300 18 & 19 Increased Frequency Services 17 & 18
Every 30 mins
Wellesbourne, The Grange
350 15 Service 15 Diverted & Increased Frequency
Every 30 mins
Polesworth, Grendon Road
St Leonards
143 65 Service 65 Diverted & extended to hospitals
Hourly
Kineton, Southam Road
115 77/77A New Sunday Service 77 & 78
Hourly
Newton, Newton Lane
40 X84 Certain Journeys Diverted Service 9
3 Journeys per Day
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C) Category: Routes still S106 funded but not by the original development (11)
Development Location Number of
Dwellings
Bus Service Serving
Site
Original Provision Original Frequency
Current Frequency
Long Itchington, Leamington Road
150 664 Service 664 Diverted Every 2 Hours
Every 2 Hours
Southam, Northfield Road Tesco
Retail 64 New Services from surrounding villages
N/A 1 per day
Rugby, Coton Park East 310 1 & 2 New Service D1/D2 Every 30 mins
Every 30 mins
Rugby, Leicester Road Gateway
1,300 1 & 2 New Service D1/D2 Every 30 mins
Every 30 mins
Southam, Coventry Road
165 664 & 665
Payment towards Services 664/665
Hourly Hourly
Southam, Banbury Road 236 664 Payment towards Services 664/665
Hourly Every 2 Hours
Bishops Tachbrook, Grove Farm
412 U1 Service U1 extended Every 15 mins
Every 15 mins
Warwick, Lower Heathcote Farm
935 U1 Service U1 extended Every 15 mins
Every 15 mins
Long Itchington, Stockton Road
225 664 Payment towards Service 664
Every 2 Hours
Every 2 Hours
Southam, Daventry Road
535 665 Payment towards Services 664/665
Hourly Every 2 Hours
Wharf Farm, Crick Road 380 D1 & D2 New service D1/D2 Every 30 mins
Every 30 mins
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D) Category: No longer S106 funded and reduced in provision (4)
Development Location
Number of Dwellings
Bus Service Serving
Site
Original Provision
Original Frequency
Current Frequency
Subsidised by WCC
Stratford Bridgetown, Trinity Mead
112 4 New service 222
Introduced (Now 4)
Every 20 mins
Every 30 mins
Part
South West Warwick, Chase
Meadow
282 15 (& 16) Service 68 (Now 15)
Every 30 mins
Hourly No
King Edward Hospital, Hatton
108 16 Service 68 (Now 16)
Every 30 mins
Every 2 Hours
Yes
Hams Hall, Sainsbury’s
Commercial X70 New extensive network of services
4 journeys per hour
4 journeys per day
Yes
E) Category: No longer S106 funded and running at the same frequency (8)
Development Location
Number of Dwellings
Bus Service Serving Site
Original Provision
Current Frequency
Subsidised by WCC
Tilemans Lane, Shipston
80 3A New Service 480 Shipston to
Banbury
5 journeys per day
Yes
Walsingham Drive, Nuneaton
300 79 Service 79 Diverted
Every 2 Hours
Yes
Exhall, Blackhorse
Road
Commercial 78 Service 78 Diverted
Hourly Yes
Emscote Lawn / Portobello, Warwick
286 X17 Increased frequency on
Emscote Road X17
Every 20 mins
No
Bishopton / Toll House, Stratford
500 X20 Increased frequency X20
Hourly No
Wolston Business Park
Commercial 86 Increased frequency 86
Every 30 mins
No
Back Lane, Long Lawford
208 86 Service 86 diverted
Every 30 mins
No
Birch Coppice Commercial 766 New Service 766
Two Hours No
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F) Category: No longer S106 funded and increased in provision (3)
Development Location
Number of Dwellings
Bus Service Serving
Site
Original Provision
Original Frequency
Current Frequency
Subsidised by WCC
Sydenham, Green Farm
40 67/67A Extended Service 67
Every 30 mins
Every 15 mins
Part
Spa Park, Leamington Spa
Commercial U1 Additional Journeys on Service 665
Additional Journeys
Every 15 mins
Part
Rugby College 131 4 New Service D1/D2
Every 30 mins
Every 15 mins
No
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Appendix B
Table 2 - Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
Item Measure Projected Cost of
Delivery Forecasted Completion
1
How to use the Bus Information Guide: Design and printing a Guide encouraging people to use bus services and to help increase confidence in travelling by bus.
£0.010m June 2021
2
Better Roadside Publicity:
Significantly Improved Roadside Paper Based Bus Information;
Enhanced Standalone Roadside Timetable Software;
Launch of 100 no. Desirable Solar Panelled Digital Roadside Information; and
Maintenance and Upkeep Costs during period.
£ 0.568m December 2021
3
Planning Policy Guidance: Collaboration with Borough/District Councils and bus operators to create a set of guidelines for large new developments in Warwickshire, ensuring they are bus-friendly early in the design process.
£0.025m December 2020
4
Annual ‘Warwickshire’ Bus Conference: Involving bus operators, local authorities and the public sector organisations across Warwickshire to discuss bus issues and actions to resolve concerns.
£0.030m November 2021
5
New Bus Links to Birmingham International Airport / NEC / UK Central
Launch of new bus services and/or extension of existing services
£1.310 million (over 5 years)
March 2022
6
Warwick – Leamington - Coventry Corridor Enhanced Partnership:
Bus operators provide improved vehicles and the County Council provides supporting infrastructure including bus priority measures, real time information and multi-operator bus ticketing.
WCC Contribution:
£3.150m March 2022
7
Introduce a Countywide Multi-Operator Day Ticket
Launch and operation of bus ticket encompassing all bus services in Warwickshire
£0.200m March 2022
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8
Southbound bus stop on Leicester Road (A426) opposite Elliott's Field Retail Park in Rugby Provision of an elongated bus lay-by holding two full-length buses and a high-quality bus shelter.
£0.492m March 2022
9
Expansion of DRT Provision and Technology
Launch of further demand responsive bus services with journeys bookable via mobile app, internet or telephone.
£2.000m March 2022
10
Provision of Park and Ride in Leamington for the Commonwealth Games
Launch of a temporary Park and Ride service reducing the number of car journeys into Leamington Town Centre, with potential to be made permanent.
£0.800m March 2022
Total Projected Cost £8.585million
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Bus Service Motion Support
Warwickshire County Council 30290C July 20 Final
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Document Title Bus Service Motion Support
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Issue Date 20/03/2020 22/04/2020 6/5/2020 21/7/2020
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Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................ 7
1 Introduction and Objectives ............................................................ 13
1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 13
1.2 Objectives ............................................................................................. 13
1.3 Our Approach ........................................................................................ 14
1.4 Effects of Coronavirus on the Bus Industry ................................................ 14
2 Engagement with Operators ............................................................ 17
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 17
2.2 Role of the Council ................................................................................. 17
2.3 Existing Network .................................................................................... 17
2.4 Partnerships and Ticketing ...................................................................... 18
2.5 Concessions .......................................................................................... 18
2.6 Encouraging Bus Use including Section 106 Funding ................................... 19
2.7 Vehicle Investment ................................................................................ 19
2.8 Summary .............................................................................................. 20
2.9 Feedback from Consultation Round Two .................................................... 20
3 Consultation with WCC Officers ........................................................ 23
3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 23
3.2 The Current Situation ............................................................................. 23
3.3 Future Requirements – Resources ............................................................ 24
3.4 Future Requirements – Infrastructure ....................................................... 24
3.5 Future Requirements – Ticketing ............................................................. 25
3.6 Summary .............................................................................................. 25
4 Stakeholder Consultation ................................................................ 27
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 27
4.2 DfT Funding .......................................................................................... 27
4.3 Multi-Operator Ticketing ......................................................................... 27
4.4 Shared Resources between Authorities ..................................................... 27
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4.5 Commonwealth Games ........................................................................... 28
4.6 Gaps in the Current Bus Network ............................................................. 28
4.7 Serving New Developments ..................................................................... 29
4.8 Car Parking ........................................................................................... 29
4.9 Other Comments ................................................................................... 30
4.10 Summary ........................................................................................... 30
5 Initiatives to Encourage Bus Use ...................................................... 31
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 31
5.2 Lower or Simpler Fares ........................................................................... 31
5.3 Multi-Operator Ticketing ......................................................................... 32
5.4 Higher Quality Vehicles ........................................................................... 33
5.5 Branding and Marketing .......................................................................... 33
5.6 Simplified Network or Higher Frequency Services ....................................... 36
5.7 Bus Priority ........................................................................................... 36
5.8 Increasing the Cost of Motoring ............................................................... 41
5.9 Case Study – Brighton ............................................................................ 42
5.10 Case Study – Harrogate ....................................................................... 44
5.11 Case Study – Nottingham City Transport ................................................ 44
5.12 Summary ........................................................................................... 45
6 Analysis of the Concessionary Travel Market ..................................... 47
6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 47
6.2 Analysis of 2018/19 Data ........................................................................ 48
6.3 Options for Development ........................................................................ 50
6.4 Concessionary Scheme Recommendations ................................................ 51
7 Gaps in the Network ...................................................................... 53
7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 53
7.2 Locations .............................................................................................. 53
7.3 Links to Railway Stations ........................................................................ 55
7.4 Park and Ride ........................................................................................ 56
7.5 Access to Hospitals ................................................................................ 58
7.6 Community Transport ............................................................................. 59
7.7 Summary .............................................................................................. 61
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8 Information Provision ..................................................................... 63
8.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 63
8.2 Current Online Provision for Warwickshire ................................................. 63
8.3 Journey Planner Comparison ................................................................... 67
8.4 Current Physical Provision in Warwickshire ................................................ 72
8.5 Best Practice Examples – Online .............................................................. 76
8.6 Best Practice Examples – Physical Information .......................................... 77
8.7 Summary .............................................................................................. 84
9 Section 106 Funding In Warwickshire ............................................... 85
9.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 85
9.2 Newly S106 Funded Routes ..................................................................... 85
9.3 Routes Still S106 Funded – Original Development ...................................... 85
9.4 Routes still S106 Funded – not Original Development ................................. 86
9.5 No Longer S106 Funded – Reduced Provision ............................................ 87
9.6 No Longer S106 Funded –Same Provision ................................................. 88
9.7 No Longer S106 Funded – Increased Provision .......................................... 88
9.8 Correlation between Site Size and S106 Success ....................................... 89
10 Section 106 Funding - Best Practice ................................................. 91
10.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 91
10.2 The Design of the Development ............................................................ 91
10.3 What Can Warwickshire County Council Do? ........................................... 93
10.4 Marketing the Service .......................................................................... 93
10.5 Case Studies ....................................................................................... 96
10.6 Summary ........................................................................................... 97
11 Other Options ................................................................................ 99
11.1 Use of CIL .......................................................................................... 99
11.2 Demand Responsive Transport .............................................................. 99
11.3 Case Studies ..................................................................................... 102
11.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 105
12 Types of Bus Partnerships ............................................................. 107
12.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 107
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12.2 Voluntary Partnerships ....................................................................... 107
12.3 Advanced Quality Partnerships ............................................................ 108
12.4 Enhanced Partnerships ....................................................................... 109
12.5 Franchising ....................................................................................... 111
12.6 Summary ......................................................................................... 113
13 Partnership Best Practice .............................................................. 115
13.1 Guidance .......................................................................................... 115
13.2 Case Study – West Midlands Bus Alliance ............................................. 117
13.3 Case Study – Merseyside.................................................................... 119
13.4 Case Study – Scottish Borders ............................................................ 119
13.5 Case Study – Hertfordshire ................................................................. 119
13.6 Summary ......................................................................................... 120
14 Open Data and Bus Conference ..................................................... 121
14.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 121
14.2 Open Data ........................................................................................ 121
14.3 Warwickshire Bus Conference ............................................................. 121
14.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 122
15 What Resources does WCC Need? .................................................. 123
15.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 123
15.2 More Funding .................................................................................... 123
15.3 Partnership Officer ............................................................................ 123
15.4 Summary ......................................................................................... 123
16 Bus Strategies ............................................................................. 125
16.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 125
16.2 The Future of the Bus Report .............................................................. 125
16.3 Warwickshire County Council Plan 2020 – 2025 .................................... 126
16.4 Warwickshire Draft Bus Strategy 2019 – 2034 ...................................... 128
16.5 Summary ......................................................................................... 128
17 Current and Future Government Funding ........................................ 131
17.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 131
17.2 Current Funding – Better Bus.............................................................. 131
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17.3 Future Funding ................................................................................. 132
17.4 National Bus Strategy ........................................................................ 132
17.5 Summary ......................................................................................... 133
18 Quick Wins for 2020 – 2022 Plan ................................................... 135
18.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 135
18.2 How to Use the Bus – Information Guide .............................................. 135
18.3 Better Roadside Publicity .................................................................... 136
18.4 Planning Guidance ............................................................................. 136
18.5 Warwickshire Bus Conference ............................................................. 137
18.6 New Bus Links to Birmingham International Airport, NEC (UK Central) ..... 137
18.7 Warwick – Leamington – Coventry Advanced or Enhanced Partnership ..... 138
18.8 Countywide Multi-Operator Ticket ........................................................ 139
18.9 Improved Bus Stop at Elliott's Field Retail Park, Rugby........................... 139
18.10 Expansion of DRT Provision and Technology ....................................... 140
18.11 Park and Ride in Leamington for Commonwealth Games ...................... 140
19 Longer Term Plans 2022 Onwards .................................................. 141
19.1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 141
19.2 Expansion of Partnerships .................................................................. 141
19.3 Expansion of Park and Ride Provision ................................................... 142
19.4 New Routes ...................................................................................... 143
Appendix A: Operator Engagement Questions .......................................... 145
Appendix B: Community Transport in Warwickshire .................................. 149
Appendix C: Multi-Operator Ticketing ..................................................... 161
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Executive Summary
1. Introduction
1.1 The TAS Partnership Ltd was appointed by Warwickshire County Council (WCC)
to produce a report to support the development of the Bus Service Motion
which was passed unanimously by WCC members in December 2019.
1.2 The underlying message of this report is that WCC needs to commit more
funding to supporting bus services and infrastructure if it is to be successful in
its aim of encouraging greater bus use. This includes investing in its staff.
2. Impact of COVID-19
2.1 The impact of COVID-19 on medium to long-term use of public transport is
still unknown. Different studies provide different results, some suggest 90% of
former bus passengers returning, another says 50% will work from home
compared to pre-lockdown, while it has been reported that 60% of those
returning to work will avoid public transport.
2.2 It is likely that closer working between WCC and bus operators will be needed
in order to allow the resources available to be deployed where they are
needed the most. WCC may need to be prepared to provide more short term
de Minimis funding in order to bridge the gap between the end of or reduction
in government funding and the return to commercial viability of the core
network.
3. Powers and Key Objectives of WCC
3.1 Warwickshire as a shire county acts as both the Transport and Highways
Authority but crucially is not the Planning Authority or the authority
responsible for off-street parking. This means that WCC already has the
powers to:
Set the concessionary fare reimbursement rate and discretionary elements
(such as companion passes and pre-09:30 validity);
Specify and tender the supported bus network, including making de Minimis
payments where seen fit (and within the legal parameters including a
maximum of 25% of the supported service budget);
Maintain bus stop infrastructure and provide public transport information
(although this can be done by Parish Councils on WCC’s behalf);
Introduce changes to road layouts and limit access where it sees fit;
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Object to planning applications on the grounds of impact on the highway
network, although ultimately decisions are made by the District Councils;
and
Lead the process of introducing a bus partnership and or multi-operator
ticketing schemes.
3.2 However the Council does not have the power to:
Set car parking charges except for on-street sites; or
Introduce bus franchising without permission from the Sectary of State as it
is not a Mayoral Combined Authority.
3.3 The WCC Transport Team should be proud that the operators hold it in high
esteem. The areas the operators identified for improvement are:
More bus priority; and
Better roadside information.
3.4 Overall there was support from operators for exploring partnerships and multi-
operator ticketing. The changing economic climate means that if WCC wants
better Real Time Information, modern ticketing and cleaner buses it is going to
need to contribute funding towards new ticket machines and new or upgraded
vehicles. Similarly, chief on the list of priorities for WCC Officers was more bus
priority, improved RTI and a multi-operator ticketing scheme ideally as part of
a partnership with bus operators.
3.5 There are a number of long cross-boundary bus routes which can fill in the
small number of gaps within Warwickshire's existing bus network. Links to
Birmingham International for the NEC seem the largest gap at the moment
given the proposed UK Central development and HS2 station there.
3.6 Park and Ride services can definitely play a part in encouraging modal shift;
however this needs to be done in tandem with a change in town centre
parking policy from the district councils. Park and Ride schemes can also help
to provide better access to hospitals by public transport.
3.7 Whilst information provided by WCC online is very good, the journey planner –
including its disconnection from the rest of the public transport information –
needs some improvement. Roadside publicity is also an area which should be
improved to help irregular travellers ‘find their feet’ and we understand this is
in process.
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4. Section 106 Funding and Best Practice
4.1 WCC officers provided us with a list of 35 bus routes which receive or had
received S106 funding. These can be divided into six different categories,
which are:
Newly S106 funded routes (2);
Routes still S106 funded by original development (7);
Routes still S106 funded but not by the original development (11);
No longer S106 funded and reduced in provision (4);
No longer S106 funded and running at the same frequency (8); and
No longer S106 funded and increased in provision (3).
4.2 There appears to be little correlation between the size of the site and the
likelihood of Section 106 funding being a success. It appears that there are
other factors at work instead. However the sites which are no longer S106
funded and have seen the service provision reduced appear to have been over
provided for in the first place.
4.3 In order to have a chance of being successful, bus services to new
developments need to be considered as part of the heart of the development.
This means that there needs to be:
Research undertaken as part of the site planning to identify which existing
route(s) can be diverted or extended into the site. If there are none
suitable, consider where any new services would link to.
Suitably located access points to the development - bus only access if needs
be;
Suitable width internal roads for the bus to use - again bus only if required;
Attractively located and facilitated bus stops;
A service from day one of occupancy; and
Marketing for the services both at the start of occupancy and ongoing.
4.4 WCC should investigate using DRT services to serve a new housing estate
where either:
The size of the development does not justify a fixed bus route; or
There is no obvious single traffic generator meaning a simple fixed bus
route would not cater for the majority of travel demand.
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4.5 However it should be noted that DRT should not be used as a way of providing
a service to a new estate just to allow the developer not to have to make the
site suitable for a standard bus. Whilst a DRT service provides an attractive
door-to-door offer it cannot replace the turn up and go nature and
reassuringly fixed route of a traditional bus service.
5. Partnerships
5.1 There are three types of partnerships which offer different scope for size and
party involvement – these being Voluntary, Advanced and Enhanced. The one
which is chosen by WCC and operators will depend on a number of different
factors including:
Relationship (and trust) between operator(s) and local authority;
Geographical size of the partnership; and
The actual content of a partnership desired by the parties.
5.2 A Voluntary Partnership (as the name suggest) is one which has no legally
binding agreement so works solely on trust between partners. Advanced
Partnerships tend to focus on one particular corridor or urban area whilst
Enhanced Partnerships cover a wider geographical area with scope for
localised agreements. The latter also has more stakeholder involvement along
with additional scope for unified branding.
5.3 The partnerships in the West Midlands, Merseyside and Hertfordshire are good
examples of how well operators and the transport authority can work together.
Partnerships take time to be developed and to see results, so patience from all
parties is key. The working relationship between the parties also needs to be
good in order to gain the most benefits, if one does not trust the other then it
is hard for the crucial yet riskier parts to be taken forward.
6. Bus Strategies and Future Funding
6.1 Whilst the 'Future of the Bus' report has some valid points and good ideas,
such as compelling local authorities to publish a bus investment plan, it also
contains some of the usual misconceptions about bus services. A more
integrated network between modes is wonderful on paper but does not take
into account the issues faced by bus operators when rail operators change
their timetables, or indeed the case in Warwickshire where bus and rail
compete over key corridors. Work carried out by TAS in Wales in 2020 in fact
showed that bus passengers do not place bus/rail integration high on their list
of priorities. In addition, diverting buses to serve railway stations can lengthen
bus journeys or divert them away from major traffic objectives.
6.2 The two WCC publications (Council Plan 2020 – 2025 and Draft Bus Strategy
2019 – 2034) reflect the challenges faced by bus operators in the pre-COVID-
19 environment. Desired travel destinations are more spread out than they
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once were making conventional bus networks less efficient in moving people
around. This is coupled with the closure of many high street shops resulting in
fewer workers and shoppers. Strategies need to look beyond just the bus and
at the wider economic plan to ensure that new health, employment, retail and
leisured facilities are not built on greenfield sites but closer to existing higher
frequency bus routes. There is an increasing desire for limitations on traffic in
town centres and the Post COVID-19 era seems to likely to lead to continued
pressure for more pedestrian and cycle space.
6.3 Despite pledges from the government, the future funding available for bus
services still seems unclear. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on bus
patronage and government finances hasn’t helped this. For some time now
available additional finance has been channelled through challenge funding
with varying degrees of success. There is some justification in saying that
these have often favoured those who submit the best quality bids rather than
the most deserving areas.
7. Quick Wins and Post-2022 Projects
7.1 There are ten areas which could provide a quick win, these are:
‘How to use the bus’ information;
Better roadside publicity;
Planning policy guidance;
A Warwickshire bus conference;
New bus links to Birmingham International / UK Central;
Warwick - Leamington - Coventry corridor Partnership including RTI, bus
priority measures and multi-operator ticketing;
Introduce a countywide Multi-operator day ticket;
Full implementation of a new southbound bus stop on Leicester Road (A426)
dual carriageway opposite Elliott's Field Retail Park, Rugby;
Expansion of DRT provision and technology; and
Provision of Park and Ride for Leamington for the Commonwealth Games.
7.2 This excludes the current work in Nuneaton around the town centre
regeneration and a potential new bus station.
7.3 Beyond 2022 the main proposed areas to focus on are:
Expansion of Partnerships to:
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Coventry – Bedworth – Nuneaton – Atherstone Corridor;
Rugby; and
Stratford-upon-Avon;
Expansion of Park and Ride provision to other towns in Warwickshire; and
Four new cross-county links.
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1Introduction and Objectives 1
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 The TAS Partnership Ltd was appointed by Warwickshire County Council (WCC)
to produce a report to support the development of the Bus Service Motion
which was passed unanimously by WCC members in December 2019. The Bus
Service Motion was a follow on from the declaration of a climate Emergency.
1.2 Objectives
1.2.1 The objective of the Bus Services Motion is to request that the Strategic
Director Communities takes a report to Communities Overview and Scrutiny
Committee that:
1. Clarifies and prioritises the Authority’s powers and key objectives in relation
to bus provision to enable more consistent and effective negotiations with bus
operators. This should include investigating multi-operator ticketing, bus
priority measures and improved bus information.
2. Analyses the success of s.106 contributions which have been used to pump
prime new bus routes over the last 10 years in Warwickshire and investigates
alternative frameworks to incentivise long term successful routes around new
developments if necessary.
3. Fully scopes the use of Advanced Quality and Enhanced Partnership
schemes as set out in the Transport Act 2000 and Bus Services Act 2017,
including engagement with operators and sets a date no later than December
2020 to assess whether implementation of the AQ or EP schemes are
necessary to achieve the Authority’s key objectives.
4. Considers and assesses the resources required to successfully deliver the
Council’s key objectives recognising that any strategy or objectives that
emerge from this process must be fully costed before they can be presented to
Cabinet and all sources of funding identified.
5. Considers the call by the “Campaign for Better Transport” report called “The
Future of the Bus”
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1.3 Our Approach
1.3.1 We have sought to provide support in three distinct ways:
a) Consultation with stakeholders including bus operators, WCC officers,
district councils and local employers over what they think WCC is doing
well currently, how it can improve and how best to encourage greater bus
use;
b) Researching best practice examples of where bus patronage has increased
and how; and
c) Outlining current powers and funding WCC has available to help encourage
greater bus use.
1.4 Effects of Coronavirus on the Bus Industry
1.4.1 The collapse in public transport usage during the Coronavirus crisis is well-
documented. The loss of revenue has been partly counteracted by a number of
government instructions and measures:
a) The instruction to local authorities to continue to pay concessionary
reimbursement at ‘normal’ levels;
b) The instruction to continue payment of contracts whether operated or not;
c) Inclusion of bus operator staff in the furlough scheme; and
d) Emergency funding to cover operating losses (unlike the rail industry, this
does not allow any profit margin).
1.4.2 While at the beginning of the crisis during lockdown, limits on all but essential
travel was logical, the government’s approach to public transport remains
largely to not use it, in direct contrast to its advice as other parts of the
economy have reopened – ‘Shop for Britain’ or ‘Work out to help out’. The
message to avoid public transport has been almost too effective and may have
caused significant damage in the longer term.
1.4.3 One notable effect of the crisis has been de facto partnership working, with
much mutual acceptance of tickets between operators and close cooperation
between operators and local authorities, each using their own skills and
knowledge. It would be a great shame if these efforts by the operators were
rewarded by franchising ‘through the back door’ on political rather than
practical grounds.
1.4.4 The impact of the loss of patronage during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic
is unclear, however there is a number of potential consequences which should
be considered as they are likely to have an effect on the feasibility of meeting
the aims of the Bus Service Motion:
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a) Funding announced by the DfT could be cancelled or delayed in order to
provide or continue the rescue fund for bus operators;
b) Patronage might never recover as the way of life changes. This could be in
one or a number of areas:
Those currently working from home decide to stay that way, if only part
of the time;
Shops and businesses that have shut never reopen;
Confidence in being in close proximity to others continues to be
diminished;
The significant student markets will be uncertain depending upon their
reliance on overseas students, who may not return for a number of
years;
The support network for the elderly is retained reducing their trips out by
bus. Change in behaviour by concessionary passholders will lead to
reassessment of reimbursement rates. If all passholders are only making
essential trips, then reimbursement should be 100% and so on.
c) Reduced patronage must ultimately mean reduced service which would see
the oldest vehicles withdrawn ahead of time or a significant lessening of
investment in new vehicles.
d) General traffic on the road may decrease if more people remain working
from home reducing the need for bus priority in some locations, or there
might be more road traffic if the switch to cars accelerates and becomes
permanent, causing more congestion and, of course, leaving the local
authority with air quality and emissions issues to address.
e) Having had low traffic or traffic free periods and commensurate reductions
in pollution, a return to congested, polluted streets might be considered
totally unacceptable and therefore there will be greater public support for
measures which restrict traffic. This should work in public transport’s
favour.
f) There will be pressure on Local Authorities to fill in the gaps following
reduced service provision;
g) There has undoubtedly been an increase in walking and cycling during the
pandemic. It remains to be seen if this becomes a long-term trend
particularly once colder, wetter weather settles in. Increased traffic
volumes might also deter some of those who have been cycling due to
perception (or indeed reality) of poor safety.
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h) The ownership structure of the bus industry could change – some
companies might weather the storm better than others meaning smaller
independents could be bought out by bigger groups or cease trading or one
or more of the big groups might struggle. In the extreme the bus industry
could be nationalised to survive, as has effectively happened to the
railway. The government may therefore seek to return it to the private
sector via some sort of franchising route.
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2Engagement with Operators 2
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 All major operators in Warwickshire were contacted regarding partaking in the
consultation exercise. Of these A&M Group, Arriva, Diamond Buses, Johnson’s,
National Express West Midlands and Stagecoach participated in the exercise.
Travel De Courcey were also approached but did not take part. A full list of
questions covered is included in Appendix A: Operator Engagement Questions,
this chapter covers most of the responses apart from the questions about
Open Data and the Bus Summit which are included in 14.1 and 14.3
respectively.
2.2 Role of the Council
2.2.1 There was consensus that in general WCC is very good at communicating with
operators. It is felt that the transport team understands the issues that
operators face and is able to relay information easily. It was felt that WCC
uses its supported bus budget well and has managed to maintain a decent
network of supported routes.
2.2.2 It was felt that Warwickshire lags behind other areas in provision of bus
priority measures. This is especially key in the Leamington and Warwick area
but all town centres should see some level of pro-bus measures, Stratford-
upon-Avon was pointed out as particularly lacking. Enforcement cameras
would also be useful.
2.2.3 The provision of roadside publicity, Real Time Information (RTI) and the
quality of bus stations and interchanges is mixed across the county. There is a
view that the major focus is on the Warwick and Leamington areas with other
locations coming second.
2.2.4 There was a view that WCC doesn’t think beyond its own boundaries when
planning bus routes at times. An example was given of a Section 106 (S106)
funded service which mirrored a cross-boundary service for most of its route.
2.2.5 The issue of compliance with regard to tendered services was discussed with
one operator. It felt that it was not tough enough to deter or root out poor
quality operators which give the industry a bad name.
2.3 Existing Network
2.3.1 Most operators felt that the current network was sufficient to cater for existing
demand. The only obvious gap highlighted was the absence a link to
Birmingham International from the Warwick and Leamington area.
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2.3.2 There was a general consensus that the railway stations that had a ‘poor’ level
of service were ones at which the rail service directly competed with the bus
service. In addition to that it was pointed out that the road network around
both Kenilworth and Bermuda Park stations made serving these stations
difficult and inefficient. One operator felt that it was WCC’s responsibility to
ensure railway stations and hospitals are well connected.
2.4 Partnerships and Ticketing
2.4.1 Stagecoach is the only operator with experience of partnership involvement
with WCC although others are involved in the West Midlands. This is mainly in
the form of the X17 Punctuality Improvement Partnership.
2.4.2 Five of the operators were open to exploring the idea of a partnership, either
Advanced or Enhanced, further with WCC. However three operators expressed
the need for significant infrastructure investment from WCC in return for any
improvements from operators.
2.4.3 Again five operators were willing to enter further discussions around a multi-
operator ticketing scheme. There was a desire from one operator for it to be a
WCC led scheme. Another pointed out that Smartcard Technology was old hat
and that any multi-operator ticket scheme needs to be compatible with apps
and even contactless capping. There was a concern around cost to small
operators of having compatible systems but that these were needed to ensure
all operators had the latest technology – WCC should seek to help fund this
upgrade.
2.4.4 Most of the operators already undertake periodic fares promotions which have
generally seen some additional traffic but not a large influx of extra
passengers. One operator suggested that these could be co-ordinated in a
single area as a first step. Another operator stated that it felt that fares in the
more rural areas were already too low in regards to sustainability of the
services. There was a suggestion that those passengers receiving certain
benefits should be entitled to reduced fares.
2.5 Concessions
2.5.1 The general feeling was that the reimbursement level was acceptable by most
operators. However one pointed out that it receives £1.26 in reimbursement
for a £4 adult fare which is unsustainable from a commercial perspective.
There was no real idea of further expansion of the scheme, indeed one
operator felt that the scheme should be run on the statutory times rather than
the current enhanced times.
2.5.2 There were mixed views on introducing a discounted fares scheme for young
people. Stagecoach has recently amended its ticket categories so that there is
a standard discount for all under 19s. One operator felt that all young people
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in full time education should receive free travel given that ‘rich’ pensioners do.
Five operators were open to further discussions whilst the sixth felt that from
experience elsewhere it wasn’t worth progressing.
2.6 Encouraging Bus Use including Section 106 Funding
2.6.1 There was concern from a number of operators that people won’t use the bus
because they are not confident about how to use it. A guide showing how easy
it is to get information and use a bus might have a significant impact. One
operator felt that there needed to be better advertising from both operators
and the council to encourage bus use.
2.6.2 There was also a consensus that bus networks need to be simple to
understand with services running reliably at attractive frequencies and prices.
The provision of bus priorities should help to make services more reliable and
reduce journey times. Higher quality vehicles can help a service stand out but
often technology progresses meaning they don’t stay ‘special’ for long.
2.6.3 Using the car needs to be made less attractive to motorists, at least for the
final part of a journey if not all of it. This will rely on town centre car parking
costs being increased.
2.6.4 S106 appears to have had mixed results. It was pointed out that some
developments have limited or no access for buses immediately putting them at
a disadvantage. Roads are either too narrow or become blocked by parked
cars making it difficult for buses to navigate the area.
2.6.5 Arriva operates a service in Buckinghamshire that was designed into the new
development from the start. It links the houses to the railway station and has
a higher frequency at times that London commuters would be using it. This
has seen the service become successful with the developer, council and Arriva
having regular progress meetings. Stagecoach has tried free ticket offers
which have generally provided mixed results with an average of 10% take up
– again a lot is dependent on the convenience of the service to the residents.
2.7 Vehicle Investment
2.7.1 Warwickshire’s fleet profile reflects it being an area of mixed bus demand. The
majority of services use vehicles cascaded from elsewhere within the
respective operating groups. Both National Express and Stagecoach have
recently introduced new vehicles to their University of Warwick services and
these are the only ones within the county with next stop audio-visual
announcement equipment.
2.7.2 Introducing Euro 6 vehicles onto contracted services would put tender prices
up, whilst introducing them on commercial services might negatively impact
on marginal routes. Funding for Zero Emission buses would need to cover
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more of the cost of the vehicle than the DfT does now, as the operator in
practice pays 125% of the price of a normal diesel vehicle. However two
operators are already investing in Euro 6 vehicles or upgrades and would be
willing to run electric buses if they were cheaper to buy. One of those has
recently had experience with an electric bus and found it attractive to use but
was put off by the cost of infrastructure (£90k to upgrade its depot electricity
supply) and has already been adversely affected by battery end of life issues
with hybrid buses.
2.7.3 One operator felt that electric buses are currently more polluting than a Euro 6
vehicle when considering whole life vehicle emissions. This is because the
battery is generally assembled in China using rare metals and then shipped
across the world. There is no current method of safely disposing of the
batteries which tend to only last part of the overall vehicle life.
2.8 Summary
2.8.1 The WCC Transport Team should be proud that the operators hold it in high
esteem. The areas for improvement are unsurprisingly:
More bus priority; and
Better roadside information.
2.8.2 Overall there was support for exploring partnerships and multi-operator
ticketing. The changing economic climate means that if WCC wants better Real
Time information, modern ticketing and cleaner buses it is going to have to
contribute funding towards new ticket machines and new or upgraded
vehicles.
2.9 Feedback from Consultation Round Two
2.9.1 The operators were given an opportunity to comment in the partnership and
multi-operator ticketing proposals in chapters 18 and 19. The main points
raised are:
Multi-operator ticketing:
Concern that with one dominant operator, having a ‘revenue lies where it
falls’ set up would be unfair;
Overall support for the revenue pool and reimbursement method;
A methodology would have to be proposed before some operators would
sign up to any scheme;
The price of the multi-operator ticket has to be at a premium over an
operator only day ticket to ensure viability for operators.
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Warwick – Leamington – Coventry Partnership:
Desire for clearly deliverable, measurable before and after targets to
noticeably improve punctuality, reliability and a reduction in journey
times;
Needs to be set up right to ensure future partnerships fit in, preference
seems to be for Advanced or Voluntary Partnership set up countywide
with a spate of ‘corridor agreements’.
Bedworth and Atherstone Corridor Partnership(s):
Desire from one operator for an additional Nuneaton – Hinckley –
Leicester partnership in collaboration with Leicestershire County Council.
Rugby Partnership:
Concern about the effect on services using Newbold Road to access the
town if general traffic was to be diverted away from Mill Road / Murray
Road. The low bridge under the railway here forces some services away
from the Station, to the detriment of passengers;
However if a suitable location for a bus station did not come forward then
the improvement of Station Approach (Railway Terrace) as a ‘bus only’
through route past the station frontage should still go ahead;
Improved railway station interchange should not come at the cost of
access to town centre and retail parks.
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3Consultation with WCC Officers 3
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Consultation with Council Officers was undertaken by phone on Wednesday 4th
March 2020.
3.2 The Current Situation
Resources
3.2.1 The following resources are currently available to WCC officers for the
provision of bus services:
Revenue Support Budget;
Developer Contribution – mainly Section 106;
Bus Service Operator Grant funding for tendered services;
Concessionary Fares funding,
Both from government to reimburse operators and from tendered
services;
Farebox revenue from tendered services;
Car park revenue from Stratford-upon-Avon Park and Ride site;
Flexibility of Home to School budget; and
Members’ delegated budget.
Successes
3.2.2 The officers believe that they have been successful in using S106 funding, the
Home to School budget and members’ delegated budgets in an effective
manner to maintain a significant supported bus network. Certainly compared
to some neighbouring authorities the supported bus network is still
comprehensive.
3.2.3 The officers do their part in the Warwickshire area having a higher than
average customer satisfaction rating. They feel that the provision of good print
and web information alongside a strong social media presence helps keep
people informed. Where there is a customer complaint, there is a dedicated
team with a fast turnover for complaints, they also have a clear triage process
for complaints so they are handled correctly.
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Relationships
3.2.4 The officers believe that they have a very good relationship with bus
operators. Other stakeholder relationships have occasionally been tricky in the
past but all have improved.
3.3 Future Requirements – Resources
3.3.1 The biggest area of future need with regard to resources is the reinstatement
of a capital budget. This is because without it WCC cannot effectively work in
partnership with operators as it will not be able to deliver its side of the
agreement.
3.3.2 Besides bus priority measures, funding is needed for investment in technology.
The current Real Time Information (RTI) system does not actually show buses
in real time and is only available at a limited number of locations. The council
should support the fitting of audio-visual next stop equipment to buses as long
as there is a central government fund to apply to.
3.3.3 Personnel wise there is currently a recruitment process for a new member of
the Strategy Team whose role will be to focus on buses to support the
Principal Transport Planner. Until now the team has perhaps been more rail-
focussed.
3.4 Future Requirements – Infrastructure
Bus Priority Measures
3.4.1 Effective Bus Priority measures are seen by the officers as key to encouraging
more people to use the bus in Warwickshire. The main focus at present is on
the Warwick and Leamington areas and Nuneaton. The X17 Punctuality
Improvement Partnership with Stagecoach needs council investment in bus
priority if it is to succeed. It may be feasible in time for the Commonwealth
Games if the council is supportive of it and thus able to get things done
quickly.
3.4.2 Nuneaton bus priority is part of the Nuneaton Regeneration project. Other
locations will require looking at especially Stratford and Rugby, however there
are no definite plans for these towns yet.
Other Infrastructure
3.4.3 One idea for future infrastructure is the creation of “On Street Bus Stations”.
These would mainly be bus only sections of road with the feeling of a
pedestrianised area. There would be additional bus stops with shelters along
with comprehensive information provision. The two leading locations are Upper
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Parade, Leamington and Bridge Street, Stratford where most services serving
the respective towns already pass through.
3.4.4 Part of the proposed Nuneaton scheme to move the bus station to be at the
railway station, is to let buses pass through the centre of Nuneaton. This
would ensure that passengers visiting the town centre don’t have to trek
across to / from the railway station.
3.4.5 Longer term there is the desire to create new bus stations in Stratford and
Rugby. The latter location has some short term infrastructure improvements
needed, specifically the upgrade of the southbound bus stop on the A426
Leicester Road at Elliott’s Field. Whilst the northbound stop has a layby and
shelter, the southbound stop is just a flag on pole due to a dispute with the
landowner.
3.4.6 There is currently only one Park and Ride site in Warwickshire at Stratford
Parkway. There is a desire for more sites, with possible locations including:
On the A46;
South Leamington;
West Warwick; and
The new Rugby Parkway Station.
3.5 Future Requirements – Ticketing
3.5.1 There has been a long held ambition to have a multi-operator ticketing
scheme in Warwickshire. The extension of the current West Midlands scheme
has been ruled out due to opposition from certain operators. WCC is keen to
establish a Smartcard based ticketing system with a possible Mobile App
extension before the Commonwealth Games to support travel to events. It is
likely that a day ticket will be the best place to start. The ability for the ticket
to be loaded onto a Swift Smartcard [and presumably a StagecoachSmart
smartcard too] was noted as essential.
3.6 Summary
3.6.1 WCC Officers in general have the same view as bus operators. They see
themselves as successful in their current role but feel more could be done if
resources were available. Chief on the list is more bus priority, improved RTI
and a multi-operator ticketing scheme ideally as part of a partnership with bus
operators.
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4Stakeholder Consultation 4
4.1 Introduction
4.1.1 This section covers our engagement with external stakeholders which were:
The five district councils;
WCC Highways department;
Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM);
The Department for Transport (DfT) – despite our best efforts, this was not
undertaken due to staff absence and workload at the DfT; and
Local Employers – despite an extended deadline, only four employers took
part in the consultation.
4.2 DfT Funding
4.2.1 It is understood that Coventry Council would apply for the Electric Bus Town
fund and met with operators at the end of March. The key issue will be cross-
boundary services and the suitability of electric vehicles for long, high-mileage
services such as X17.
4.3 Multi-Operator Ticketing
4.3.1 There was support from TfWM with regard to a Warwickshire Multi-Operator
scheme which would allow cross-boundary travel into the West Midlands area.
This is especially as it is known that some operators do not feel they get a fair
deal from the nBus Scheme. The Swift Card should be able to be used by
passengers to store Warwickshire products as well as TfWM’s.
4.4 Shared Resources between Authorities
4.4.1 TfWM is currently developing the "One App" which will act as a one stop shop
for information about Public Transport in the area. There was confidence that
this could be another area for potential collaboration with the possibility of
extending the app’s reach into Warwickshire.
4.4.2 TfWM's current arrangement with WCC regarding Real Time Information
should allow for the provision of extra displays at stops and stations. Going
forward as part of the West Midlands Bus Alliance, TfWM could potentially be
the data processor for bus registrations in its area instead of the Traffic
Commissioner which has an impact on how data for the RTI is sourced.
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4.4.3 WCC’s Highways Department acts as a business unit, this means that if it does
not have the internal resources for dealing with things such as design and
construction of bus priority measures it is able to outsource the work to a third
party. Similarly if the experience is not there then it is able to call on other
Local Authorities for help.
4.5 Commonwealth Games
4.5.1 There is an active working group in Coventry looking at Bus Priority, however
there are no resources committed purely to the Commonwealth Games at the
moment. TfWM will be consulting with Stagecoach regarding resources needed
for providing services during the Games. It is interested in working with WCC
in ensuring that the overall public transport network is fit for purpose.
4.6 Gaps in the Current Bus Network
4.6.1 Enhancing rural links was a consistent theme. North Warwickshire currently
has frequent services around the boundaries but limited provision across the
borough. A link into Hams Hall and Birmingham International from the North
of the borough was seen as a need, especially with the forthcoming HS2
station. There is also a need for improved provision of evening and Sunday
services to encourage people to leave their car at home. There is currently
high demand for taxis in North Warwickshire.
4.6.2 Within Rugby it was felt that the local services are not at a high enough
frequency to encourage modal shift from cars, however there was an
understanding that these services are hampered by congestion. Park and Ride
was highlighted as interesting, but it has never been consulted on with
members as the focus for the development of Park and Ride sites has been
mainly in the Warwick District area.
4.6.3 Warwick District pointed out the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for the
whole county which highlights areas poorly served by bus but with high levels
of social isolation.
4.6.4 TfWM could not identify any significant gaps in the cross-boundary network. A
piece of work began in 2017 surrounding the Bus Services Act, which is
currently assessing the Bus Alliance, Partnerships and Franchising.
4.6.5 Journey times to Warwick from Kenilworth and Coventry are inflated by the
routes going via Leamington Spa first. This means that it can be more
attractive to drive even if there is a through bus service.
4.6.6 All four employers who responded were based in out of town business parks
(Abbey Park, Birch Coppice, MIRA and Stoneleigh Park) which had either a
limited or no bus service. MIRA has the best provision but still, due to the
limited destinations served, fewer than 10% of the workforce used the bus. All
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four employers wished to see an improved public transport provision with
services running at the right time to the right places. Only one employer saw
cheaper fares as an immediate incentive to getting more employees to use the
bus.
4.7 Serving New Developments
4.7.1 There was enthusiasm to ensure that any new housing development was
suitably served by buses. It was pointed out that even if a development is
under the initial threshold of around 100 houses, many go on to form part of a
larger development in the long run and therefore internal roads need to be
suitable for buses, council service vehicles and emergency vehicles from the
start.
4.7.2 Rugby has two large new housing developments, one to the north and the
other to the south, which RDC is seeking to link with a BRT style service.
4.7.3 North Warwickshire has two large employment sites in the shape of Birch
Coppice and Hams Hall, which have had mixed success in S106 funding use.
The new MIRA site currently doesn’t have a service proposed that connects it
to the North Warwickshire area, which is felt to be a mistake.
4.7.4 WCC’s Highways Department acts as an advisory service with the plans for
new developments already drawn up by the developer’s own consultants. This
seems to limit the ability to reshape plans where they may not aid efficient
provision of a bus service.
4.8 Car Parking
4.8.1 Changes to Car Parking policy and parking charges are contentious issues.
North Warwickshire currently (as a policy) does not charge for parking as
there are limited bus services across the largely rural district. Before it can
start using parking charges to disincentivise motorists a more comprehensive
network needs to be in place first. Meanwhile Stratford District Council has a
healthy revenue stream from tourists using the town centre car parks in
Stratford-upon-Avon, moving those tourists onto Park and Ride services would
therefore reduce the council’s income.
4.8.2 The overall feeling is that there needs to be a trade-off between increasing car
parking costs and/or reducing car parking provision and reducing the price of
public transport or increasing service provision.
4.8.3 As stated in 4.6.6, all four employers who responded to the consultation were
based in out of town business parks. Three of the four had ample onsite
parking, whilst the fourth based at Stoneleigh Park had access to communal
parking which was significantly reduced when the showground was in use.
Only one of the four employers backed the principle of a parking levy but with
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the caveat of a vastly improved public transport provision and that it only
applied to urban areas.
4.9 Other Comments
4.9.1 There is a general trade-off that needs to be made in provision of road space.
The historic town centres tend not to have to space for bus lanes to be added
onto the normal highway. There are also issues of creating more pedestrian
crossings and cycle lanes which have impacts on bus services by introducing
more delay points and reducing road space.
4.10 Summary
4.10.1 The main view of external stakeholders appears to be that before motorists
can be persuaded out of their cars by high parking charges and longer journey
times, the bus network needs to be made more attractive through shorter
journey times and more frequent service provision.
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5Initiatives to Encourage Bus Use 5
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 This chapter looks at the various methods which bus operators and local
authorities can use to encourage greater bus use and discourage motorists
from using their cars. There is also a number of case studies covering areas
which have seen an increase in patronage through the adoption of one or
more of these initiatives.
5.2 Lower or Simpler Fares
5.2.1 There are a number of different ways to encourage bus use through lower or
simpler fares. These include:
a) A general fares reduction – all products are reduced by a given percentage
meaning that they are all cheaper but there is no change in value of buying
one product over another;
b) Targeted fares reduction by product – a single product or product group
such as day or weekly tickets are specifically reduced in price. This can be
done to enable return tickets to be withdrawn as a day is now cheaper
than two singles or to encourage part time workers to still buy a weekly
ticket as it is cheaper than buying three or four day tickets;
c) Targeted fares reduction by location – there may be a specific route or
area where demand appears supressed by price. The fares reduction may
therefore by a localised version of a) or b) or it could be achieved by the
introduction of a new ticket range such as a ‘RouteRider’ or a flat fare zone
for travel anywhere in an urban area (e.g. £1.50 for any single journey in
Warwick and Leamington Spa);
d) Complete fares restructure – it might be decided that the existing fares
structure is no longer fit for purpose and a complete overhaul is required.
This might involve replacing distance based fares in urban areas with zonal
fares (or vice versa) and/or changing the range of multi-journey tickets to
cover current travel patterns.
Employer Discount Schemes
5.2.2 One way to encourage commuters to use the bus is to offer discounted season
tickets. Both Blackpool Transport1 and Transdev2 have recently launched travel
or commuter clubs. Once an Employer has signed up its employees can buy
season tickets through them at a discounted rate or are able to buy longer
1 https://www.blackpooltransport.com/travel-club 2 https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/blackburn/get-10-commuter-club
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period tickets which are not available to the general public. The Transdev
scheme also involves the employer receiving tailored bus service information
for distribution to staff.
5.3 Multi-Operator Ticketing
5.3.1 Where there is more than one bus operator in an area a barrier to people
using a bus can be the need to buy more than one ticket for a two stage
journey. By providing a ticket that can be bought on one operator’s service
and used on another, both operators are assisting in making buses more
attractive. However the ticket has to be well advertised, easy to buy and
perceived as value for money. A premium is normally applied to the price
compared to a single operator product in order for it to be a commercially
viable product and to reflect its validity on more services.
5.3.2 The Oxford SmartZone and Swindon TravelPass tickets are promoted as the
standard multi-journey ticket within those locations despite the operators
providing their own single operator products (as necessitated by Competition
law). These products have been traditionally available on Smartcard with
paper products for longer period tickets being phased out. However with the
growth in use of Apps it is felt that Smartcards are ‘behind the times’,
especially given their associated cost of production and back office processing.
Both locations are now working towards providing the multi-operator ticket on
the mobile platform as well as increasing use of QR codes on paper tickets.
New Technology
5.3.3 Contactless capping is currently seen as the ultimate goal in ticketing
technology development. The ability to tap-on and tap-off a bus with your
daily and weekly fare capped based on the number of operators used and the
areas travelled in. However this is quite difficult to implement at the moment
due to different forms of contactless technology and difficulties in apportioning
revenue. There are also issues around the willingness of banks to keep their
transaction costs low given how complex the system can get. For example a
system needs to be able to work out the cheapest deal for a traveller if in a
week they have:
Spend four days travelling between Kenilworth and Leamington Spa on a
mixture of Stagecoach service X17 and National Express service 11;
Travelled to Nuneaton one day using Stagecoach X17 and 48 and National
Express service 20; and
Travelled to Stratford-upon-Avon one day on Stagecoach X17 and X18.
5.3.4 Should the fare be capped at:
a) A weekly Warwickshire wide multi-operator ticket price?
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b) Four Coventry – Leamington Multi-operator day tickets, a Warwickshire
wide multi operator day ticket and a Stagecoach day ticket? Or
c) A Coventry – Leamington multi-operator operator week, a Coventry –
Nuneaton multi-operator day and a Leamington Spa – Stratford return
ticket?
5.3.5 Further information is provided in Appendix C: Multi-Operator Ticketing. Any
Warwickshire scheme should be able to avoid some expense in the creation of
a new physical smartcard with associated expensive back office by using the
ITSO3 compatibility of Swift and Stagecoach Smart and thus their associated
back office systems. The downside to this is the likelihood that TfWM and
Stagecoach will charge the Warwickshire multi-operator scheme(s) an
administration fee for use of their systems.
5.4 Higher Quality Vehicles
5.4.1 This is an area of improvement that is often focused on customer perception,
rather than engineering or environmental factors. In the late 1990s and early
2000s it was the introduction of low floor buses that was seen as a marked
improvement. Over the last 10 years it has been the introduction of Wi-Fi, USB
charging ports and even seats around tables that have been used as the
marketing point. Stagecoach Gold and Arriva’s Max and Sapphire brandings
were introduced to help distinguish the routes with more modern and higher
quality vehicles. However these brands are being phased out as the ‘standard’
bus now often comes with these features.
5.4.2 The Keighley Bus Company has reported a 7% rise in patronage on its Leeds –
Keighley service since the introduction of new vehicles a year earlier. These
were fitted with the latest on-bus technology and replaced a rather mixed bag
of fairly new and older vehicles with basic interiors.
5.5 Branding and Marketing
5.5.1 As mentioned in 5.4.1 a service can be sold on the basis of being a higher
quality service. But there are also other ways of selling a service in order to
make it stand out. Branding that appeals directly to the target customer, or
engenders a sense of ownership and identity as well as targeted marketing
campaigns that build the brand can be incredibly useful if done properly.
5.5.2 Operators such as Go North East brand their high-frequency and key
interurban services to help them stand out from both their own services and
their competitors, Figure A shows a bus branded in Citylink livery for service
58 – sister service 57 also uses the same livery as they share a common
corridor between Newcastle and Heworth.
3 https://www.itso.org.uk/
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Figure A: Go North East Citylink 58 Branding
5.5.3 Other operators such as First West of England and Nottingham City Transport
use coloured branding to help distinguish buses on specific routes or corridors.
Figure B shows a First West of England bus with an orange front wedge used
for services 1 and 2 as well as Metrobus route M1 branded vehicles which have
a pink relief to their Metrobus grey livery.
Figure B: First West of England and Metrobus Branding
5.5.4 Stagecoach itself has undertaken some route branding – Figure C shows a bus
in the old corporate livery with X18 branding on top, whilst Figure D shows a
specialist livery used to market buses in the Lake District.
5.5.5 It should be noted that the success of such branding is proven to work (if
implemented properly) for a route or corridor but not across a whole network.
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Figure C: Stagecoach Route X18 Branding (©paulburr73)
Figure D: Stagecoach Lakes Branding
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5.6 Simplified Network or Higher Frequency Services
5.6.1 Operators have looked to simplify their networks to help make it easier to
understand where buses go and to help customers have the same confidence
in bus services that they do in public transport with fixed infrastructure, such
as rail. A consequence of this has often been the replacement of multiple low
frequency services with one single high frequency route. Stagecoach East
Midlands has undertaken a number of network reviews in its larger urban
areas using the ‘Simplibus’ brand. This has seen services renumbered
sequentially starting at 1.
5.6.2 In February 2017 Stagecoach South East introduced its ‘Little and Often’
network to Ashford. This saw 30 Mercedes Sprinter Minibuses costing £3m
introduced on four town routes with some services increased from every 20
minutes to every 5 minutes. These minibuses were replaced in June 2018 as
45% of passengers found them too small. Two of the four routes retained a
‘turn-up-and-go’ (at least every 10 minutes) frequency (with an additional
route being added to the brand) with larger vehicles introduced as they had
seen a 35% increase in patronage, over half of which came from car users.
The other two routes were not as successful and saw their frequency reduced
to better match demand.
5.7 Bus Priority
5.7.1 Bus Priority can take many forms and can be used for many reasons. At its
simplest it is a way of making bus services more reliable by removing services
from the impacts of congestion, at the other extreme it encourages people out
of the car by making the driving route more circuitous, time consuming and
expensive than that of the bus.
Traffic Light Phasing
5.7.2 This is perhaps the cheapest way of improving the reliability and
attractiveness of bus services. The traffic lights stay on green for longer on the
main road the buses use or the sequence might be staggered to allow right
turning traffic to flow more freely. A newer and more advanced system sees
buses fitted with transponders, which interact with the traffic lights. As they
approach the traffic lights they either stay on green until the bus has passed
or speed up the cycle for the bus to get a green phase sooner4.
Bus Priority Lights
5.7.3 These tend to be linked to either a stretch of bus lane or a bus stop, in order
to allow the bus to re-enter the main traffic flow more easily. These can also
4 https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/traffic-light-technology-improving-journeys-for-liverpool-city-region-bus-users/
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be used at busy junctions to allow buses to take priority. Figure E shows an
example from Cardiff which allows buses to take priority at a busy junction.
Figure E: Bus Priority Lights – Advanced Junction Lights Cardiff
Bus Lane
5.7.4 Here one of the lanes on a road open to all traffic is restricted for use by buses
only or buses along with certain other vehicles such as taxis. Bus lanes can be
used to by-pass congestion hot spots or purposely reduce road space for
motorists either in the peak only or all day. Contraflow bus lanes are often
used to provide bus services with a short cut in one direction only as used on
Leicester Street in Bedworth, Figure F shows use of both with traffic and
contraflow bus lanes in Reading.
5.7.5 Using cameras to enforce bus lanes has been controversial. Whilst it is
necessary to prevent bus lanes being abused by motorists trying to jump the
queue or take a short cut, the associated signage has to be clear. Politically
bus lane cameras can be seen simply as revenue-generating ‘cash cows’ by
the pro-motoring lobby.
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Figure F: Bus Lane and Contraflow Bus Lane – Reading
Bus Gate
5.7.6 This is a short section of road linking two other roads together which only
buses can use. They are especially useful for linking two parts of a new
development together whilst avoiding the creation of a ‘rat run’ as shown in
Figure G with a new development to the south of Gloucester. This one is an
open road protected by cameras, others use either raising bollards or a
movable barrier to prevent misuse.
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Figure G: Bus Gate – Gloucester
Bus Only Road
5.7.7 This is a stretch of road which is solely for use by buses or buses and other
restricted vehicles. Figure H shows the bus only stretch of road past the front
of Nottingham Railway Station which is the simplest of bus only roads to
introduce i.e. the conversion of an existing road.
5.7.8 Figure I shows the Cambridge Guided Busway which is at the other extreme –
this is a purpose built bus only road, buses are fitted with guide wheels which
not only allows them to use the guideway (vehicles not fitted cannot physically
use it) but also means that the bus steers itself on guided sections. Other
similar purpose-built bus only roads use standard tarmac as illustrated in
Figure J, this road in Swansea allows buses to bypass a busy road junction.
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Figure H: Bus Only Road – Nottingham Railway Station
Figure I: Bus Only Road – Cambridge Guided Busway (©Roger French)
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Figure J: Bus Only Road – Swansea
5.8 Increasing the Cost of Motoring
5.8.1 Sometimes in order to get people out of their cars and onto public transport
there needs to be a disincentive as well as an incentive. As well as making a
motorist’s journey less convenient through the introduction of bus priority
measures (see 5.7) there are ways to make the car journey more expensive
thus giving a more level playing field with bus fares. The four main ways of
doing this are:
a) Increase the cost of parking in urban areas where there are suitable
alternative bus services including park and ride;
b) Introduce a Workplace Parking Levy – this can apply to all employers in a
certain area (i.e. where there is a suitable alternative form of transport)
and is an annual charge per parking space imposed on the employer;
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c) Introduce a Congestion Charge – Durham and London are the only two
cities currently with a congestion charge, here motorists are charged to
drive into a designated area;
d) Introduce an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) – Larger urban areas are
introducing LEZs or ULEZs as a way of tackling their air quality problems,
however they are quite mixed with only a handful actually applying to cars
as well as commercial vehicles. Given the government’s recent push to
encourage electric vehicles a ULEZ is not guaranteed to solve congestion
issues in the medium to long term.
5.9 Case Study – Brighton5
5.9.1 Go-Ahead owned Brighton & Hove Bus Company has seen growth in bus
passenger journeys by an average of 5% per annum consistently over more
than twenty years. The key to achieving consistent growth in bus passenger
journeys is effective partnership working between the bus company and local
authority. There’s no formal document outlining the terms of the partnership
just a short report to an appropriate Council committee outlining commitments
made by both parties. The partnership works on the basis of trust and
confidence - both parties use their best endeavours to deliver their respective
commitments.
5.9.2 It’s helped by the bus company being managed by a locally based Managing
Director dedicated to the area and being active in the local community
including business groups and community organisations. It would not be an
exaggeration to say the bus company is embedded into the community it
serves and buses are part of the fabric of the city.
5.9.3 The bus company is committed to enhancing frequencies of the network of bus
routes in the city. Timetables are modified on two key dates each year; around
Easter time and just prior to the University academic year commencing in
September. Each change incorporates an enhancement to at least one route
as well as a myriad of minor timing alterations to reflect changes in demand.
5.9.4 After many years of step-by-step improvements, the bus network achieved a
turn-up-and-go frequency of a bus at least every ten minutes for 80% of
passengers. Obviously frequencies are reduced at times of lower demand
(very early mornings, evenings and on Sundays) but enhancements also
included the introduction of timetables running all night on some key routes.
The city having two universities and a large student population, including an
influx of language students in the summer, provides an excellent market for
intensive bus services.
5.9.5 The second commitment from the bus company is to provide value for money
fares and simple to understand ticketing. During the early 2000s, the fare
5 Curtesy of Roger French, former Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company
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system was simplified across the city with a flat £1 fare which led to a
significant increase in ridership during the period this applied. After that
period, emphasis was placed on encouraging passengers to purchase tickets in
advance of travel providing extra value. In recent years this policy has been
pursued through the extensive facility of paying by smartcard or smartphone
and more recently by contactless including capping of fares at a daily and
weekly rate.
5.9.6 Third commitment is regular investment in new buses to take advantage of
the latest technology for the environment as well as comfort and facilities for
passengers. In years past this included converting the fleet to low floor access
as quickly as possible and more recently the provision of USB sockets and wifi
as well as improvements in the comfort and layout of seating and space for
those with accessibility needs. Improved engine and exhaust emissions, hybrid
and electric propulsion have also been embraced. Brighton and Hove was the
first operator to employ hybrid vehicles which run wholly in electric mode in
the city centre.
5.9.7 Fourth commitment is a passion for delivering the very best customer service.
Ensuring that every customer is given the best possible journey experience
and if there are any shortcomings these are immediately corrected with an
apology and recompense. Access to locally based staff overseeing telephone,
email and social media channels has been key.
5.9.8 The fifth commitment is to produce and distribute excellent information and
marketing material and commit resources to promote bus travel so potential
customers are attracted to give it a try. Creating the desire to use buses is a
fundamental part of that all-important culture of bus use in the city.
5.9.9 The City Council has committed to introducing effective bus priority measures
including bus lanes and smooth passage through junctions and congestion
hotspots. These have been introduced in stages over many years along with a
strategy to encourage cycling.
5.9.10 The second commitment from the City Council is to introduce an effective
controlled parking regime together with its enforcement. Brighton & Hove was
one of the first councils to decriminalise on-street parking and it has also
consistently increased the cost of parking both on street and at car parks it
manages.
5.9.11 A third commitment is to oversee and support the introduction of a real time
information system. This includes high profile displays at bus stops throughout
the city as well as at key stops in the city centre. The bus company also
commits resources to keep this system up to date and has worked with App
developers to make the information available online and on smartphones.
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5.9.12 A fourth commitment is to provide a Park and Ride operation but this has not
been possible due to the logistics of finding a suitable location in a
topographically constrained city.
5.9.13 Overall the provision of bus priority measures and attitude towards parking
have encouraged the bus company to positively invest on a regular basis in
enhanced frequencies, value for money prices, new buses and excellence in
marketing and customer service.
5.10 Case Study – Harrogate
5.10.1 Transdev’s Harrogate Bus Company operation brands Harrogate as a Low
Emission Town, thanks to a combination of electric vehicles on local services
and Euro 6 standard new and retro-fitted vehicles on interurban routes. As
part of this, service 24 from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge was converted to
partial electric operation. Of the eight return journeys on a Monday – Friday
half of them are worked by an electric bus. Two of the four remaining journeys
need a larger vehicle as they run at school times, this bus is then used to fill in
in the early afternoon whilst the electric vehicle is recharged.
5.10.2 Service 24 has three return journeys on a Sunday which are operated under
contract to the Dales & Bowland Community Interest Company as Pateley
Bridge is a tourist destination on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The funding
for the Sunday services is provided by North Yorkshire County Council, Pateley
Bridge Town Council, Nidderdale Chamber of Trade and Harrogate Water
Brands (producer of Harrogate Spring Water).
5.10.3 Harrogate Water Brands also stepped in to fund free travel on the four town
routes in Harrogate in August 2019 following the end of Transdev’s ‘Sunday
Freeway’ trial. This had seen a 70% increase in patronage but could not be
funded commercially in the long term.
5.10.4 Harrogate Bus Company also operates flagship service 36 between Ripon,
Harrogate and Leeds. Despite competition from the railway between Harrogate
and Leeds there has been a continued investment in new vehicles with
innovative features such as being early adopters of Wi-Fi and phone charging
cradles, a constant marketing campaign and a gradual increase in frequency
from every 30 minutes in 2003 to every 10 minutes in 2019.
5.11 Case Study – Nottingham City Transport
5.11.1 Nottingham City Transport (NCT) is a multi-award winning Operator which is
82% council owned and 18% by Transdev. NCT carries 75 million passengers
a year. Nottingham has the highest bus usage per head outside London by a
significant margin.
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5.11.2 NCT believes that the high bus use per head compared to other major cities
may be partly down to the high standard of buses as the average age of the
fleet is only 4.5 years old. NCT’s fleet became 100% low floor in 2009 and
100% PSVAR compliant in 2012. It has the largest gas bus fleet in the country
receiving Green Bus funding for the first thirty gas buses and filling station.
The remaining ninety buses were self-funded but government grant was
obtained to extend the filling station to 200 vehicle capacity. The gas supply
uses 250 bar pressure so gives the same range as a diesel bus in an urban
environment but not enough capacity for all day running on its interurban
routes which will remain diesel for the foreseeable futures.
5.11.3 In 2011 NCT caused a stir in the industry when it replaced ageing double
decks on four half-hourly frequency routes with brand new midi-buses,
increasing the frequency on each route to every 15 minutes and creating two
co-ordinated 7/8 minute frequency corridors. The strategy was successful with
larger single deck vehicles needing to be purchased for these routes only two
years later.
5.11.4 Its strong relationship and a working understanding with the pro-public
transport Nottingham City Council benefits it significantly. In 1999 there were
only 400m of bus lanes in Nottingham, now these extend 26km but there are
still issues with congestion. Nottingham City Council owns the majority of city
centre car parks and looks to make the cost of parking higher than using
public transport. Four hours parking costs more than a £6 group rider ticket.
5.11.5 A Contactless capping system is being developed alongside Nottingham City
Council and the NET light rail system. NCT is also amending some services to
take over parts of a number of supported routes commercially thus helping the
council save money. Most notably the two Park and Ride sites have had their
dedicated services replaced with diversions to NCT local routes. The changes
to the Park and Ride services alone are estimated to save the council £0.5m
per year.
5.11.6 Nottingham is also the only place at the moment to fully implement a work
place parking levy. Funds from this has helped improve Public Transport
infrastructure, notably the tram system. However NCT feels that the Work
Place Parky levy has had little impact on its passenger numbers as work to
improve bus services happened before its introduction.
5.12 Summary
5.12.1 Whilst there are many different facets to encouraging bus use and modal shift,
it all comes down to the mantra of an attractive product at an attractive price,
available at a convenient time. This means that there should be an element of
making the use of cars unattractive or less attractive in respect of price and
journey time by comparison to using the bus.
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6Analysis of the Concessionary Travel
Market
6
6.1 Introduction
6.1.1 As part of our work for WCC on measures to promote bus travel, we have
reviewed local implementation of the English National Concessionary Travel
Scheme (ENCTS), which mandates free off-peak travel for elderly and disabled
people on registered local bus services at specified times.
6.1.2 In addition to analysis of a supplied copy of the Year-End Report 2018/2019
for the Warwickshire Countywide Concessionary Fares Scheme (“the
Scheme”), our conclusions are also based on guidance and statistics published
by the Department for Transport (DfT), research and our extensive,
accumulated knowledge of the principles, practice and impacts of
concessionary travel. Over the last 25 years, we have provided advice on
concessionary fares to over 70 local or national authorities and more than 20
bus operators.
6.1.3 The Scheme is currently administered on behalf of WCC by MCL Transport
Consultants Ltd, which has applied its standard approach to producing the
Scheme definition and reimbursement arrangements. We have examined
these for 2019/20 (retrieved from the WCC website). Unusually, no default
revenue reimbursement rate6 is specified in the Scheme, stating simply that a
single rate will be determined for each operator using defined fares data and
the ‘Discount Factor’ methodology of the DfT Reimbursement Calculator.
However, default additional cost rates are shown as follows, in each case per
generated journey:
Marginal Operating Costs = 7.5 pence
Administration Costs = 0.2 pence
Marginal Capacity Costs = 10.0 pence
6.1.4 The Scheme additionally allows free travel for Warwickshire passholders on
weekday journeys starting 09:00-09:30 and between 23:01 and 24:00 and
validity is extended to IndieGo community transport and Flexibus services.
However, no concession is offered to companions who assist disabled people
to use bus services.
6.1.5 We understand that reimbursement is applied to those community transport
(CT) services which are included in the Scheme at a rate of 80% of revenue
forgone. As a matter of principle, it is inappropriate for such services to have a
‘standard’ reimbursement rate applied. This is because the standard
6 i.e. the proportion of full fare which is regarded as revenue forgone, equivalent to the proportion of all concessionary journeys which have not been ‘generated’ by the reduction in fare to zero
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assessment of reimbursement assumes that the operator will benefit from
generated journeys and will have (or will be able to provide) the capacity to
accommodate them. In this case, for the CT operator to break even, the rate
assumes that it carries 25% more passengers than it would with no
concession.
6.1.6 This assumption is not appropriate for CT, the supply of which is usually
determined by the amount of funding the operator receives – whether in grant
form or through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) – from the local transport
authority. Moreover, supply and demand for CT are rarely in equilibrium, even
without free concessionary travel, so it is rarely possible to attribute the cause
of any increase in patronage to the existence of the concessionary scheme.
The end result is that the operator will be worse off – in contravention of the
statutory objective for reimbursement – and the overall supply of CT services
may be lower than it otherwise would be.
6.2 Analysis of 2018/19 Data
6.2.1 The data provided in the annual report exhibit a negative trend. Over the
period 2014/15 to 2018/19, concessionary bus trips under the Scheme fell by
18.7% to 4.66 million. Nevertheless, comparison with DfT statistics7 shows
that this is not unusual – only one of 72 authorities registered an increase
over this period and the average loss was over 14%. Data from most English
authorities showed a drop in total journeys of 2.1% from 2017/18, compared
with 3.1% in Warwickshire.
6.2.2 The Scheme report ascribed these losses to a mixture of the increase in age of
eligibility for the ENCTS pass and poor weather. The latter certainly shows
some linkage – March in 2018 was the coldest since 19628 and patronage fell
dramatically compared with 2017. There is sound academic evidence of
positive correlation between ambient temperature and concessionary travel.
6.2.3 However, the slower pace of accession9 to the minimum eligible age for ENCTS
which took effect from April 2016 seems to have influenced trip making less
significantly and we believe this may have been overstated as a cause of trip
decline. The fact that bus mileage in the county has fallen by nearly 10% over
the same five years appears more significant, especially as that on tendered
services (which tend to carry disproportionately more passholders) has fallen
by nearly 60%. Concessionary trips have also fallen less than journeys by
other passengers; total bus passenger trips fell by 26% over the same
period10.
7 Table Bus0823, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus08-concessionary-travel 8 See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2018/snow-and-low-temperatures-february-to-march-2018---met-office.pdf 9 From 50% of the cohort to 25% each year 10 Table Bus0109a, ibid.
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6.2.4 The amount spent on reimbursement saw little change from the previous year,
reflecting increased adult fare levels. However, the revenue reimbursement
rate and absolute level of payments to operators are very low in the Scheme.
The average amount paid to operators was 99.9 pence per passenger trip,
including additional costs – an effective reimbursement rate of just 43.6%
against the average fare forgone of £2.29, while the revenue reimbursement
rate (without additional costs) averaged just 37.5%. This is one of the lowest
rates in England and acts as a disincentive for operators to cater for
concessionary passholders or to develop and promote services which are
attractive to them.
6.2.5 It is true that both the major local operator, Stagecoach, and Johnson’s
Coaches receive a higher effective rate because each receives further
additional cost payments “outside the Scheme”, although agreed with the
Scheme’s administrator. Assuming that the average fare and reimbursement
rates for Stagecoach are close to the mean for all operators11, this means that
its effective reimbursement rate is in the region of 56%. This is much closer to
the typical value for ENCTS across England and suggests that the rate paid to
smaller operators (typically those providing tendered services and carrying a
higher proportion of concessionaires) may be inappropriately low. We believe
this is primarily a failure of the methodology recommended by the DfT, rather
than a defect in WCC procedures.
6.2.6 The overall take-up rate for the Scheme (at around 74% of the estimated
eligible population) is similar to those in many other shire counties and
significantly higher than some of WCC’s neighbours.
6.2.7 However, a feature of the WCC Scheme is the low proportion of passes issued
on grounds of disability. This may be marginally influenced by issuing policy, if
all people qualified on grounds of age receive an age-related pass irrespective
of any disability they may also have. Nonetheless, 4.5% is an unusually small
proportion of passholders to qualify on grounds of disability – our experience
is that a proportion of eight to twelve per cent is the norm. This seems
unlikely to be explained by lower incidence of disabilities in the local
population – the prevalence of disability12 in the West Midlands (18.9% in
201813) is not very different from the average for England.
6.2.8 We believe that part of the explanation for this low take-up among disabled
people may lie in the absence of two features which are common in other
areas;
concessionary travel for a ‘necessary companion’, and
the extension of general validity to include morning peak travel.
11 Reasonable assumptions, since Stagecoach represents about 82% of all concessionary travel 12 As defined in the Equality Act 2010 13 See https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/datasets/prevalenceandemployment
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6.2.9 Groups who would benefit from these currently have little incentive to acquire
an ENCTS pass and either extension should encourage uptake.
6.3 Options for Development
6.3.1 Introducing companion eligibility or morning peak validity for disabled
passholders would increase the utility of the Scheme to different segments of
the disabled travel market: the first by facilitating bus use by more severely
disabled people who need the physical assistance or psychological reassurance
of a carer to travel by bus; the second by enabling use of the pass by those in
employment to travel to work. Obviously, each would also incur additional
reimbursement cost, but this is likely to be modest.
6.3.2 There would also be further potential implications for each proposal, viz:
Companion eligibility is a locally negotiated enhancement which lies outside
the national scheme. Therefore, there is no entitlement to recognition of
free companion travel outside the ‘home’ area where the pass was issued.
This would limit its utility, especially in a county like Warwickshire which is
so dependent on its metropolitan neighbours for many of its services. It
would therefore be necessary to negotiate acceptance of companion passes
with TfWM and other neighbouring authorities, which might require some
compensation or reciprocal acceptance.
Validity of disabled passes during the morning peak might lead operators to
claim that the reimbursement calculation is incorrect, particularly in respect
of additional costs. However, experience elsewhere is that pre-0930 validity
for disabled passholders only does not impose additional demands on
capacity and it has generally been possible to negotiate acceptance with no
effect on reimbursement rates. This would, obviously, be easier if aligned
with a sympathetic review of reimbursement in general.
6.3.3 A general review of concessionary reimbursement opens wider possibilities for
change. Apart from the existing variations in reimbursement rates for specific
operators or CT services, it would be possible to introduce varied rates for
different categories of service. For example, these might distinguish between:
urban or town services;
interurban services; and
rural services.
6.3.4 Experience has shown clear evidence that trip generation has been highest on
interurban services, notably those with scenic or tourist potential. However, as
it is now twelve years since ENCTS was introduced, quantifying typical
generation is problematical; even if robust historical data were available,
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changes in services and travel patterns may be such that appropriate
comparisons are extremely difficult.
6.3.5 What would not be possible is to differentiate reimbursement rates between
services on any basis which is not objective and justifiable by variation in the
characteristics of the services concerned. For example, applying a preferential
reimbursement rate to services operating under a quality partnership would
not be acceptable and would be open to legal challenge. The statutory
objective as stated in the 1986 Regulations is that “operators both individually
and in the aggregate are financially no better and no worse off”. Combined
with the requirement14 that reimbursement must reflect actual revenue
forgone or additional costs incurred, this effectively prohibits favourable
treatment of particular services or operators.
6.4 Concessionary Scheme Recommendations
6.4.1 We recommend a review of the reimbursement arrangements to ensure that
the statutory objective that operators should be ‘no better and no worse off’ is
fully met and that the resultant payment rates encourage operators to cater
positively for this market.
a) This does not necessarily require abandoning the DfT reimbursement
model, but may imply adopting a more flexible and sympathetic approach
to operators’ interests in matters of discretion.
b) Special consideration should be given to reimbursement rates for
community transport operations, which need to start from a position of
justifying any reduction from 100% reimbursement. This approach may
also be appropriate for some very infrequent rural services (as envisaged
in the DfT guidance15), which may entail departing from a single rate for
each operator.
6.4.2 We recommend exploration of two further opportunities to develop the
concessionary travel market in Warwickshire:
a) Consider adding companion travel for qualifying disabled people, to
broaden the potential market and encourage more people at the margin of
practical bus use to expand their travel options. This may also relieve some
pressure on community transport and non-emergency patient transport
operations.
14 derived from Regulation (EC) No. 1370/2007 15 ‘Concessionary travel for older and disabled people: guidance on reimbursing bus operators (England)’ (DfT, Nov 2019), paras. 3.19 to 3.22
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b) Consider allowing the use of ‘disabled’ passes prior to 0900 on weekdays,
either free or at a nominal flat fare. This would increase the attractiveness
of the Scheme to working disabled people, encouraging pass take-up and
use at all times, and supporting them in their employment choices.
6.4.3 These recommendations would entail additional costs and would not of
themselves guarantee significant increases in patronage. However, the cost
increases would be small in respect of the disabled pass proposals of perhaps
two to four per cent in total, while the larger, more variable increase from
reviewing general reimbursement rates may be partially offset by reductions in
secured service costs.
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7Gaps in the Network 7
7.1 Introduction
7.1.1 This section looks at where there appear to be gaps in the bus network,
railway stations which are currently underserved by bus services and the
contribution Community Transport plays in filling in some of the gaps.
7.1.2 Identifying a ‘gap’ does not necessarily suggest a total lack of service, but
could be where the frequency is seen as inadequate to fulfil all journey
purposes.
7.1.3 It also includes some suggestions of how these gaps could be filled (there will,
of course, be other solutions) and some of these proposals will go into the
forward plans, but as yet, none is a concrete proposal. All will, of necessity,
come at a cost.
7.2 Locations
Kingsbury
7.2.1 Kingsbury’s main services are two hourly routes from Tamworth (though not a
coordinated 30 minute frequency) one of which terminates in Kingsbury (16)
and one of which runs to Hurley (15). There is currently no regular link south
from Kingsbury beyond the once a day X16 to and from Birmingham and
Stagecoach 766 which diverts once a day through Kingsbury. The best solution
would be to extend service 16 from Mill Crescent to Birmingham International
via Coleshill Parkway station.
7.2.2 East and West links from Kingsbury are available by changing in Tamworth.
Southam
7.2.3 Southam’s major bus links are to Leamington Spa and Rugby. There is a
Thursday only Flexibus and a Saturday only Stagecoach service to Banbury. A
route from Banbury to Coventry running via Gaydon (including the British
Motor Museum and Jaguar Land Rover), Bishop’s Ichington, Southam and
Ryton-on-Dunsmore (including Prologis Park) would provide new work, leisure
and tourism links.
Warwick to Birmingham International
7.2.4 Birmingham Airport, International railway station and the NEC complex are big
employers, attractors of visitors and transport hubs. The only link from the
Warwick and Leamington area is the hourly Bournemouth to Manchester Cross
Country train which calls at Leamington Spa and Birmingham International
stations. For maximum tourist potential a replacement for service 16 between
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Warwick and Kenilworth (which passes the castles at both locations) could run
hourly from Warwick Bus Station and extend beyond Kenilworth to
Birmingham International via the A452.
7.2.5 A Warwick to Birmingham International route has been tried in the past but
was not a commercial success. One possible reason was that operating hours
were too limited.
Atherstone and Polesworth – Birmingham International
7.2.6 There is currently a lack of frequent north to south links across North
Warwickshire. With the continued development around Birmingham
International a link from Atherstone and Polesworth is desired by the district
council. In order to serve some of the intermediate settlements the link is
likely to be fulfilled by two separate routes. The one from Atherstone could run
via Ansley, New Arley and Fillingley. The route from Polesworth could run via
Dordon, Birch Coppice, Wood End and Hurley before reaching Hams Hall,
Coleshill Parkway and Coleshill. This could alternatively run via Kingsbury
instead of Hurley, as a substitute to an extension of service 16 (7.2.1).
Nuneaton – Magna Park
7.2.7 The large distribution centre at Magna Park is currently only served by the X84
from Rugby. Introducing a direct bus service from Nuneaton should help open
up employment opportunities. The route could be extended to either Rugby or
Lutterworth providing more direct journey opportunities. There is currently no
regular direct bus between Nuneaton and Rugby whilst the train service only
runs once an hour.
Stratford-upon-Avon
7.2.8 There are currently limited links eastwards from Stratford-upon-Avon and
Wellesbourne. A route that runs to Gaydon would provide both employment
and tourist links. This could be further extended to Southam and Daventry
creating a new link across the south east corner of Warwickshire.
7.2.9 Despite the tourist attractions in Stratford-upon-Avon there are only limited
links to Birmingham International. Currently the best way is to catch the train
from International to New Street, walk to Moor Street and catch a train to
Stratford-upon-Avon. Service 75 between Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham
International is proposed to be extended on to Solihull. The service would be
designed to connect with Johnson’s X20 from Stratford-upon-Avon at Solihull
providing a link between this area of Warwickshire and Birmingham
International.
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7.3 Links to Railway Stations
Warwick Parkway
7.3.1 Warwick Parkway Station is served by more of Chiltern Railway’s London to
Birmingham trains than Warwick Station. However the only bus route to serve
the station is Stagecoach’s infrequent service 16. Not only is the service
approximately every two hours but it takes a long way round to get to
Warwick town centre. The current timetable is not designed to connect with
any trains.
7.3.2 A single bus could easily shuttle back and forth between Warwick Bus Station,
Warwick Parkway and Hatton Park providing connections from Warwick into
the xx:16 departure to London and xx:33 arrival from London. However most
of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham Moor Street to Leamington Spa
‘stopping’ services which call at Warwick are already timed to connect with the
fast London trains at Leamington Spa.
Bermuda Park Station and Bermuda Village
7.3.3 The current local road network makes serving Bermuda Park Railway Station
and Bermuda Village almost impossible by bus as the Bermuda Bridge over the
A444 cannot be accessed by vehicles and both destinations are situated on a
cul-de-sac. However, the County Council is implementing ‘Bermuda
Connectivity’ which is a major highway scheme focused on the improvement
and opening of an existing bridge to all road users and complementary
measures to mitigate the impact on the local highway network. The Scheme
will create an additional 1.3 miles of highway link between West Nuneaton and
Griff Roundabout and will enhance highway connectivity between Bermuda
Park Railway Station and Bermuda Village.
7.3.4 The scheme is expected to open in 2021-22 and will make it possible for either
a standalone service or an extension of service 65 to run from George Eliot
Hospital to Walsingham Drive via St George’s Way and St David’s Way. If the
vehicle was the appropriate size it could even be extended to loop around
Water Lily Way, Wisteria Way and Carnation Way.
7.3.5 In alignment with the above, the following will be included in a forthcoming
'Confirmation of Intention' regarding use of an additional £500k of funding
towards supporting bus services in 2020-21:
Extending a subsidised bus service to call at Bermuda Park Rail Station via
Bermuda Bridge; and
This would require a request to the DfT to delay discharge of funding until
2021-22 pending delivery of Bermuda Connectivity.
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Kenilworth
7.3.6 Access to Kenilworth Railway Station for most bus routes that also seek to
serve the town centre is hampered by the road layout to the south of the
station. At the same time much of the town to the east of the railway is
relatively poorly served by bus services except for those roads served by the
X17. There may be some merit in improving the frequency of the 539 at the
Kenilworth end.
7.3.7 As part of the continued expansion of new housing developments in Kenilworth
there is a desire for a town bus service. This is suggested to run at least every
thirty minutes all day. Being limited to the town it would not suffer the
competition issues that the main bus routes through Kenilworth currently do.
Lapworth
7.3.8 Most of the railway stations in the west of the county on the lines out of
Birmingham Moor Street are poorly served by bus due the dispersed nature of
the communities they serve. Providing public transport to these stations would
be more appropriate and efficient if undertaken by some form of DRT
operation.
7.3.9 Lapworth station sits between the two National Trust properties of Packwood
House and Baddesley Clinton. Given the proximity of the two sites it might be
worth approaching the National Trust regarding running a bus service between
the two sites which would also serve Lapworth Railway Station. This would
hopefully encourage more people to access them by train and encourage those
who have come by car to park at one site and use the bus to access the other.
7.3.10 Lapworth is due to be covered in both the new UBUS and Warwick Rural DRT
schemes. These should include Lapworth Railway Station and the two National
Trust properties within their range of pick up points and destinations.
7.4 Park and Ride
7.4.1 There is currently only one Park and Ride site in Warwickshire (excluding
Warwick Parkway Railway Station) at Stratford Parkway which provides both
bus and rail links into Stratford-upon-Avon. Historically there was a second
Park and Ride site at the Waitrose store to the south of Stratford but this no
longer operates.
Warwick and Leamington Spa
7.4.2 It is understandable that the current investigation into Park and Ride sites is
focussed on Warwick and Leamington Spa. The three biggest Park and Ride
operations in England are around the historic cities of Cambridge, Oxford and
York. Here there are multiple sites around the radius of the cities, generally
along the main roads in, allowing easy use for anyone approaching from any
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direction. The city centres have restricted road space, bus priority measures
and high car parking charges which deter motorists from driving in.
7.4.3 York’s Park and Ride network acts additionally as a local bus service on the
main corridors as well as serving locations such as York Designer Outlet, whilst
Oxford has additional services from Park and Ride sites to the John Radcliffe
Hospital avoiding the city centre. Warwick Hospital and Technology Park are
both locations which could provide additional traffic for a Park and Ride service
along with tourists and shoppers accessing the town centre.
Stratford-upon-Avon
7.4.4 As noted in 7.4.1 there is currently only one official Park and Ride site for
Stratford-upon-Avon whilst 7.4.2 shows that to be successful there needs to
be multiple sites. The major issue in Stratford is that the cost of parking in the
centre is too low compared to using the Park and Ride. Table 1 sets out a
comparison of Stratford-upon-Avon against Cambridge, Durham, Oxford, Truro
and York.
Table 1: Comparison of Park and Ride and Car Parking Costs
Location Park & Ride 3 Hours Parking 6 Hours Parking
Stratford-upon-Avon £5 peak, £3 off peak
(2 children free)*
£3.00 £6.00
Cambridge £3 (3 children free) From £4.40 From £10.50
Durham £2 (all U16s free) From £2.40 From £4.80
Oxford £6.80 (2 Adults & 3 U16s)* £5.00 £11.00
Truro £4 (2 Adults & 4 U16s) £4.60 £8.20
York £3.30 (3 U17s free) £6.90 £13.00
*Includes cost of parking at P&R site
Nuneaton and Rugby
7.4.5 These towns do not have the same tourist markets as Stratford-upon-Avon
and Warwick, so it is difficult to justify a dedicated park and ride service.
However they do still have significant traffic generators such as shopping
centres, hospitals and railway stations all of which warrant an investigation
into the best locations for park and ride car parks. These could be served by
the diversion or extension of existing services and would have to be of a
frequency high enough (i.e. at least every 20 minutes single or combined) to
be attractive for users.
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7.5 Access to Hospitals
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire
7.5.1 This hospital is already directly served by buses from Nuneaton via
Bucklingham (74) and Bedworth (78/78A) and from Rugby via Brinklow (585)
although the latter service has a large gap in the afternoon timetable.
7.5.2 However those travelling from Kenilworth, Leamington and Warwick currently
have to change in Coventry, often having to change from a Stagecoach bus to
a National Express bus. There are therefore two possible solutions, one is to
extend service X17 beyond Coventry Bus Station to serve the hospital, which
might also encourage greater use of the War Memorial Park and Ride site. The
other is to provide a bus ticket add on for use on National Express services 9
and 9A or include the 9 and 9A in any Warwickshire multi-operator ticketing
scheme. The 9 and 9A run every 15 minutes to the hospital from the bus
station taking around 20 minutes.
Warwick Hospital & St Michaels Hospital
7.5.3 These hospitals are currently served by Stagecoach X17 which runs every 20
minutes and provides direct links from parts of Leamington and Kenilworth.
Indirect links are made through changing at Leamington Parade or Warwick
Bus Station. Given that service 15 currently only provides an hourly service
through the Chase Meadows estate there could be scope to extend the second
bus an hour between Stratford and Wellesbourne to Warwick Hospital
providing a direct link from Stratford-upon-Avon, Wellesbourne, Barford and
Chase Meadows. This would additionally create a direct link between those
settlements and Warwick Railway Station and even be extended to Hathaway
Drive in Woodloes Park and on to IBM and the new houses on Haywood Road
which are currently by-passed by service 1.
7.5.4 Additionally any Park and Ride service introduced could provide links to the
hospital, either running via it and Warwick Railway Station if in the north, or
cross town if in the south or west.
Hospital of St Cross, Rugby
7.5.5 This hospital is rather poorly served by bus and in some respects this is down
to its location. Services coming in from the south of Rugby follow the A426,
which has a high concentration of residences, rather than using the sparsely
populated Barby Road to pass the hospital. The bus stops at Wentworth Road
on the A426 are set back in laybys and have shelters, all that is needed is
some wayfinding signs to direct people along the footpath by Sow Brook
(North) to reach the hospital.
7.5.6 The only two bus routes to the hospital itself are low in frequency, service 11
operates four times a day whilst the 585 is hourly for part of the day but has
gaps in service too. The best way to improve the service to the hospital would
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be by extending Stagecoach’s services 1 & 2 – in theory this should just
involve a minor tweak to the timetable as during the middle of the day the bus
appears to sit at Rugby North Street for 19 minutes and a round trip to the
hospital should take about 20 minutes.
George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton
7.5.7 This is a well-served hospital, those passengers from the few areas without a
direct link are able to easily change in Nuneaton for a connecting service with
either Arriva or Stagecoach.
Stratford Hospital
7.5.8 Although not directly served by bus, it is located close to the railway station
and its associated bus stops. However there does not appear to be a direct
walking route between the two locations and providing such a link would be
the best solution.
7.6 Community Transport
7.6.1 The availability of Community Transport (CT) and Demand Responsive
Transport (DRT) in Warwickshire is relatively comprehensive, with a network
of routed buses, dial-a-ride and volunteer car schemes, provided by both the
voluntary sector and commercial operators. The branded ‘Flexi-Bus’, ‘Indigo’
and ‘UBUS’ services are flexibly routed services that can also accommodate
passengers with disabilities (e.g. wheelchair users) through door to door
provision. Full details of the CT and DRT network is provided in Appendix B:
Community Transport in Warwickshire.
7.6.2 An issue that is identified is that the majority of these door-to-door and semi-
scheduled bus services offer limited time coverage because they are designed
to dovetail around school contracts. This prevents travel at certain times of the
day (namely the ‘school peaks’ in the early morning and mid-afternoon).
However, it is recognised that the ‘Flexi-Bus’, ‘Indigo’ and ‘UBUS’ services
have been subsidised on the basis of ‘smart’ procurement by Warwickshire
County Council, being bundled with Home to School contracts and create
significant capacity at marginal cost.
7.6.3 The needs of the majority of the users of a traditional Dial-a-Ride service can
be met between 9.30am and 2.30pm but set against this, of course, is that
potential users outside these times are not served. Hence the otherwise
extensive collective network of flexible and community bus routes offered by
Flexi-Bus, Hedgehog Community Bus, Shipston Link, IndieGo and UBUS do not
enable commuter journeys for rural dwellers because of the timetable
limitations. IndieGo in Coleshill does allow morning journeys to Coleshill
Parkway Station and should be available for evening returns. It is reported
that this timetable is designed to meet “key shift change times” at Hams Hall.
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7.6.4 Table 2 below provides a basic assessment of the geographical coverage of the
CT & DRT provision (including car schemes) based on operational zones and
routes with reference to the key centres of population. Warwick is the district
with the weakest coverage, especially given the urban area comprising
Leamington Spa, Whitnash and Warwick itself. Coverage in all areas is limited
at school times, evenings and weekends, the latter two periods rarely having
any extensive coverage in the CT sector elsewhere.
7.6.5 We note that there is little use made of the taxi or private hire sector in CT or
DRT provision apart from some elements of UBUS provided by Clarkes of
Shipston.
Table 2: Comparison of Levels of CT and DRT by Warwickshire District
District Main Centres of
Population
No or Very
Limited CT /
DRT
Coverage
Moderate
Level of CT /
DRT
Coverage
High Level
of CT / DRT
Coverage
North Warwickshire Atherstone
Coleshill
Hartshill
Kingsbury
Polesworth
Nuneaton & Bedworth Bedworth
Nuneaton
Rugby Rugby
Stratford-upon-Avon Alcester
Shipston-on-Stour
Southam
Stratford-upon-Avon
Warwick Kenilworth
Leamington Spa
Whitnash
Warwick
7.6.6 It has been proposed to further develop the UBUS service on expiry of its
current contract in June 2020 and an opportunity has been identified to
expand service coverage in the Stratford District by transferring resource from
Flexi-Bus. This is seen to present some challenges due to the need to continue
to provide services for residents who are currently reliant upon Flexi-Bus and
using concessionary passes, which are not currently accepted on UBUS.
7.6.7 Additional capacity will extend the service until 19:00, although the proposed
operation is still wrapped around the school contract, which therefore excludes
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trips between 14:30 and 16:30 during term time. Outside of school term time
the service still starts at 09:30. This is seen to be a ‘cost-neutral’ change and
would enable trips later in the day, answering some of the limitations of the
earlier configuration. Usage between 18:00 and 19:00 should be monitored
carefully, however, as demand may not warrant its continuation.
7.6.8 The switch from the timetabled Flexi-Bus model to the pre-booked UBUS
approach will need some consideration. Experience elsewhere has suggested
that the transition can be difficult and Flexi-Bus passengers may not see UBUS
as a suitable like-for-like replacement, with the need to pre-book imposing a
barrier to use for some.
7.6.9 The proposal emphasises the need for the new UBUS services to accept
concessionary passes and states: “All vehicles will therefore need to be
registered as a local bus service and operated with an ‘O’ Licence or section 22
community bus permit to be eligible for the scheme.” If the current operators
are to remain, Warwickshire Rural Community Council and Clarke’s, then the
switch to ‘O’ Licence may not be straightforward. In the case of the former
operator, there is no restriction, in principle, preventing the concessionary
fares scheme being extended to a s19 Permit operator.
7.7 Summary
7.7.1 There are a number of long cross-boundary routes which can fill in the small
number of gaps within Warwickshire’s existing bus network. Links to
Birmingham International for the NEC seem the largest gap at the moment
given the proposed UK Central development and HS2 station there.
7.7.2 Park and Ride services can definitely play a part in encouraging modal shift,
however this needs to be done in tandem with a change in town centre
parking policy from the district councils. Park and Ride schemes can also help
to provide better access to hospitals by public transport.
7.7.3 The new UBUS contract will need careful monitoring to see how successful it is
both in respect of the replacement of scheduled services with DRT and the
extension of operating hours.
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8Information Provision 8
8.1 Introduction
8.1.1 This section looks at the current level of bus service information provided in
Warwickshire along with examples from elsewhere showing ways in which the
presentation of information could be improved.
8.2 Current Online Provision for Warwickshire
8.2.1 As part of the project we were interested in finding out what information the
Council and Local Bus Operators provide about ticketing, disruptions, service
changes and other information such as timetables and how to use the bus.
Below is a summary for the Council and every major Operator in the area. We
will consider information displayed on their Websites and information posted
on Twitter and other social media.
Warwickshire County Council
8.2.2 Warwickshire CC has a separate webpage for Public Transport which can be
accessed from the main menu (https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/buses ).
Should you know your destination and route there is a search bar feature
which allows the user to see all of the timetables for that destination or route.
There is also detailed information on both permanent and temporary timetable
changes and the effect it will have on the service it concerns.
8.2.3 Warwickshire deserves much credit for its website content as many other local
authorities have information on concessionary fares but otherwise simply
redirect queries to Traveline, despite its shortcomings (see 8.3.7 et. seq.)
8.2.4 The Council has a dedicated twitter page @WCCBusServices which covers
School and Public Transport information from 08:00 until 16:30 every
weekday. The feed includes any service updates, disruptions and any other
relevant information that may affect journeys.
8.2.5 As well as this the Website provides links to the following:
Information on free bus travel for eligible passengers and the ability to
apply for a pass;
Bus Route Maps;
School Transport;
Community Transport;
Medical Appointment transport information;
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Journey Planner;
Links to Operators’ Websites;
Park and Ride and
Car Share arrangements
Johnson’s
8.2.6 Johnson’s provides both Coach and Bus travel and similarly to the Council it
has a dedicated page for buses (https://www.johnsonscoaches.co.uk/buses ).
From the "Buses" page it is possible to access the following information:
Timetables;
Fares;
Bus Service updates (which at the time of writing contains its statement on
COVID-19 only);
Links to various ticket types;
Information on School Services;
Lost Property;
Contract Bus information;
Route Map and
Link to its Twitter feed
8.2.7 There didn't appear to be a Journey Planning tool or a link to the council's
website which could make it difficult for anyone new to the area.
8.2.8 On Johnson’s Twitter page @Johnsonstraffic its team updates the feed daily
from 05:00 until 19:00 and contains live service changes, disruptions including
heavy traffic and road closures and anything else that could impact upon a
passenger's journey.
Stagecoach
8.2.9 The Stagecoach website can provide area specific information by changing the
location at the top of the page. This does not affect the Journey Planner as the
user has the ability to search anywhere within the whole Stagecoach network
regardless of their location.
8.2.10 However it does help with tickets as it makes the page location specific which
is useful. However the timetable page remains blank unless you know the bus
number, this may be hard for someone new to an area.
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8.2.11 Information on the website includes:
Timetables;
Tickets;
Fares;
Journey Planner;
Network Maps and
Service Updates;
8.2.12 Stagecoach has dedicated Twitter pages which cover all of the regions within
its network. Stagecoach Midlands (@StagecoachMids) covers Warwickshire
and similarly to both Johnson’s and the Council provides specific updates
affecting passenger journeys within the area. Stagecoach Midlands is active on
Twitter on weekdays 07:00 until 19:00 and at weekends 09:00 until 17:00.
Travel De Courcey
8.2.13 Similarly to Johnson’s, Travel de Courcey provides both Coach and Bus
services. As a local service for Coventry and the Midlands the information is
relevant without the need to change location. Travel de Courcey's website has
the following information:
Timetables;
Tickets;
Fares;
Journey Planner;
Network Maps and
Service Updates
8.2.14 Travel de Courcey does have a twitter page (@DecourceyTravel) however it
has posted fewer than ten Tweets and this therefore suggest it is not
habitually active on social media to provide live alerts.
National Express
8.2.15 Like Stagecoach the National Express website can provide area specific
information, accessed by changing the location at the top of the page. Its
dedicated page for Coventry provides the following location specific
information:
Timetables;
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Tickets;
Fares;
Journey Planner and
Network Maps
8.2.16 National Express has a specific twitter feed for Coventry Services
(@NXC_Alerts) which is primarily used to provide updates on disruptions.
Arriva
8.2.17 Arriva has region specific pages and provides the same basic level of
information as the other Operators. However Arriva does also have a real time
information feature which allows you to "track your bus in real time". This
feature allows you to select a bus you wish to follow in any part of Arriva's
Network.
8.2.18 The basic level of information on the website includes:
Track your bus;
Timetables;
Tickets;
Fares;
Journey Planner and
Network Maps
8.2.19 Arriva's Twitter page for the area (@arrivamidlandsE) has a dedicated team
that answers customer queries from 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday only.
The Twitter feed provides updates on disruptions and changes to services,
marketing campaigns, for example ‘Everybody's Journey’ and other
information including ticket offers.
Summary
8.2.20 Table 3 below compares the features and information available on WCC and
operator websites. As can be seen most operators provide all the features
passengers need.
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Table 3: Comparison of Features across Websites
Feature Warwickshire
CC
Johnsons Stagecoach Arriva Travel De
Courcey
National
Express
Service Disruptions
/ changes
√ √ √ √ √ √
Timetables √ √ √ √ √ √
Journey Planning √ X √ √ √ √
Network Maps √ √ √ √ √ √
Ticket Types X √ √ √ √ √
Fares X √ √ √ √ √
8.3 Journey Planner Comparison
8.3.1 Online journey planners are now seen as the go to resource for those wishing
to make an unfamiliar journey by public transport. However, not all are user
friendly and some almost need the user to know the answer before they can
enter the detail. In order to assess the usability of WCC's own journey planner
it was compared against two others, these being:
Travelwest; and
Traveline.
WCC Journey Planner (Google Maps)
8.3.2 Warwickshire County Council's journey planner wasn't the easiest to locate as
it is placed in the "Active Travel" section of the authority’s website, found
under a sub directory of ‘Social Care and Health’ rather than being under
Public Transport or Roads and Services. It is fair to assume that if someone
was looking for a journey planner they would be more likely to look under the
Public Transport section than Health and Social Care. The link to
Warwickshire's Journey Planner can be found here:
https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/activetravel
8.3.3 Even if the potential user knows where to look for the journey planner, which
option do they use to find out information about the bus? As Figure K shows
the only thing that hints at being able to find out about buses is the picture of
a bus over the ‘Public Transport and Road Safety’ tab – this takes you to
another page which contains a link to WCC’s own bus information page. Cycle,
walking, rail and even electric cars are given more prominence on this website
than buses.
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Figure K: Active Travel Home Page
8.3.4 The journey planner link takes the user directly to Google Maps so this
comparison is effectively going to explore what options Google Maps gives the
user when selecting the "Transit" option.
Travelwest
8.3.5 Travelwest is the name for the joint transport body covering the former Avon
county area. This is included as a comparator as it part of an ‘information all in
one place’ website. As part of its wide ranging website which covers all modes
of transport it offer a Journey Planning facility:
https://travelwest.info/bus/timetables-and-journey-planning
8.3.6 The journey planner is also available on the home screen of the website (see
Figure R) making it much more integrated with the other public transport
information that WCC’s. Travelwest’s journey planner works in a similar way to
Google Maps in that the user simply puts in the point to point locations of their
journey and it will offer a range of journey options.
Traveline
8.3.7 Traveline is a nationwide agency which provides public transport information
on a regional level. Its national Journey Planner can be accessed at:
https://www.traveline.info/
8.3.8 Note that the journey planning software on Traveline varies by region and
therefore different formats apply. If a potential user searches for ‘Traveline
Warwickshire’ he or she is taken to:
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http://www.travelinemidlands.co.uk
8.3.9 Similarly to the other examples chosen this is a simple point to point planner,
however there are some key differences which allow for further customisation
of the user's journey. For both Travelwest and Google Maps it is possible to
select various options which affect the route such as "less walking" or a
preference in mode. Traveline appears to go one step further particularly for
those who have a preference on how far and how fast they can walk.
8.3.10 Traveline offers a feature which the user can increase or decrease the
maximum distance walked over the route which will then affect the route
offered. As well as affecting the way in which the journey is planned, Traveline
also has a feature where the user can select "slow", "medium" or "fast"
walking speed. This affects the estimated time taken for the walking part of
the route, however there is no indication of how fast each of these options is.
8.3.11 Two journeys that cross Warwickshire were used for the test. The first journey
selected started at Market Place in Warwick to Little Park Street in the centre
of Coventry and then a second trip was chosen from Newton Road in Bedworth
to Albert Street in Rugby. Both journeys were based on the passenger
travelling at 12:00 on 8th April. It is also worth noting that journeys are
affected by the special timetables during current health pandemic which
should be reflected in the results. All results are based on the Journey
Planners’ default settings for transit mode or equivalent.
Journey 1 – Market Place, Warwick to Little Park Street, Coventry
8.3.12 Google offers a number of different options all of which contain more than one
mode of transport. The fastest journey starts at 12:33 and takes 55 minutes
with five legs, shown below with their allocated journey time:
Walk to the Bus stop (2 Minutes)
Bus 15 to Leamington Spa (19 minutes)
Walk Railway Stations stop to Leamington Spa Railway Station (2 Minutes)
Train Leamington Spa to Coventry (16 minutes)
Walk to Coventry Railway Station to Little Park Street (11 minutes)
8.3.13 Travelwest offers three journeys, two of which use Public Transport and one
which involves walking all the way. The Public Transport routes involve fewer
stages than the ones suggested by Google Maps.
8.3.14 The quickest journey starts at 12:17 takes 52 Minutes and has the following
stages shown below with their allocated journey time:
Walk to the Bus stop (2 minutes)
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X18 to Coventry Quadrant (44 minutes 30 stops)
Walk Coventry Quadrant to Little Park Street (5 minutes)
8.3.15 The second journey starts at 12:23, takes 1 hour and 6 minutes and requires
the following stages:
Walk to Warwick Railway Station (19 minutes)
Train Warwick to Leamington Spa Railway Station (4 minutes 1 stop)
15 minute transfer time
Train from Leamington Spa Railway Station to Coventry Railway Station (16
minutes 2 stops)
Walk Coventry Railway Station to Little Park Street (12 minutes)
8.3.16 Traveline offers four options, with the longest taking 1 hour and 12 minutes.
The quickest journey is similar to the one offered by Travelwest, however
Traveline estimates the journey at only 45 minutes instead of 52 minutes, this
is mostly due to the fact that the bus element of the journey is six minutes
quicker:
Walk to the Bus stop (2 minutes)
X18 to Coventry Quadrant (38 minutes)
Walk Coventry Quadrant to Little Park Street (4 minutes)
8.3.17 The longest journey in this case is the same as the above but using the X17
instead of the X18. The predicted time on the X17 for this journey is one hour
and one minute.
Journey 2 – Newton Road, Bedworth to Albert Street, Rugby
8.3.18 Similarly to the shorter trip above there are no direct links offered by Google
Maps between Bedworth and Rugby. The quickest trip starts at 12:39, lasts 1
hour and 45 minutes and requires the passenger to make the following stages:
Walk to Mill Street (8 minutes)
20 from Mill Street to Coventry Bus Station (26 minutes 28 stops)
585A Coventry to Rugby (59 minutes 44 stops)
Walk Rugby Town Centre to Albert street (4 minutes)
8.3.19 For this journey Travelwest offers three options which can be made by public
transport. The key difference here is that even the quickest trip requires
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significantly more walking than Google Maps’ suggestions. The below trip
takes 1 hour and 11 minutes:
Walk to Bedworth Railway Station (20 minutes)
Train Bedworth to Coventry Railway Station (13 minutes 2 stop)
Train Coventry to Rugby Railway Station (10 minutes 1 stop)
Walk Rugby Railway Station to Albert Street (16 minutes)
8.3.20 The quickest journey option offered by Traveline is the same as the one
offered by Travelwest, involving mostly rail travel with walking. The other
feasible journey takes one hour and 15 minutes and has the following stages:
Walk to Mill street (16 minutes)
48 Bus to Nuneaton Bus Station (15 minutes)
Walk Nuneaton Bus Station to Nuneaton Station Railway Station (6
minutes)
Train Nuneaton to Rugby (15 minutes)
Walk Rugby Railway Station to Albert Street (14 minutes).
Summary
8.3.21 The WCC Journey Planner via Google Maps is not the simplest to use. It
defaults to the user wanting to travel now and it isn’t straightforward to
change when to travel. It often does not default to the transit option, meaning
driving could be subliminally promoted to a user who is not familiar with public
transport.
8.3.22 The Travelwest journey planner is more complex at first but is fairly easy to
understand. Although usability is probably the same as Google Maps it has the
edge by being a specifically public transport focused journey planner.
8.3.23 The Traveline journey planner is the best of the three. It is simple to use and
the results page is clear and easy to understand, the other two are dominated
by the map making journey details cramped in a sidebar. The only thing that
lets down Traveline is that when the user enters the start and end point no
drop down list of options appears, potentially making the user uncertain of
having the correct description – it is only once the user has pressed the “Let’s
Go” button does it seek to match the start and end points with its database.
8.3.24 It should also be noted that each Traveline region also has its own journey
planner and these vary in quality. For example the Traveline South West
journey planner has a best guess at the locations entered by the user who
then has to re-enter them to correct them (e.g. Gaydon, Warwickshire was
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reset to be Warwick by the journey planner). Traveline Midlands16 meanwhile
has a more reassuring interface which feels simpler to use and is probably
better than the main Traveline site.
8.3.25 Importantly, however, none of the existing journey planners include fare
details, so decisions such as ‘which trip is cheapest’ are not possible.
8.4 Current Physical Provision in Warwickshire
Bus Stops
8.4.1 The level of information at bus stops seems poor. The only thing that let down
the bus stop at Warwick Railway Station was the timetable display case
(Figure L). Whilst the council cannot be held responsible for the graffiti, the
size of the departure list is rather small compared to the display case.
Figure L: Warwick Station Bus Stop Timetable Display
8.4.2 Warwick Bus Station’s information seemed very limited. There was a helpful
‘where to catch your bus’ map (Figure M) but no real information beyond that.
It was really put to shame by what was provided at Warwick Railway Station
(8.4.6).
16 http://www.travelinemidlands.co.uk/wmtis/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15
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Figure M: Warwick Bus Station Information
Information Points and Printed Material
8.4.3 The Tourist Information Centre in Warwick was well stocked with leaflets for
local bus services and the Warwickshire Public Transport Map (Figure N). It is
very positive that this map is still produced as many local authorities have
stopped producing any printed material.
8.4.4 The map itself is very good with both a county-wide map and separate urban
area plans. The list of bus services with operator and daytime frequency is
adequate and probably the best which could be accommodated given the
limited space available.
8.4.5 Timetables are generally produced by the operator, some of which come with
a route map whilst others do not. The main problem for the customer is that,
in order to get an idea of what the service provision in an area is they often
have to pick up multiple timetables which provide different levels of
information in different formats. This underlines the importance of the county
route map.
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Figure N: Information at Warwick Tourist Information Centre
Wayfinding
8.4.6 Wayfinding is an area that could be significantly improved. Arriving at Warwick
Railway Station there is a good level of well-presented public transport
information (Figure O), a well sign posted route to the nearest bus stops
(Figure P) and a well labelled bus shelter for the interchange aspect (Figure
Q). However within Warwick town centre itself none of the signposts show
directions to the bus station.
Figure O: Information at Warwick Railway Station
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Figure P: Wayfinding at Warwick Railway Station
Figure Q: Interchange Advertisement on Bus Stop
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8.5 Best Practice Examples – Online
Hertfordshire Intalink
8.5.1 The Hertfordshire Intalink website (https://www.intalink.org.uk/) is a
dedicated website for public transport information within Hertfordshire. Most of
the information is similar to the Warwickshire website but as a stand-alone
entity. The Intalink brand is used to encompass all public transport provision
in Hertfordshire meaning that people are as likely to go to this website as to
an individual operator’s website – this makes multi-operator and multi-modal
travel more accessible and attractive. The only other real difference is the
inclusion of ticketing information but this relates only to multi-operator tickets
and not operators’ individual tickets.
Travelwest
8.5.2 Travelwest is the transport information arm of the West of England Combined
Authority. It is not the simplest of websites to use but as can be seen from
(Figure R) there is a wide range of modes covered not just bus and rail. Again
having it all in one place with easy enough navigation between modes.
Figure R: Travelwest Home Page
8.5.3 Under Bus > Tickets & Travelcards > Operators Fares there is a table which
has the headings:
Service [No.]
Route
Operator
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Phone Number
Website [General]
Fares [Weblink or ‘Contact Operator’]
8.6 Best Practice Examples – Physical Information
Roadside Publicity
8.6.1 There are numerous ways of displaying bus information at bus stops (often
referred to as roadside publicity). TfWM produce larger bus stop information
panels including average journey times from the stop to key points on the
route (Figure S). Meanwhile Lincolnshire County Council generally prints the
whole timetable on the bus stop along with contact information (Figure T). In
Southampton operators provide their own roadside information which looks
attractive and shows departure times alongside a route diagram (Figure U).
8.6.2 There is a trade-off between departure lists and full timetables, related to the
number of departures, the length of routes and available space. There is no
reason why an information display should not contain both – perhaps
departure lists for local services and full timetables for interurban services.
Preferences are also subjective, but fundamentally, waiting passengers want
to know what time the bus is due here more than they need to know what
time it gets there.
8.6.3 Any information should be as clear as possible and printed in colours which are
less likely to fade and which show clearly when it is dark. If we look at the
Southampton example in Figure U it shows both positives and negatives. It is
presented in a clear, large typeface, but when in darkness, how easy is it to
distinguish between the three shades of blue?
8.6.4 The West Midlands example (Figure S) is framed in red, which is very prone to
fading. It also perfectly illustrates one of the shortcomings of departure lists –
around half of the times are accompanied by smaller letters denoting codes
indicating that something is ‘different’. Note also that it does not commit to
either twelve or twenty-four hour clock. Thus the first departure after ‘3pm’ is
at ‘1502’!
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Figure S: Bus Stop Departures Display – TfWM (©Roger French)
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Figure T: Bus Stop Timetable Display – Lincolnshire (©Roger French)
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Figure U: Bus Stop Timetable Display – Southampton (©Roger French)
Printed Timetables
8.6.5 There is a growing trend amongst both operators and transport authorities to
no longer produce printed material. However printed publicity can add that
extra level of attractiveness, usability and comfort when done right that
cannot be guaranteed by online material. Figure V and Figure W below show a
sample of the map, times and fares information included in a typical Transdev
timetable leaflet. Journey planners deal with one-off specifics and are not
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comprehensive in the way that a timetable and map can be. Although both of
the latter can usually be downloaded at home or onto a phone, issues of
printing and of scale arise.
Figure V: Transdev Timetable Leaflet Map
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Figure W: Transdev Timetable Times and Fares
Booklets
8.6.6 Some operators and local authorities put together a booklet containing
comprehensive timetables for a specific area or region. This means that
instead of having to trawl through racks of timetables to find what’s relevant,
passengers can just pick up the area booklet safe in the knowledge that it will
contain all the timetables they might need along with a map or two and that it
will show them what other services are available in the area.
8.6.7 Derbyshire County Council produces three area guides costing £2.50 each17,
Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire provides area timetable books
free whilst First Kernow produces a free timetable booklet for the whole of its
Cornish network (Figure X) which includes services run by other operators.
Nottingham City Transport produces a network map with service summaries
on the reverse (Figure Y). Both First Eastern Counties and Stagecoach
Cumbria and North Lancashire produce comprehensive full colour guides with
route maps and guides to tourist attractions.
17 https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport-roads/public-transport/timetables/bus-timetable-publications/bus-timetable-publications.aspx
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Figure X: Stagecoach and First Timetable Booklets
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Figure Y: Nottingham City Transport Service Summary
8.7 Summary
8.7.1 Whilst information provided by WCC online is very good, the journey planner –
including its disconnection from the rest of the public transport information –
needs some improvement. The roadside publicity is also an area which should
be improved to help irregular travellers ‘find their feet’.
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9Section 106 Funding In Warwickshire 9
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 This section looks at Section 106 (S106) funded bus services within
Warwickshire. WCC officers provided us with a list of 35 bus routes which
receive or had received S106 funding. These can be divided into six different
categories, which are:
a) Newly S106 funded routes (2);
b) Routes still S106 funded by original development (7);
c) Routes still S106 funded but not by the original development (11);
d) No longer S106 funded and reduced in provision (4);
e) No longer S106 funded and running at the same frequency (8); and
f) No longer S106 funded and increased in provision (3).
9.2 Newly S106 Funded Routes
9.2.1 Both of the new S106 funding streams should come into play in July 2020.
One is for a two-hourly bus route along Campden Road in Shipston, where
there are two additional new developments but it is unclear if there will be
extra funding to increase the frequency at a later date. The second lot of S106
funding is for amending the frequency of services 77 and 77A between
Leamington and Lighthorne Heath to a standard hourly timetable rather than
being roughly once an hour with some variation. This should be increased to
half-hourly at a later phase of the development.
9.3 Routes Still S106 Funded – Original Development
9.3.1 The seven locations still proving S106 support are shown in Table 4 below. As
can be seen with a number of locations the service in question has been
changed.
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Table 4: Ongoing S106 Funding
Location Number of
Dwellings
Current
Service(s)
Original Provision Current
Frequency (mins)
Long Marston, Meon Vale 550 Stratford
1,2 & 3
Increased frequency &
diversion Services 1,2 & 3
30
Nuneaton, Weddington
Road/Lower Farm
414 Nuneaton
1 & 2
Extended Service 1 & 2 15
Galley Common, Plough
Hill Road
300 18 & 19 Increased Frequency
Services 17 & 18
30
Wellesbourne, The
Grange
350 Warwick
15
Service 15 Diverted &
Increased Frequency
30
Polesworth, Grendon
Road St Leonards
143 65 Service 65 Diverted &
extended to hospitals
60
Kineton, Southam Road 115 77/77A New Sunday Service 77 &
78
60
Newton, Newton Lane 40 X84 Certain Journeys Diverted
Service 9
3 Journeys per
Day
9.4 Routes still S106 Funded – not Original Development
9.4.1 The size of this category is perhaps credit to the public transport team at WCC
in the way that it is able to use new S106 funding sources to continue the
development of a service when the original funding has run out. These are
shown in Table 5 below. As can be seen three out of the eleven locations have
seen a reduction in frequency with the new funding compared to the original
requirements whilst the remaining eight sites have seen the service provision
maintained.
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Table 5: Renewed S106 Funding (Frequency in minutes)
Location Number of
Dwellings
Current
Service(s)
Original Provision Original
Frequency
Current
Frequency
Long Itchington,
Leamington Road
150 664 Service 664 Diverted 120 120
Southam, Northfield
Road Tesco
Retail 64 New Services from
surrounding villages
N/A 1 per day
Rugby, Coton Park
East
310 1 & 2 New Service D1/D2 30 30
Rugby, Leicester
Road Gateway
1,300 1 & 2 New Service D1/D2 30 30
Southam, Coventry
Road
165 664 & 665 Payment towards
Services 664/665
60 60
Southam, Banbury
Road
236 664 Payment towards
Services 664/665
60 120
Bishops Tachbrook,
Grove Farm
412 U1 Service U1 extended 15 15
Warwick, Lower
Heathcote Farm
935 U1 Service U1 extended 15 15
Long Itchington,
Stockton Road
225 664 Payment towards
Service 664
120 120
Southam, Daventry
Road
535 665 Payment towards
Services 664/665
60 120
Wharf Farm, Crick
Road
380 D1 & D2 New service D1/D2 30 30
9.5 No Longer S106 Funded – Reduced Provision
9.5.1 There are four previously S106 funded schemes which have seen a reduction
in service provision, as shown in Table 6. Three of the routes still receive some
level of subsidy which indicates that even at a reduced provision the services
are still not commercially viable.
Table 6: No S106 Reduced Provision
Location Number of Dwellings
Current Service(s)
Original Provision Original Frequency
Current Frequency
Subsidy?
Stratford
Bridgetown, Trinity
Mead
112 Stratford 4 New service 222
Introduced (Now 4)
20 30 Part
South West Warwick,
Chase Meadow
282 Warwick 15
(& 16)
Service 68 (Now
15)
30 60 No
King Edward
Hospital, Hatton
108 Warwick 16 New service 68
(Now 16)
30 120 Yes
Hams Hall,
Sainsbury’s
Employ-
ment
X70 New extensive
network of services
4 per Hour 4 per day Yes
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9.6 No Longer S106 Funded –Same Provision
9.6.1 Encouragingly there are eight routes which are no longer receiving S106
funding but still provide the same level of service to the relevant site. As
shown in Table 7 five of these are provided without subsidy.
Table 7: Sites no Longer S106 Funded but Same Provision
Location Number of Dwellings
Current Service(s)
Original Provision Current Frequency
Subsidy?
Tilemans Lane,
Shipston
80 3A New service 480 from
Shipston to Banbury
5 journeys
per day
Yes
Walsingham Drive,
Nuneaton
300 79 Service 79 Diverted 120 Yes
Exhall, Blackhorse
Road
Employment 78 Service 78 Diverted 60 Yes
Emscote Lawn /
Portobello, Warwick
286 X17 Increased frequency on
Emscote Road X17
20 No
Bishopton / Toll
House, Stratford
500 X20 Increased frequency
X20
60 No
Wolston Business Park Employment 86 Increased frequency 86 30 No
Back Lane, Long
Lawford
208 86 Service 86 diverted 30 No
Birch Coppice Employment 766 New Service 766 120 No
9.7 No Longer S106 Funded – Increased Provision
9.7.1 Three locations have seen an increase in service provision since the end of
S106 funding support. As shown in Table 8 they differ in regards to receiving
on going subsidy from WCC, the financial support for the 67 covers the cost of
the increased frequency.
Table 8: Sites no Longer S106 Funded Provision Increased
Location Number of
Dwellings
Current
Service(s)
Original
Provision
Original
Frequency
Current
Frequency
Subsidy?
Sydenham,
Green Farm
40? 67/67A Extended
service 67
30 15 Part
Spa Park,
Leamington Spa
Employ-
ment
U1 Additional
Journeys 665
Additional
Journeys
15 Part
Rugby College 131 4 New Service
D1/D2
30 15 No
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9.8 Correlation between Site Size and S106 Success
9.8.1 There appears to be little correlation between the size of the site and the
likelihood of Section 106 funding being a success. It appears that there are
other factors at work instead. However the sites which are no longer S106
funded and have seen the service provision reduced appear to have been over
provided for in the first place.
9.8.2 There seems to be no clear link between the size of the site and the frequency
of the service funded by S106. For example the S106 funding from the 286
dwellings at Emscote Lawn, Warwick was used to increase service X17 to
every 20 minutes past the site, whilst the funds from 300 dwellings at
Walsingham Drive, Nuneaton was used to divert a two hourly services into the
site. The latter appears to be an under provision of service compared to the
former and indeed other sites which have fewer dwellings but a more frequent
bus service.
9.8.3 The relationship is probably more practical than a direct link between size of
development and bus use. Which services can be provided or diverted at least
cost? Plus, of course, the nature of the development will reflect the
demographics and the likelihood of its residents being bus users.
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10Section 106 Funding - Best Practice 10
10.1 Introduction
10.1.1 This chapter looks not only at the best practice for kick starting a bus service
using section 106 funding but also how to ensure buses are at the heart of any
new development.
10.2 The Design of the Development
Introduction
10.2.1 Ensuring that a new development is bus friendly is vital to giving the bus
service(s) which serves the development the best chance of becoming
commercially sustainable. Two key documents have been released in recent
years highlighting this need, these are:
a) Stagecoach Group’s guide to Bus Services & New Residential Developments
(2017)18; and
b) Chartered Institute for Highways and Transportation guide to Buses in
Urban Developments (2018)19.
10.2.2 The first thing to deal with is to ensure that the developer has actively
designed bus provision into the design of the development. This design fits
into two categories, the physical highway design and the internal road
configuration.
Physical Highway Design
10.2.3 The crux of the matter is ensuring that the roads along a designated bus route
are actually suitable for a bus to pass along and crucially for two buses to
safely pass each other if required. This means that the carriageway should be:
No less than 6.5m wide;
Kept clear of parked cars, either through designated parking not included in
the carriageway width or parking restrictions; and
As straight as possible, avoiding unnecessary wiggles.
10.2.4 The wiggles designed into a spine route through a development are often to
deter speeding, this can be done just as effectively through other measures
such as speed humps or chicanes which should be designed with the safe
passage of buses in mind.
18 https://www.stagecoach.com/~/media/Files/S/Stagecoach-Group/Attachments/pdf/bus-services-and-new-residential-developments.pdf 19 https://www.ciht.org.uk/media/4459/buses_ua_tp_full_version_v5.pdf
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10.2.5 Bus stops should be clearly marked on the road with enough room free of
parked cars either side for a bus to be able to pull up in line with the kerb to
allow easy access. There should be a section of raised kerb at the stop to allow
this more easily.
Pedestrian Access
10.2.6 Bus stops should be located near to where people actually want to be. This
means all ‘local amenities’ and houses should be no more than 400m walk
from a bus stop. Although ideally the main bus route should pass through the
houses, developers often like to create a ‘village feel’ with houses in cul-de-
sacs off the main spine road. To account for this there should be well lit
walkways between the residential areas and main road in appropriate places
and the spine road should have footpaths all the way along. Bus stops should
ideally have a shelter even if this is only on the ‘towards town’ side of the
road.
Internal Road Configuration
10.2.7 The configuration of the internal road should be based around what the bus
will actually do and allow the maximum coverage of the site in the most
efficient manner between the entry and exit points of the bus route. This
means the developer should have research on the route being either:
a) The diversion of a current route into the site – this means the entry and
exit points are pre-set;
b) The extension of an existing bus route onto the site – this means the entry
point should be as close to the current terminus as possible; or
c) A brand new route – this will be focused on linking the site to the nearby
large traffic generators such as the town centre, a railway station or a
retail park. The entry and exit points should therefore be determined by
where the route is likely to go outside of the site. If these are different
from the approved Highway authority locations, bus only roads should be
used.
10.2.8 Where a bus friendly route would disrupt the cul-de-sac design or where two
developments adjoin, there should be provision for bus only sections of road.
This is to avoid costly and time consuming double running.
10.2.9 If a bus route is terminating in a development then a one way loop may allow
the greatest coverage of the site. This is acceptable as long as it:
a) Isn’t a significant proportion of the route meaning long journey times for
those on the extreme ends of the loop; or
b) Preventing journeys either to or from amenities within the development.
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10.2.10 If it is either of these, then buses should alternate clockwise and anti-
clockwise around the loop, but these automatically confuse and reduce
frequency.
10.3 What Can Warwickshire County Council Do?
10.3.1 In a Shire County there is a separation of powers and responsibilities for
transport access to new developments. Whilst the County Council is the
highways and local transport authority, the district is the planning authority.
Warwickshire should therefore, jointly with the districts, draw up an approved
set of design guidelines for new housing developments to ensure that they are
sustainable transport friendly.
10.4 Marketing the Service
10.4.1 In order to generate passengers for the bus people need to know it is there,
where it goes, when it goes and how to use it. This means that advertising the
service to new residents is key.
The Development’s Website
10.4.2 Far too many developers ignore public transport links, particularly bus
services, when they market their houses. Property brochures mentioning
‘Good Transport Links’ generally meaning you can easily drive to the nearby
motorway or railway station. Figure Z shows the Barratt Homes website for
Warwick Gates which fails to mention the bus service running every 15
minutes close to the site.
10.4.3 Site plans published on developers (and supporting parties) websites should
include the location of bus stops so that potential residents can see how close
they are to the house they are interested in, and how to access the service if
they become residents.
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Figure Z: Warwick Gates Information
Welcome Pack
10.4.4 When a resident moves in to a new development they generally receive a
welcome pack. Within it should be a copy of the bus timetable (in an attractive
and easy to understand format) and some form of incentive to use the service
such as a free four-week ticket.
Bus Stops
10.4.5 The bus stops and complementary infrastructure such as shelters, seating,
lighting and information provision play a significant part in the marketing and
attractiveness of the service.
10.4.6 If the stop consists of nothing more than a plain flag on a pole in an exposed
and unlit location, with no information or assurance a bus will ever come, the
service is considerably less appealing, even when incentives such as free
travel are offered.
10.4.7 Making the bus stop feel like part of the development, with attractive shelters,
detailed and frequently updated information and branded flags offers security
and comfort, drawing people to the service, rather than acting as a deterrent.
It also engenders a feeling of ownership towards the service, allowing
residents to feel it is ‘their bus’ which encourages use. Being able to have
physical marketing like a poster in clear view that advertises the service,
saying something like “Into Leamington Spa every 15 minutes” serves as a
constant reminder and adds an extra sense of purpose and attractiveness.
Ongoing Marketing
10.4.8 Simply telling new residents about the new service on day one of their
occupancy is insufficient. If they are part of the first phase the bus service
might not be at its optimum level, so every time the timetable changes a copy
should be provided to each household. Additionally, the likelihood of the bus
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service becoming the mode of choice when a resident’s usual form of transport
fails (car breaks down) is significantly reduced, if awareness is not raised
reasonably frequently.
10.4.9 The best way to keep the bus in people’s consciousness is to make it the
central point of the development. Having a clearly marketed bus only route
through the development, highlighting the time and speed benefits, helps it
stand apart. The Installation of, or provision of access to, Real Time departure
screens in every home means that people can easily tell when the next service
is without having to know which app or website to look at and provides an
overall marketing boost by being able to promote the development as an
exceptionally ‘green’ estate.
Branding the Bus
10.4.10 In some locations the buses that serve the development have actually
received specific branding to advertise that. Figure AA below illustrates a Go
North East Quaylink bus which advertises not only the route and frequency but
the fact that it serves the large Great Park development to the north of
Newcastle.
Figure AA: Newcastle Great Park Branding
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Working Together
10.4.11 There should be an impetus on the operator, developer and council(s) to work
together to market the bus service. This means that any change to the service
should be consulted on and highway and other maintenance works planned to
cause least disruption to the bus service as possible.
10.5 Case Studies
North Kent Fastrack
10.5.1 Fastrack started operating in 2006 providing a service linking the new Bridge
development in Dartford to the town centre and Bluewater shopping centre
and Northfleet Railway Station. The service uses a bus only road through the
development with the developer funding a bus-only bridge over the M25.
10.5.2 Fastrack has since expanded to link other developments into Dartford,
Bluewater, Ebbsfleet International station and Gravesend. The routes use a
mixture of bus-only links and on-road bus priority.
10.5.3 Fastrack will be key to the forthcoming 15,000 home development at Ebbsfleet
as well as a new development next to Bluewater. Arriva is currently contracted
to run the service which still receives some developer contribution. The bus
fleet is renewed every few years to ensure that they are up to the latest
standard in regards to emissions and on board features. A Volvo electric
vehicle was trialled on Fastrack a few years ago but no order has been
forthcoming.
Cambridge Guided Busway
10.5.4 The Cambridge Guided Busway is formed of a network of sections of guided
busway to the north, south and west of Cambridge. The main route is along
the former railway line from St Ives into Cambridge which runs past
Cambridge Science Park. A number of Park and Ride sites was built along the
route. The Busway has seen a constant increase in patronage, the most recent
changes in 2020 have seen the introduction of 12 high capacity double deck
buses and peak time frequencies of every 5 minutes. Between 2017 and 2018
patronage rose by a further 6%.
10.5.5 The Busway has been a catalyst for new developments around the Greater
Cambridge area which have been bus friendly. 3,450 homes have been built
as part of the Southern Fringe Development around Trumpington. Nearly
£2.6m of S106 funding went towards building the guided busway which runs
through the heart of the development, with a further £250k in revenue
support20.
20 https://www.transportfornewhomes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Cambridge-Southern-Fringe.pdf
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10.5.6 Northstowe is an in progress development to the North West of Cambridge on
the former airfield site with the aim of building 10,000 homes. When the
Busway was built provision was made for a spur into the development which is
also served by City service 5. The development website has a dedicated travel
page21.
10.6 Summary
10.6.1 One of the principal difficulties with new developments is that different tiers of
local authorities deal with planning (Districts) and public transport (Counties).
Only in unitary authorities is it the same body.
10.6.2 In order to have a chance of being successful, bus services to new
developments need to be considered as part of the heart of the development.
This means that there needs to be:
Research undertaken as part of the site planning to identify which existing
route(s) can be diverted or extended into the site. If there are none
suitable, consider where any new services would link to.
Suitably located access points to the development – bus only access if
needs be;
Suitable width internal roads for the bus to use – again bus only if required;
Attractively located and facilitated bus stops;
A service from day one of occupancy; and
Marketing for the services both at the start of occupancy and ongoing.
21 https://www.northstowe.com/travel
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11Other Options 11
11.1 Use of CIL
11.1.1 The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a fund that developers pay into
but which the council can use to fund schemes which are not directly
connected to the development. Generally, however, this involves upgrading
road infrastructure around the development.
11.1.2 There are a number of ways that CIL can therefore help bus services:
a) Improve general road capacity or a junction to reduce congestion – this
helps bus services indirectly;
b) Provide bus priority measures along the route that the bus serving the site
will use – this is the same as a) but is focused solely on helping buses
(although it might help cyclists too);
c) Build footways with appropriate lighting from the development to nearby
bus stops;
d) Build a new road or upgrade an existing one to act as a by-pass – although
on the face of it creating a by-pass might not encourage people out of their
car and on to buses it can act as a catalyst for improvements elsewhere.
By creating a suitable alternative route for through traffic a town centre
could be made more bus friendly and only inconvenience motorists who
are driving into the town centre rather than those who need to pass
through.
11.2 Demand Responsive Transport
11.2.1 New developments (both housing and trading) in locations that fall well
outside the current passenger transport network present a range of challenges
for transport planners. Car dependency by those who live and / or work in new
development areas tends to be high, as most development sites are located in
suburban fringes or rural areas and this creates an uncertainty as to the
viability of a bus route.
11.2.2 Residential development that includes ‘social’ or ‘affordable’ housing, may be
seeking to attract residents who are not car owners and who would require an
alternative means of travel. Where the development is of substantial scale,
and where there is an easily identified directional flow (to access amenities
etc.), local bus operators can be invited to pilot services with an expectation of
commercial viability, potentially with initial support. S106 funds might be
available for this purpose.
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11.2.3 Where services have been proved to be commercially unviable, where
commercial bus operators (for whatever reason) are unwilling or not able to
extend services to new areas, or where new developments are of such smaller
scale to suggest that a bus service would never be sustainable, then
unconventional services (CT & DRT) can potentially have a role to play.
11.2.4 However, unlike the commercial market, existing voluntary sector transport
providers are more locally focussed and cannot be assumed to have either the
capacity or the willingness to develop new services. However, experience
elsewhere has indicated that if there is no existing CT operator with whom to
collaborate, it is possible for WCC to start up a new CT operation in
partnership with a local community development agency. Alternatively the
impetus can often come from the community itself, seeking to solve a
collective transport problem. Parish Councils have also been active more
recently in both funding and operating community buses, including those to
service commuters, including school pupils.
11.2.5 CT or DRT approaches to meeting the needs of new development locations
would generally be considered if one or more of the following common causal
factors can be identified (to a greater or lesser degree) in the specific
developments in question:
fully self-sustaining (commercial) bus services have been estimated or
proven to be limited or non-existent;
bus service trials have been mostly subsidised and subsequently either
withdrawn or under threat due to local authority spending restrictions;
many residents in new developments live some distance from any
established bus route;
the age demographic of a particular development (e.g. retirement villages)
suggests an ageing population who may be faced with the prospect of no
longer being able to drive a car;
essential services have been centralised, requiring longer journeys to access
supermarkets and – especially – health care locations.
11.2.6 Some s22 operators do run regular commuter bus services; in practice these
have usually been services that link specific outlying residential areas to a
railway station or bus stop on an arterial route from where passengers
commute into town, but there is nothing to stop a standard commuter bus
service from being operated linking residential areas directly with centres.
Community Buses could well be organised on a co-operative or mutual basis.
11.2.7 The probable critical need for travel from new housing developments will be
peak time links to and from schools, colleges and places of employment. This
cannot be serviced using the existing model of CT or DRT in Warwickshire
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where off-peak middle-of-day capacity is available on the back of Home to
School contracts.
11.2.8 Using CT or DRT for workforce travel to trading estates is possible if done
collectively (i.e. a number of people travelling from the same place at the
same time), and can be useful for shift work that may start or end outside of
bus timetabled hours. The economic viability depends on numbers travelling
and whether the employer is willing to subsidise journeys. It is possible for
employers to co-ordinate lift sharing or collective use of taxis, or even to
contract buses or coaches to meet such need.
11.2.9 The traditional ‘core’ role for CT is providing essential door-to-door journeys
on a pre-booked basis for those with a mobility impairment (generally older
people) for whom other modes of transport are difficult or non-existent. Given
the extent of the Flexi-Bus network it would be likely that this approach could
be adapted to cover any new developments. If this is not viable, then a
volunteer car scheme may be feasible if the local authorities are able to cover
the volunteer’s expenses.
11.2.10 DRT is almost always run on a pre-booked basis and whilst this works well
enough for some trips it does not often find favour with daily commuters.
These services can be better configured as s22 community buses with
timetabled stops. The cost base for a s22 operation is generally only lower
than a commercial subsidy if volunteer drivers are used. Passengers also
benefit from being able to use concessions. Some community buses are
entirely operationally self-supporting and the role of the local authority may be
to provide capital or a vehicle.
11.2.11 Overall, new developments need to be subject to specific localised transport
feasibility and impact planning which should take account of:
existing passenger transport links;
likely levels of car ownership;
overall provision of access (walking, cycling routes);
scale of development;
environmental impact of various modes of travel and likely volumes;
s106 fund availability, and
ability of local transport providers to respond to new areas of need.
11.2.12 Community transport or DRT options may have a part to play in provision for
new development areas but should not be seen as a low-cost backstop if
commercial services prove unsustainable. It is prudent for planning authorities
to consult with transport operators (both commercial and non-commercial) at
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an early stage in the process and for an holistic overview of transport and
mobility needs of new communities to be taken.
11.3 Case Studies
New Lubbesthorpe, Leicester
11.3.1 New Lubbesthorpe is a brand new community located to the west of Leicester
with a mixture of housing and employment sites. In April 2019 it was
announced that the Section 106 money would be used to fund an Arriva Click
DRT service rather than a conventional bus service. The service is available via
the Arriva Click App and runs 06:00 – 23:00 every day. It is operated using 15
seat wheelchair accessible minibuses.
11.3.2 One of the reasons the DRT service was chosen was due to the spread out
nature of the destinations. Figure BB below shows the area covered including
shopping, education and employment opportunities at Foss Park, Leicester city
centre and both universities. Onward travel connections can be made at both
Leicester Railway Station and Narborough Railway Station, along with the two
bus stations within Leicester itself.
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Figure BB: Arriva Click Leicester Map
Camden Shoppa
11.3.3 In 1989 Camden Borough Council stipulated that the new Sainsbury’s store
should be fully accessible including transport to the store. This led to
Sainsbury’s agreeing to fund a Wheelchair accessible minibus and five years of
funding for a Dial-a-Ride service. The funding was up to £73k per year which
today is worth around £197k a year.
Preston Community Transport
11.3.4 In December 2015 Persimmon Homes was given permission to build 112
homes on D’Urton Lane in Broughton at the north side of Preston in an area
between the M6 and M55 Motorways. New housing was required to meet the
government targets set for Preston City Council and this is one of a number of
developments to the north of Preston, around the M55. D’Urton Lane was
previously a quite narrow rural ‘rat run’ (see Figure CC) enabling drivers to go
from the newer industrial zone to the north east of Preston to join the A6
north of the M55 Motorway.
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Figure CC: Narrowness of D’Urton Lane
11.3.5 However, because of serious congestion on the A6 through Broughton village,
a Broughton by-pass was planned (now James Towers Way) and as a result,
D’Urton Lane was diverted further northwards to join the bypass, rather than
the A6, with some access restrictions and a permanent closure to through
traffic around where it passes under the M55 Motorway. The effect of this was
to make it impossible to serve the development with a conventional bus
service. As shown in Figure DD, the red circle indicates the new development.
Figure DD: Location of New Development on D’Urton Lane
11.3.6 This made it difficult to extract any s106 Planning Gain contribution from the
developer towards public passenger transport services because of the
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requirement that any contribution towards community benefit must be
material to the planning consideration for the development in question.
11.3.7 However, it was recognised that community transport services, including social
car schemes and services run under Permits issued under section 19 Transport
Act 1985 for older people and people with disabilities do qualify as ‘public
passenger transport services’ under s63(10) of the 1985 Act. Consequently,
recognising that the development would be geographically isolated and could
attract residents with or who might develop mobility difficulties, a decision was
made to require a contribution towards Preston Community Transport’s
additional operating costs. PCT is supported by Preston City Council, the
planning authority, and receives public transport funding from Lancashire
County Council under a contract to provide a mix of community transport
services in the Greater Preston area.
11.3.8 The agreement was for £30,000, to be paid in three tranches of £10,000
subject to occupation. PCT is leafleting the development and making it clear in
publicity that its core dial-a-ride and car schemes services have been
extended to cover it. It would be fair to say that there was little science behind
the financial calculations and that PCT has found it a challenge to be seen as
associated with the development. PCT is, however, discussing with the
planning staff a more structured approach to future developments which are
too small or too awkward to be served by a bus service. It is particularly
interested in the model where some form of Community Trust is established as
part of the development as this would enable a longer-term relationship to be
established.
11.4 Summary
11.4.1 WCC should investigate using DRT services to serve a new housing estate
where either:
a) The size of the development does not justify a fixed bus route; or
b) There is no obvious single traffic generator meaning a simple fixed bus
route would not cater for the majority of travel demand.
11.4.2 However it should be noted that DRT should not be used as a way of providing
a service to a new estate just to allow the developer not to have to make the
site suitable for a standard bus. Whilst a DRT service provides an attractive
door-to-door offer it cannot replace the turn up and go nature and
reassuringly fixed route of a traditional bus service.
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12Types of Bus Partnerships 12
12.1 Introduction
12.1.1 This section sets out the basic principles of the three bus partnership types
available to local authorities following the Bus Services Act 2017. The three
are:
a) Voluntary Partnership;
b) Advanced Quality Partnership; and
c) Enhanced Partnership.
12.1.2 In addition to this we also include franchising to complete the coverage of the
Bus Service Act 2017.
12.1.3 All partnerships benefit from the combination of local authority and operator,
where for local authorities capital expenditure is easier to justify while revenue
spending is subject to severe restraint while the opposite is true for operators.
12.2 Voluntary Partnerships
12.2.1 Voluntary Partnerships (VPs) were one of the two types of partnerships (along
with Statutory Quality Partnerships) allowed under the Transport Act 2000.
VPs are simple to create and have substantial flexibility. They work best where
an authority already has a positive relationship with the local operator(s), and
can deliver good results in terms of service improvements and increased
passenger numbers.
12.2.2 However, the voluntary nature of the agreement makes withdrawal a relatively
easy matter and enforcement of stated commitments difficult, relying on
reputational damage and any contractual commitments. Thus the local
authority can find itself short of funds to fulfil a commitment or change policy,
while an operator can transfer dedicated vehicles elsewhere or make a
significant service change.
12.2.3 If a partnership is voluntary, there is no way to prevent a non-participating
operator from providing services on a particular corridor, provided that it
complies with the standards contained in national legislation. Where it is
desired to co-ordinate the services of more than one operator, a Qualifying
Agreement is required. VPs tend to be focussed on one particular corridor or
infrastructure enhancement but can be area-wide - as in Sheffield, for
example.
12.2.4 With all types of Partnerships the infrastructure is usually paid for by the local
authority whilst the bus operator covers the cost of improved vehicles, service
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levels, etc. Government grants such as the Low Emission Bus Fund are often
available.
Implementation Process and Timescale
12.2.5 There is no time limit set for VPs and the timescales involved can be designed
in order for the parties to fulfil, or start to fulfil, their obligations.
Service, Network and Fare Changes
12.2.6 This all depends on the content of the VP. If the partnership is focussed on the
age and / or quality of the vehicles, operators will still be free to make
changes to their own services, networks and fares. However the partnership
may include one or more of the following:
Restriction on the number of standard services changes a year – e.g. four
standard service change dates per year;
but this is one of the most regular casualties with local authorities
changing contracts on a ‘non-approved’ date, and operators making other
changes (usually to improve reliability);
Set times of operation and minimum frequency of specific routes;
The ability of the local authority to react and feedback on a proposed
service change or request specific changes to commercial services; and
Agreement about ticket types available.
12.2.7 Note that fare levels are not included, these can only be agreed separately if
they satisfy the terms of the Ticketing Block Exemption or meet the necessary
competition test under a ‘Qualifying Agreement’.
12.2.8 Despite the identified shortcomings, there is little under the more formal
partnerships that cannot be achieved on a voluntary basis, plus, of course,
there is much more flexibility. The most successful voluntary partnerships
function at two levels – senior bus company managers and senior council
officers or executives agree principles and strategy, while local managers and
council officers deal with the detailed aspects.
12.3 Advanced Quality Partnerships
12.3.1 In the Bus Services Act 2017 Advanced Quality Partnerships (AQPs)
automatically replaced existing Statutory Quality Partnerships set up using the
Transport Act 2000. There is a trade-off of benefits and sacrifices between an
existing Statutory Quality Partnership and an AQP. This being that Local
Transport Authorities (LTAs) are no longer required to provide facilities such as
a new bus station or bus lanes as their contribution to the AQP, but they can
now undertake a wider range of measures as part of the partnership which
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indirectly improve bus services e.g. building a new road to reduce congestion
at a key junction. Note the change in wording from ‘must’ to ‘can’ implicit in
this. There is no longer any obligation on LTAs to do anything at all.
12.3.2 Although WCC no longer needs to provide facilities as part of the AQP, it is
clear from the operator consultation, that they would only sign up to an AQP if
there was a significant investment in infrastructure.
12.3.3 Conversely, the range of requirements that can be imposed on operators has
increased to include:
The specification of smart ticketing as part of any multi-operator scheme;
How bus services are marketed; and
How information on fares and ticketing is distributed.
Implementation Process and Timescale
12.3.4 An AQP in England can take as little as eighteen weeks between publication of
the notice of intention and the confirmation of the final scheme. This includes
four weeks for operators to object and a 13-week public consultation period. If
an operator’s objection is upheld by the Traffic Commissioner then the process
is delayed until the LTA can prove it has addressed the issue. The actual
implementation timescale will then be based on what is included in the AQP
and how it is proposed to be introduced. For example, if all operators have to
have their whole fleet as minimum Euro V compliant, that will need a longer
period than if only 50% has to be compliant for the partnership to commence.
12.4 Enhanced Partnerships
12.4.1 Enhanced Partnerships (EPs) are a halfway house between an AQP and
franchising. Note that EPs apply to a defined area and do not necessarily have
to have boundaries coterminous with LTA boundaries.
12.4.2 An EP gives the LTA(s) the ability to take over the service registration function
of the Traffic Commissioner for a set area, e.g. all services which enter the
Warwick and Leamington area, which again does not have to be coterminous
with an LTA boundary.
12.4.3 A plan for the EP would be created jointly by the LTA(s) involved and any bus
operator interested in the planned scheme. Once created the EP Plan would be
put out to public consultation and include the Competition and Markets
Authority as a consultee. Not all bus operators have to be in favour for the EP
to proceed, however all have to be invited to contribute to the plan and a yet
to be defined proportion of affected operators has to agree with the scheme
before it can go ahead.
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12.4.4 There is no doubt, however, that although the operators will be able to
continue in business under an EP their commercial freedom is significantly
curtailed.
Implementation Process and Timescale
12.4.5 The process of creating an EP starts with the local authority issuing a Notice of
Intention and Invitation to Participate. Even if an operator within the area the
EP will apply to does not wish to be involved at the start, it has to be kept
informed of progress in case it wishes to participate later on or, of course,
object to the scheme.
12.4.6 There is no defined timescale for implementing an EP; it depends on the
agreements between operators and the local authority. The Partnership Board
is responsible for agreeing the content of the two key documents required to
form an EP, these being:
a) An EP Plan – this sets out the high level view of the EP: area covered,
current situation, timescales, objectives of the EP and interaction with
neighbouring authorities; and
b) An EP Scheme – although repeating some of the EP Plan, this gives the
detailed specification of what is required by the operators and the local
authority including details of vehicle specification, fare types, service levels
and infrastructure provision.
12.4.7 Operators should be given at least 28 days to object following the publication
of the documents. The EP can proceed to the public consultation stage as long
as more than half of operators representing more than 75% of scheduled
mileage agree to the scheme.
Service, Network and Fare Changes
12.4.8 An EP is not designed to specify routes and frequencies for every single
service, however it does have a number of functions around this:
Specifying service change dates;
Specifying a different service change notice period if desired;
Agreeing common branding or livery if required;
Co-ordinating service timetables on joint corridors or at interchange points;
and
Specifying minimum frequencies on corridors or key routes at different
times of day.
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12.4.9 An EP has more ability to influence fares than a VP or AQP. This is because an
EP can set the specific types of ticket that should be made available on certain
routes, corridors or in certain areas. This includes:
Design and agreement on a fare scheme to apply in the EP area;
Types of ticket such as through, multi-operator and multi-journey ticketing
and pay-as-you-go capping;
Specific tickets for defined social or economic groups, such as 16-25 year
olds or job seekers; and
Ticket types for different times of day, e.g. peaks or evenings.
12.4.10 To comply with competition law, the EP can only set the prices of multi-
operator tickets, either absolutely or as a cap. Operators are able to object to
the Competition & Markets Authority if they feel that the price set is not
commercially viable or gives certain operators a commercial advantage.
12.5 Franchising
12.5.1 This is of course not a partnership and would require a lot of funding from the
local authority, but can be used as a guide in setting up a partnership on the
basis of “This is what we’d do with a franchise, how can you, as an operator,
meet some of these ambitions in a partnership?”
12.5.2 Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Bus Services Act 2017 is the
ability for a Combined Authority with an elected Mayor to set up a franchising
scheme in a much less bureaucratic way than the similar Quality Contract
Schemes enabled by the Transport Act 2000. Note (importantly) that the Act
also repealed the QC legislation which applied to all local authorities.
12.5.3 Other types of LTA (singly or jointly) can apply to set up a franchise system,
but it will proceed only if consent is given by the Secretary of State and the
LTA must be able to prove that:
A franchise scheme would be the only way to improve bus services within
the affected area;
The proposed scheme will be affordable and offer value for money using HM
Treasury’s ‘Green Book’ process; and
The aims of the proposed scheme are achievable.
The associated Statutory Instruments from DfT are carefully worded but
clearly set against franchise applications from smaller authorities.
12.5.4 A franchise does not require operator consent and, the Act says, the affected
operators are not entitled to compensation for the loss in business, although
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this is certain to result in a legal challenge. All services which operate for a
majority of their route within the franchising area will automatically become
part of the scheme. It is possible, however, that services which operate
substantially outside the area could be included in the franchise. There is no
satisfactory answer to how cross-boundary services are handled under
franchising. It remains an ongoing issue at the boundaries of Transport for
London’s network.
12.5.5 Operators which run services into the scheme area which are not counted as
being of a majority in that area are required to apply for a licence to continue
to operate into the franchise zone. This licence could restrict the level of
service or stopping pattern within the scheme area. Potentially this has a
major effect on services outside the franchised area. If, for example, the
Coventry network was franchised, the impact on cross-boundary operations
into Warwickshire could have very negative effects. Conversely, some services
originating in Coventry and crossing the boundary could be included in the
franchise. Fares and service levels in Leamington and Warwick might be
decided by the West Midlands Mayor.
12.5.6 The LTA would have the power to set out:
Route, frequency and operating hours of each service;
Fares, ticketing products and method of payment;
Minimum Vehicle requirements including:
Vehicle age, environmental credentials and on-board features such as Wi-
Fi and next stop announcements; and
How the scheme is managed, e.g.:
How large each contract is – individual routes, areas, depots or even the
entire scheme as one contract and
How long a contract lasts for – this has to be a maximum of seven years.
Treating Contracted Services as a Franchise
12.5.7 A number of shire counties have tendered their entire supported network as
either one package or a number of inter-related packages. The most recent is
Cornwall where Go-Ahead’s Go Cornwall operation took over the entire
tendered public service network on 29th March, mainly from incumbent
operator First Kernow. Go-Ahead has experience of this previously when its
Damory operation took over Dorset County Council’s tendered bus network. In
both cases it sub-contracted a number of routes to other operators. In Dorset
this involved Community Transport operations.
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12.5.8 The main advantage of treating a tendered network in this way is the ability to
launch the network as a whole allowing for:
A planned co-ordinated network from day one;
The use of a brand or sub brand across all routes;
A reduced number of operators to deal with – even if it subcontracts the
LTA still only deals with the one operator;
Multi-journey tickets valid across all contracted services without having to
set up a multi-operator ticketing scheme; and
Fare levels and frequencies can be set to attract passengers rather than
awarding contracts on a strict monetary basis.
12.5.9 The disadvantages include:
An over-reliance on the one operator, if that contractor fails the LTA has a
major problem (as with ATG in West Midlands, Veolia in Powys);
Interaction with the commercial network is dependent on the willingness of
commercial operators – this may reduce if the operators feel the LTA is
trying to undermine them with low fares, overlapping services etc.;
The ‘block’ contract introduces a second operator on a service which is
partly commercial (with associated ticketing issues) where the main
incumbent operator might be the most cost effective.
Failure to accompany the change with multi-operator tickets so that the
‘network’ is effectively split;
Publicity and information can be totally split between commercial and
tendered services – the LTA effectively ignores the commercial network
while the commercial operator fails to publicise tendered journeys etc.;
The network is open to political interference – always a view that someone
else is getting a better deal; and
Requires a commitment from the LTA to invest the money with limited
revenue return, if it is more expensive than expected or funding is cut,
where does the extra money or savings come from?
12.6 Summary
12.6.1 The three types of partnerships offer different scope for size and party
involvement. The one which is chosen will depend on a number of different
factors including:
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Relationship (and trust) between operator(s) and local authority;
Geographical size of the partnership; and
The actual content of a partnership desired by the parties.
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13Partnership Best Practice 13
13.1 Guidance
13.1.1 The premise of the best practice guidance TAS wrote for the DfT is that
“partnership working can, indeed, help to mitigate the negative impacts of
reduced public finance.” Aspects of productive partnerships are summarised as
follows:
Operators and transport authorities should be recognised as natural
partners and play an equal part in maintaining effective bus services – both
parties should recognise the wider strategic links of bus services to
economic and social development;
A key shared objective of partners is to grow the bus market in the face of
car usage – this largely relies upon maintaining satisfaction levels among
existing passengers, improving services to attract new users and ensuring
wider understanding of the bus network, routes and fares etc.;
An effective partnership requires clear understanding of objectives and
tangible outputs, how to achieve these, how to measure them and how and
when success can be judged. A general aspiration towards improvement is
less beneficial than a plan which defines weaknesses and shortcomings and
then details implementation measures to deal with them, with defined
timescales, delivery means and responsible bodies;
A partnership must base its actions on a clear understanding of what local
people want from their bus service – it must, therefore, develop effective
means of engagement and consultation with the customer;
Quality and service standards should be agreed around vehicles, frequency
and service timings, fares, driver training, ticketing options and information
systems;
The strengths and limitations of the partnership arrangements should be
understood and especially the different status of the voluntary partnership
and statutory partnership;
A range of challenges to partnership working can be overcome by creating a
robust partnership and making it work (which should not be
underestimated) and delivering the practical measures which will achieve
the agreed outputs. The guidance includes a number of principles aimed at
sustaining the effectiveness of the partnership;
Information is emphasised as a vital strategic tool – a partnership needs to
collect useful data (whilst being aware of commercial sensitivities and
competition law restrictions);
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Both main operators have agreed to share patronage data as part of the
review and this could be an ongoing agreement to share patronage
information at service level.
There needs to be an means of assessing success – fundamentally this
should involve measurable outcomes relating to:
Economic situation (local, regional and national)
Patronage, performance and affordability of bus network as evidenced by
customer satisfaction levels;
Scale of investment in the bus network and its impact on service quality,
journey performance, vehicle quality and emissions;
Marketing and public information;
A partnership should focus its actions on component parts, typically defining
areas of improvement across promotional activities, place and environment,
the bus ‘product’ and the price;
It is recognised that the size, focus and scale of objectives of partnerships
will vary and be determined by local conditions and needs;
Partnerships should be aware of Competition Law and the limitations this
might impose, although the restrictions imposed are far less draconian than
is often thought;
Good communications with all parties is recognised as essential for a
successful partnership – this applies on many levels including frequency of
meetings (formal and informal), consultation with wider stakeholders,
communicating objectives and actions. Public consultation is critical to the
setting up and ongoing of the partnership and the need to keep passenger
needs at the centre of activities.
13.1.2 The guidance concludes with a short list of ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’, as follows:
“DO:
Make communication a core and regular activity for the partnership, both
internally and externally.
Aim to gain maximum benefit from all communications and don’t treat it as
a box-ticking exercise.
Consult widely, proportionately and positively on all relevant proposals,
using appropriate and non-discriminatory channels.
Apply branding on a case-by-case basis and tailor it to the needs of the
local area, community and partnership to be most effective.
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Use a light-touch approach for internal branding and identity amongst
stakeholders.
DON’T:
Let poor communication spoil a good partnership.
Assume that communicating with one part of a large organisation will be
sufficient – it may require an approach at several levels.
Create partnership branding for the sake of it, if it makes no difference to
the customer and does not enhance the services in any way.
Confuse the internal identity of the partnership with the outward, public-
facing brand.”
13.2 Case Study – West Midlands Bus Alliance
13.2.1 The 2015 West Midlands Bus Alliance was developed with the idea of bringing
together influence from different areas including bus operators, the police,
CPT, councils and the government. The West Midlands has recently reported a
growth in bus patronage of around eight million trips per year.
National Express
13.2.2 National Express is the largest operator within the partnership and therefore
proposes most of the network changes required. Larger network changes
involve TfWM consultation and public consultation at least seventy days before
the intended change. This may also be the case involving fares but the
representative from National Express was unsure.
13.2.3 Positives of the scheme for National Express include the reduction in areas of
conflict as it feels that all parties are heading in the same direction towards
common goals. The customer is often positioned at the forefront of these
common goals which ultimately is the best way to improve customer
satisfaction. It was also noted that there is a good working relationship
between all parties.
13.2.4 Negatives include the feeling that TfWM can get nervous of change which
slows the process down and this can occasionally cause tension. It is felt that
TfWM don’t like doing consultations jointly with National Express partly
because of this. There is also a feeling that Buses aren’t usually a priority for
TfWM – TfWM invested in the extension of the tram network which of course
has impacts on the bus network and its patronage and there is an emphasis on
rail services.
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West Midlands Combined Authority/TfWM
13.2.5 TfWM tries to collaborate with other members of the partnership when it
comes to funding and attempts have been made previously to secure funding
from the DFT for vehicles. TfWM also charges operators for Bus Station and
roadside information provision at a cost to the operators of £2.2 million per
year, although there is a 12 month break from these charges if the operators
use this to retrofit vehicles to improve emissions standards. Currently there is
no joint marketing budget but this is something it wants to achieve in the
future.
13.2.6 TfWM occasionally suggests Network changes and currently it has one in the
pipeline. However changes are usually operator led, these proposals are
discussed with TfWM which acts as a mediator should it need to. “Larger”
operator-led changes are usually led by National Express in a joint
consultation seventy days before the proposed change.
13.2.7 Similarly to other partnerships we have covered, one of the positives is that
there is a general feeling that the partnership will continue after the initial
agreement expires. TfWM is confident that all parties will want to continue in
2020 after expiry of the five year agreement. TfWM also noted the positivity of
having partners from a number of different backgrounds and industries in the
partnership which can provide different views and perspectives.
13.2.8 Decreasing patronage is a national issue but TfWM had a goal to increase
patronage by 5% which unfortunately it didn’t meet. The main negative of
having a goal-based model can be that the scheme could be seen as a failure
if it doesn’t meet the goals and undermined as a result.
Future Regime at TfWM
13.2.9 Currently, TfWM is wholly supportive of its Bus Alliance and shows no apparent
appetite for franchising. However, as has happened in Merseyside, this could
change in the longer term. If the Mayoral policy changes to favour franchising
WCC could expect to see a souring of relationships between operators and
TfWM which would impact on cross-border relationships.
13.2.10 If West Midlands does adopt franchising in the longer term then the impact
upon cross-boundary services will be significant, with restrictions on services
crossing into West Midlands from Warwickshire and the distinct likelihood that
some services franchised by TfWM will cross into Warwickshire. A further
possibility is that TfWM might franchise some route sections only within its
own boundary, leaving Warwickshire to replace the other sections.
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13.3 Case Study – Merseyside
13.3.1 The Merseyside Bus Alliance is a partnership formed in 2016 born out of good
working relationships which already existed in the region. The partnership is
made up of Merseytravel, Arriva, Cumfy Bus and Stagecoach.
13.3.2 The partnership brings together common goals and standards which each
party adheres to. The partnership works collaboratively when it comes to
funding and there is an understanding that the amount pledged expected from
each member for joint tasks such as marketing is reflected in their market
share. Operators also fund things that will have benefits for the whole
partnership which may include the maintenance of ticket machines.
13.3.3 Any changes to the Network are fully consulted with members of the
partnership and the public if it’s a “major” change. Meetings are also held
monthly to discuss a number of subjects which include marketing and how to
tackle traffic congestion. One of the key positives of this partnership is that
the everyday working relationship works well as there is a real sense of
synergy throughout the partnership.
13.3.4 The partnership took twelve months to put together, a length of time which
presented an immediate negative. Similar to other major cities in the UK
Liverpool has areas which are highly congested which presents a major issue.
The PTE feels like it has little control over congestion and that little funding
goes into combating it.
13.4 Case Study – Scottish Borders
13.4.1 This is a new partnership between Scottish Borders Council and bus operator
Borders Buses (part of the West Coast Motors group). The bus operator will
take over the five core subsidised routes in the Borders network, the aim
being to move these to a near commercial footing over time. In return the
council will invest the approximately £4m saved into improving infrastructure
including RTI and bus priority measures.
13.5 Case Study – Hertfordshire
13.5.1 Hertfordshire has long been a beacon authority when it comes to encouraging
public transport use. The Intalink Partnership between the county council, bus
and rail operators and district councils has been providing public transport
information alongside a range of multi-operator and multi-modal ticketing for
some years. Hertfordshire is the first LTA to implement an Enhanced
Partnership. The new Enhanced Partnership will allow this work to expand into
infrastructure, service planning and delivery.
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13.5.2 The associated Intalink Bus Strategy published in September 2019 outlines the
following key aims:
a) Prioritising bus services in traffic – this will be done by identifying
bottlenecks, creating a long term package of measures and increasing
awareness and support around roadworks;
b) Improving the image of bus travel – this will involve specifying minimum
performance and vehicle standards, developing a sustained marketing plan
and creating a common Intalink brand which will be prominent but not
overshadow existing corporate brands;
c) Upgrading bus infrastructure – currently only 21% of stops in Hertfordshire
have Kassel kerbs whilst 33% have shelters. Infrastructure will be
upgraded on a corridor by corridor basis alongside operator lead
enhancements.
d) Closer integration of the bus network – this will involve building on the
existing multi-operator range to enhance it, providing greater co-operation
between bus and rail operators and increased co-ordination on publicity;
and
e) Smarter use of data and information – this will involve expanding the
provision of RTI at bus stops, upgrading the Intalink website and app,
collaborative working between parties in planning for new developments
and piloting new emerging technologies such as Mobility as a Service.
13.6 Summary
13.6.1 Partnerships take time to be developed and to see results, so patience from all
parties is key. The working relationship between the parties also needs to be
good in order to gain the most benefits, if one does not trust the other then it
is hard for the crucial yet riskier parts to be taken forward.
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14Open Data and Bus Conference 14
14.1 Introduction
14.1.1 As part of our remit we were asked to find out what bus operators in
Warwickshire were doing regarding Open Data and their opinion on how WCC
could get involved. There was also a desire to hold a bus conference and thus
we asked operators for their opinion on this and how it should be structured.
14.2 Open Data
14.2.1 Four of the operators consulted were dealing with the Open Data process at
group level so had limited information beyond what they have supplied
internally. The fifth is in the process of submitting its data.
14.2.2 It was felt in general that it was best to leave the development of apps to third
parties but that WCC could buy into the technology from these companies.
14.2.3 One operator felt that an area in which WCC should be looking for open data
although not as part of the DfT scheme is with patronage figures. WCC should
mandate in its contract for tendered services that operators have to share
patronage data with the council as part of the monitoring process.
14.3 Warwickshire Bus Conference
14.3.1 Four of the five operators consulted were in support of a Warwickshire Bus
Conference. There was a general consensus that it should be by invitation only
with county highways, the district councils and national passenger groups
(e.g. Bus Users UK) invited alongside the WCC transport team and bus
operators. One operator did point out that passengers as the service users
shouldn’t be ignored.
14.3.2 It was suggested that the event should take place once WCC’s budget had
been finalised so that the transport team could present its plans for the
coming financial year. In return operators would present their plans for the
year to come (as far as can be allowed under competition law and commercial
confidentiality). Other areas for discussion could include:
Forthcoming major roadworks;
Medium to long term highway developments;
Forthcoming new housing developments; and
Congestion hotspots and other highways issues.
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14.4 Summary
14.4.1 Operators are on the whole supportive of a Warwickshire Bus Conference but
feel that WCC should stay out of Open Bus Data for now.
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15What Resources does WCC Need? 15
15.1 Introduction
15.1.1 This section looks at the key areas that require more resources for WCC in
order to help achieve the aim of increase bus patronage. This covers funding
for infrastructure, funding for new supported services and a new position of
employment within the Transport Team.
15.2 More Funding
15.2.1 Put simply, in order to deliver a better bus service which will attract people out
of their cars WCC will require more money. This can be broken down into two
streams:
a) Capital Budget – in order to provide both the bus priority needed and to
improve the quality of certain bus stops and interchanges; and
b) Revenue Budget – the current budget will need expanding even if it is just
to act as a kick-start fund in order to:
Maintain infrastructure;
Introduce new routes;
Increase frequencies both on tendered services and via deminimis on
commercial services; and
Reduce the fares on tendered services.
15.3 Partnership Officer
15.3.1 This can start out as an extension of someone’s existing role but if WCC
wishes to have partnerships which cover much of the county it will probably
require a dedicated member of staff. The main role of the Partnership Officer
would be to act as a central point of contact liaising with operators, council
officers from different departments and other stakeholders. They would also
undertake the monitoring element of the partnership and report to the
relevant WCC Officers and Members regarding the performance of the
partnership(s).
15.4 Summary
15.4.1 WCC needs to commit more funding to supporting bus services and
infrastructure if it is to be successful in its aim of encouraging greater bus use.
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16Bus Strategies 16
16.1 Introduction
16.1.1 This section looks at a number of strategies published by WCC and other
groups on the future of bus services.
16.2 The Future of the Bus Report
16.2.1 Campaign for Better Transport (C4BT) published its ‘The Future of the Bus’
report in September 2019.
Key Points
16.2.2 The headline point of the report is that due to changing financial
circumstances more communities are becoming isolated due to the withdrawal
of public transport. This leads to:
A poorer living environment;
An increase in people suffering from loneliness;
An increase in the cost of living due to the need to use the car more and
even own an extra car;
Closure of retail, leisure and even health facilities as demand falls due to
poor access for non-car owners and
In rural areas bus use has declined by more than 10% over ten years.
16.2.3 C4BT claims that bus fares have risen by 60% between 2009 and 2019,
however the TAS National Fares Survey 2019 found that the average single
fare over three miles has risen by 42% since 2009 whilst the average weekly
fare (used by commuters) had only increased by 31% since 2009. CPI only
increased by around 4% over the period.
16.2.4 The report states that only 6.2% of buses on the UK’s roads are low emission,
however this is from the government’s ‘Road to Zero’ report published in July
2018, based then on historic data, and thus will not take into account the
influx of new vehicles since then.
Proposals
16.2.5 The crux of the report is to call for a National Bus Strategy which should:
a) Increase usage of bus services nationwide;
b) Improve integration between public transport modes;
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c) Set a strategy for introducing zero emission buses; and
d) Improve services via technology
16.2.6 To insure these aims are met the report calls for a continuous funding stream
at both local and national levels. With regard to local funding the report
suggests that the Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG), concessionary travel
budget, NHS patient transport, school transport and social service transport
funding are combined into one revenue stream. This would be alongside a
capital fund. Each local authority should have to draw up a ‘Bus Investment
Plan’ which sets out how and where the money will be spent.
16.2.7 The report proposes reducing fares through:
A standard fare discount level for under 19s either commercially or part
funded (especially if free travel is offered);
Compelling operators to join a Smart Ticketing scheme,
Operators often refuse to join due to costs, particularly if smartcards are
involved. If they were compelled to participate they may withdraw more
marginal services;
Introduce a Mobility Credit scheme for drivers willing to drive less or trade
in their car;
Trial of some low fare areas (or even free travel areas) with either national
or local government funding towards it.
16.2.8 The report recognises that there is a high cost to providing a comprehensive
bus network in rural areas and acknowledges that any attempt to improve
service provision may require Kickstart funding from central government.
16.2.9 The report is quite vague on what should happen in rural areas. The text hints
at having a franchised type of network of rural contracted services using a
single brand and with a multi-operator ticketing scheme. A franchise appears
to be an expensive and bureaucratic way to achieve this. If nearly all rural
services are funded by the LTA it is perfectly feasible for contracts to specify
branding and acceptance of multi-operator tickets without the need for a
franchise. A rural franchise would also automatically block any operator-led
initiatives.
16.3 Warwickshire County Council Plan 2020 – 2025
16.3.1 This report, which has been out to consultation, touches on public transport in
general. The aim by 2025 is to have a transport network that is fit for purpose
including the reduction in journey times on the highways network, yet it is
unclear how this is to be achieved. However by reducing the number of cars
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on the road those who still need to use their own vehicle should have a less
congested journey.
16.3.2 There is a focus on encouraging people to use sustainable transport methods
by making it easier to do so and to change between modes. This is also part of
the plan to tackle climate change and increase the use of electric vehicles.
Consultation Responses
16.3.3 The responses to the consultation on the Warwickshire County Council Plan
regarding public transport can be broken down into six categories:
a) The desire for easier to access and clearer information regarding bus times
and fares;
b) A desire for cheaper fares, especially for groups and multi-modal journeys;
c) Support for bus priority including making Leamington Parade bus only;
d) The lack of direct or indeed any bus service, mainly focused on:
Access to hospitals;
Cross Rugby links;
Better and more frequent provision in rural areas; and
Better connections to railway stations; but
No mention of evening and Sunday service levels.
e) Reducing the overall Carbon Footprint of transport in Warwickshire
through:
Introduction of electric buses;
Creating Park and Ride sites; and
Increasing service provision to be more attractive.
f) Increase the use of public transport by schoolchildren by:
Reintroducing bus passes; and
Providing a more comprehensive network of school bus services.
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16.4 Warwickshire Draft Bus Strategy 2019 – 2034
16.4.1 This strategy rightly identifies the significant challenges to reversing the
decline in bus patronage, these being:
a) Congestion, especially in urban areas;
b) High car ownership;
c) Rise in online shopping and the decline of the high street;
d) Shift to other forms of transport such as rail and Uber; and
e) Reduction in Local Authority funding.
16.4.2 The aims of the strategy are to improve the reach of the bus network and the
attractiveness of bus services through reduced journey times, higher quality
vehicles and new technology.
16.4.3 It is positive that the strategies set out for each area are based around a
continued investment in bus priority and working with developers to ensure
that new housing developments have bus services integrated into them.
16.4.4 The focus on the introduction of cross-town BRT services in Rugby is
particularly interesting. Although it does not go into much detail regarding the
bus / rail interchange at Rugby station or the location of bus priorities, in the
author’s opinion the locations such as the road link under Rugby station and
the town centre bus stops might be candidates for bus, taxi and emergency
service access only. The most appropriate site for the Rugby Bus Station
would be on the current Stagecoach depot site next to the railway station.
16.5 Summary
16.5.1 Whilst the ‘Future of the Bus’ report has some valid points and good ideas,
such as compelling local authorities to publish a bus investment plan, it also
contains some of the usual misconceptions about bus services. A more
integrated network between modes is wonderful on paper but does not take
into account the issues faced by bus operators when rail operators change
their timetables, or indeed the case in Warwickshire where bus and rail
compete over key corridors. Work carried out by TAS in Wales in 2020 in fact
showed that bus passengers do not place bus/rail integration high on their list
of priorities. In addition, diverting buses to serve railway stations can lengthen
bus journeys or divert them away from major traffic objectives.
16.5.2 The two WCC publications reflect the challenges faced by bus operators in the
pre-Covid 19 environment. Desired travel destinations are more spread out
than they once were making conventional bus networks less efficient in
moving people around. This is coupled with the closure of many high street
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shops resulting in fewer workers and shoppers. Strategies need to look beyond
just the bus and at the wider economic plan to ensure that new health,
employment, retail and leisured facilities are not built on green field sites but
closer to existing higher frequency bus routes. There is an increasing desire
for limitations on traffic in town centres and the Post Covid-19 era seems to
likely to lead to pressure for more pedestrian and cycle space.
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17Current and Future Government Funding 17
17.1 Introduction
17.1.1 Due to circumstances beyond our control the hoped for consultation with the
Department for Transport (DfT) has not happened. This section instead takes
a quick look at what we know so far from various Government
announcements.
17.2 Current Funding – Better Bus
17.2.1 In September 2019 the Government announced over £220m would be made
available for improving local bus services, this included:
£70m to pilot Superbus areas where there is extensive bus priority and or a
low fare zone;
£50m for the creation of the first All Electric Bus Towns;
£30m (notably as a one-off payment) divided between English Local
Authorities for improving existing or reinstating lost tendered services –
Warwickshire was allocated £500k; and
£20m Rural Mobility Fund to support a pilot of Demand Responsive
Transport schemes in rural and suburban areas.
Effect of COVID-19
17.2.2 COVID-19 has already had an impact on the Better Bus funds. The Superbus
competition has been paused indefinitely, whilst the £30m for Local Authorities
is expected to be spent on funding the revenue shortfall on existing supported
services rather than enhancing the network as originally intended.
Electric Bus Towns
17.2.3 Bids for these were put back to June 2020. The DfT is expecting the £50m to
cover two or three pilot areas. These are expected to be towns or small cities
with a mainly insular network with very few interurban services. This is
because all buses operating on registered local bus services (which will include
school services open to the general public) have to be operated using fully
electric vehicles or hybrids which are capable of running on electric only for
part of the journey. In view of this limitation we expect to see a number of
bids that are not fully compliant.
17.2.4 The urban areas chosen must also have a current air quality problem which
should be improved both through the use of electric vehicles and the reduction
in cars on the road. The latter is hoped to be achieved through additional
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supporting measures such as bus priority and parking restrictions which the
Local Authority has to commit to as part of the Electric Bus Town bid.
Rural Mobility Fund
17.2.5 This funding aims to cover a number of schemes which will introduce App-
based DRT services to a specific area. This can either be the replacement of a
conventional bus service or an area which currently has poor public transport
links. Bids are restricted to rural or suburban areas.
Hydrogen Bus Town
17.2.6 This was an add-on scheme announced in June 2020 for which bids are in
progress. The principles are the same as those applying to electric bus towns,
although the amount of funding available remains to be settled. Hydrogen
could expand the number of potential bidders significantly as the range offered
by buses powered by Hydrogen is significantly greater.
17.3 Future Funding
17.3.1 In February 2020 the Government pledged an extra £5bn of extra funding for
bus services and cycling. On the bus side it has been hinted that this could
involve funding for an extra 4,000 zero emission vehicles and an expansion of
the Superbus scheme which would include:
Increasing service frequencies especially in the evenings and at weekends;
Reducing and simplifying bus fares; and
Increasing the provision of bus priority measures.
17.3.2 This funding was expected to align with publication of the National Bus
Strategy (see below) around the time of the Autumn Statement. It remains to
be seen whether this funding survives a post-COVID-19 spending review.
17.4 National Bus Strategy
17.4.1 The promise of a National Bus Strategy was announced alongside the Better
Bus funding and seems to incorporate the bus side of the extra £5bn in
17.3.1. However beyond that there has been very little information provided
with regard to what it will include. The only concrete announcement was that
the Strategy would cover a review of existing funding streams for buses
(mainly Bus Service Operators Grant) to provide a long term funding
guarantee.
17.4.2 From informal discussions between TAS and DfT officials it is understood that
the National Bus Strategy will be developed by the DfT itself based on policies
already announced by the Government.
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17.5 Summary
17.5.1 Despite pledges from the government the future funding available for bus
services still seems unclear. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on bus
patronage and government finances hasn’t helped this. For some time now
available additional finance has been channelled through challenge funding
with varying degrees of success, while grants for ongoing revenue funding
have been significantly cut back.
17.5.2 There is some justification in saying that challenge fund awards have often
favoured those who submit the best quality bids rather than the most
deserving areas. As examples, there were some high-profile ambitious Rural
Bus Challenge bids which were not sustainable in the longer term and it must
be questionable in relation to Electric Bus Towns if the best environmental
impact is achieved by dedicating expensive electric buses to school runs.
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18Quick Wins for 2020 – 2022 Plan 18
18.1 Introduction
18.1.1 There are ten areas which could provide a quick win, these are:
a) ‘How to use the bus’ information;
b) Better Roadside Publicity;
c) Planning policy guidance;
d) A bus conference;
e) New bus links to Birmingham International;
f) Warwick – Leamington - Coventry Corridor Partnership including RTI, bus
priority measures and multi-operator ticketing;
g) Countywide Multi-operator Day Ticket;
h) Provision of improved Southbound Bus Stop on A426 Leicester Road o/s
Elliott's Field Retail Park in Rugby;
i) Expansion of DRT provision and technology; and
j) Provision of Park and Ride for Leamington for the Commonwealth Games.
18.1.2 This excludes the current work in Nuneaton around the town centre
regeneration and potential new bus station.
18.2 How to Use the Bus – Information Guide
18.2.1 Before more people can start using the bus regularly they need to know how
to use it. If they haven’t used the bus in a long time they may not be
confident. In partnership with the operators WCC should therefore produce a
‘How to use the bus’ guide both online and in printed form. The printed version
could be used as part of a pack of information for new residents at housing
developments, as well being available at libraries etc.
18.2.2 As an example, Travelwest, the public transport information site for the West
of England area, has a ‘how to use the bus’ webpage22, although it is perhaps
rather hidden away instead of being on the main home page, while North
Yorkshire County Council has produced a similar guide for 6th Form students
and Arriva has general guidance on its website23.
22 https://travelwest.info/bus/services-information/catching-the-bus 23 https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/travel-help-and-accessibility/how-to-catch-the-bus/
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18.2.3 Another way of helping people gain confidence in using the bus is through
volunteer Bus Buddies – these are people who make a first journey with
someone new to buses to help guide them through the process. There may
additionally need to be a push to get passengers back on buses when COVID-
19 related social distancing is over.
18.3 Better Roadside Publicity
18.3.1 As covered in 8.4.1, the timetable information provided at bus stops could be
better. WCC should agree with operators who should be responsible for
producing the information and what it should look like. Although under the
Transport Act 1985 it is the local authority’s responsibility some have passed
this onto operators (whilst in other areas operators have had to step in as the
local authority seeks to cut costs).
18.3.2 WCC have recently upgraded their relevant software to be able to produce a
new style of roadside timetable information. It is also compatible with
‘Paperless’ digital timetable screens which could be installed at some bus stops
in the future.
18.4 Planning Guidance
18.4.1 As covered in 10.3.1 WCC should work with the district councils and consult
with operators and developers in creating a set of guidelines for large new
developments in Warwickshire. This would set out the process for ensuring
that the development is bus friendly by specifying:
a) How bus routes are identified;
b) How the internal road layout and placing of properties should be
determined;
c) What facilities should be provided;
d) How the new service should be introduced; and
e) How new residents should be informed of and encouraged to use the
service.
18.4.2 WCC is currently preparing a design guide which covers points b) and c) as
well as point a) to some extent. It is recommended that the guide be
enhanced to:
Cover the points d) and e) above as well as expanding on point a);
Emphasise that the Spine Road should be of suitable width excluding road
space likely to be taken up by parked cars where there are no parking
restrictions; and
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Encourage the use of bus only link roads (with appropriate priority
measures) where:
The Spine Road does not match the ideal bus route through the site; or
Adjacent sites are not going to be connected by the spine road to avoid
the creation of rat runs etc.
18.5 Warwickshire Bus Conference
18.5.1 Given the level of support from the larger operators WCC should look to hold
its first bus conference by December 2020. Alongside WCC public transport
officers and bus operators, members of highways, district council planning
officers, representatives of nationally recognised bus users groups and a
representative from Transport for West Midlands should be invited.
18.5.2 The topic for the first conference should be on WCC’s actions around the Bus
Motion and preparing for the Commonwealth Games 2022. If timed right it
could also be used to launch the Leamington / Warwick – Coventry Advanced /
Enhanced Partnership (see 18.7).
18.6 New Bus Links to Birmingham International Airport, NEC (UK Central)
18.6.1 The NEC is one of the key venues for the Commonwealth Games 2022 and the
surrounding area will become ‘UK Central’ with the arrival of HS2. As covered
in 7.2.4 the only current direct link between the NEC, Birmingham Airport and
the Leamington and Warwick area is the hourly (often crowded) Cross Country
Trains service. Given the desire to replace the western end of Warwick service
16 with a DRT service, the northern end could be incorporated into a new
Warwick – Kenilworth – Birmingham International bus route. It is likely that a
journey along the full route would take just over an hour, requiring three
buses to operate the service.
18.6.2 The second route which should be implemented within the next two years is
between Tamworth and Birmingham International via Kingsbury and Coleshill
Parkway. This will require an extra two vehicles if running as an extension of
the current service 16.
18.6.3 Service 75 between Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham International is proposed
to be enhanced to provide a link into Hams Hall and an extension on to
Solihull. The service would be designed to connect with Johnson’s X20 from
Stratford-upon-Avon at Solihull providing a link between this area of
Warwickshire and Birmingham International.
18.6.4 These routes should be advertised as airport links (and later HS2 / UK Central
links) with vehicles fitted with luggage racks suitable for airport traffic.
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18.7 Warwick – Leamington – Coventry Advanced or
Enhanced Partnership
18.7.1 This would chiefly build on the proposed X17 Punctuality Improvement
Partnership but would be expanded to include the Leamington to Warwick
University section of services 11, U1 and U2 and the Warwick to Coventry
section of service X18. This would therefore need to be a partnership between
WCC, Stagecoach, National Express West Midlands and Transport for West
Midlands (TfWM).
18.7.2 From the operators this could involve:
New or upgraded buses on X17 and X18 to match the standard of vehicles
on the 11, U1 and U2;
An increase in frequency on either:
The X17 to every 15 minutes creating a co-ordinated 7/8 minute
frequency with service 11 between Kenilworth and Leamington Spa, or
The X18 to every 20 minutes between Coventry and Warwick to give a
co-ordinated 10 minute headway with the X17 at appropriate locations.
Participation in a multi-operator ticketing scheme for that corridor which
could also be valid on other Stagecoach services between Leamington and
Warwick.
18.7.3 From WCC, with appropriate support from TfWM where needed, this would
involve:
Bus priority measures along the X17 route and some of the X18 route;
Improvement to Warwick Bus Station including improved wayfinding, at
stop RTI displays and a real time information board showing all departures;
Creation of a bus hub with improved information including RTI at
Leamington, Upper Parade (including a bus only road) and at Kenilworth,
Clock;
Provision of RTI at other key stops and interchange points;
Production of a timetable booklet covering all routes in the partnership in
one handy guide.
18.7.4 Warwick University is part of the Midlands Future Mobility Zone with a focus on
driverless vehicles serving the campus. This should not be at the expense of
bus services.
18.7.5 It is best for WCC and the operators to decide which type of partnership will
be best. An Enhanced Partnership could be a better option if all operators are
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on-board as it would be a county wide umbrella partnership board at first
covering just the Warwick – Coventry corridor but allowing future local
partnerships to be introduced quicker.
18.8 Countywide Multi-Operator Ticket
18.8.1 The partnership in 18.7 and future local partnerships (covered in 19.2) will all
have local multi-operator tickets or ticketing agreements. This should deal
with the needs of most passengers on regular journeys. However it is
recognised that for leisure purposes a countywide day ticket with some cross-
border acceptance would be beneficial.
18.8.2 The easiest method of provision is for all operators to accept the ticket with
operators keeping the revenue from sales on their vehicles or via their apps.
Given the dominance of Stagecoach across the county this might not be
acceptable to all operators.
18.8.3 The more complicated method is for the revenue taken by operators to be paid
into a pool to be redistributed based on usage data. This is more equal in
terms of reflecting use but still not in terms of distance travelled. For example
if the ticket was £6 and people made an average of 4 journeys on it then each
journey would only be worth £1.50, even if one leg is from Coventry to
Stratford-upon-Avon on the X18 and another is within Stratford on the 1. Note
that the Competition and Markets Authority rejects any method of
reimbursement based on revenue forgone, but does allow weightings to reflect
longer or shorter trips. There is also the cost to both the operators and council
of staff time and / or a third party used for calculating the correct pool
redistribution.
18.9 Improved Bus Stop at Elliott's Field Retail Park, Rugby
18.9.1 Full implementation of a new southbound bus stop on Leicester Road (A426)
dual carriageway opposite Elliott's Field Retail Park and nearby to Junction One
Retail Park and Tesco Superstore, including provision of an elongated bus lay-
by holding two full-length buses and a high-quality bus shelter.
18.9.2 Section 106 developer contributions totalling £79k have already been secured
to deliver the initiative. However, progression of the scheme to completion of
detailed design has identified that further funding is required to cover:
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) proceedings to secure the land required
to accommodate the elongated lay-by, after the landowner (St James Place
UK Ltd) reneged on entering into a Land Dedication Agreement and
withdrew from negotiations with the County Council; and
Service diversion and protection costs.
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18.9.3 In the interim, a bus stop pole has been erected at the location due to
Stagecoach Midlands and Arriva Midlands taking a decision no longer to pull
into the Tesco superstore due to delays caused by traffic accessing the site for
shopping. However, this has caused safety concerns exacerbating the need for
full extent of works at the bus stop to be implemented..
18.10 Expansion of DRT Provision and Technology
18.10.1 Warwickshire as a rural county has both its small settlements and key
destinations spread over a wide area. This makes the provision of a standard
bus service to parts of the county a trade-off between a regular service to one
or two locations or a number of infrequent links to a variety of locations. The
first does not provide the coverage of service required whilst the second does
not provide the level of service to be attractive to most people.
18.10.2 DRT services come into their own in this instance by generally allowing people
to travel to where they want to when they want to. Experience since the very
earliest experiments in the late 1970s shows that DRT services will never be
commercially viable but can offer value for money in terms of subsidy per trip.
18.10.3 With the rise of the Mobile App based DRT service a new generation of people
will be attracted to access the service. However the traditional phone based
booking option still needs to be available to those who do not have a
smartphone or are not technologically savvy.
18.10.4 The expansion of UBUS and the forthcoming DRT scheme for the area west of
Warwick will be useful trials for a larger roll out to areas such as North
Warwickshire where bus services are infrequent and destinations varied.
18.11 Park and Ride in Leamington for Commonwealth Games
18.11.1 Studies are already underway for Park and Ride sites for Warwick and
Leamington Spa. It should be simple to set up two or three Park and Ride sites
for use for the Commonwealth Games allowing spectators to make at least
part of their journey by public transport. These sites should be designed for
potential use after the games too although the bus service to the site is likely
to change.
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19Longer Term Plans 2022 Onwards 19
19.1 Introduction
19.1.1 This section looks at areas for improvement beyond 2022.
19.2 Expansion of Partnerships
19.2.1 It is recommended that to ensure a local focus and a sustainable use of
resources, WCC establishes local partnerships with operators rather than
seeking a county wide one. The order in which the partnerships are listed
below is alphabetical and not a reflection of any advised chronological order.
Bedworth and Atherstone Corridors
19.2.2 The Coventry – Bedworth – Nuneaton corridor is the other major corridor after
Coventry – Kenilworth – Leamington Spa which sees multiple operators
serving it. Given the regeneration work being undertaken in Nuneaton it is
logical for this partnership to be set up alongside. Working with operators
there is a chance to identify locations for bus priority measures, which would
cover key routes into Nuneaton from all directions and not just from the south.
19.2.3 One simple change could happen earlier which is to amend the Leicester
Street / George Street Ringway junction in Bedworth to give buses priority.
19.2.4 Given that there are currently three major operators on this corridor and
around Nuneaton a multi-operator ticket is a must. This could be as simple as
allowing use of one operator’s return, day and / or period ticket on another’s
service, or it could involve a new ticket type.
19.2.5 It would makes sense to have a phase two of this partnership extending it to
cover the Nuneaton – Atherstone – Tamworth corridor. Depending on the
views of operators involved this might involve a separate multi-operator
ticketing arrangement or an expansion of the Bedworth corridor scheme.
Rugby
19.2.6 This is a growing town with the benefit of direct rail links to Birmingham and
London. The railway line does however act as something of a barrier, with the
station in a no-man’s land between the traditional town centre to the south
and the new retail and leisure developments to the north.
19.2.7 The partnership would ideally fit in with the creation of the proposed North-
South BRT route, which would require significant bus priority measures to be
successful. Radical measures could be investigated such as making parts of
the town centre and the road under the railway station bus only.
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19.2.8 Stagecoach’s current depot could be referred to as historic and based on
experience elsewhere it is possible that a new depot would be needed to
support any investment in ultra-low or zero emission vehicles. It would be a
good idea for this to form part of the partnership, Rugby District Council could
support Stagecoach in the locating and purchase or lease of an appropriate
new site with the existing depot becoming the site of a new bus interchange
which would provide direct connections with the railway station next door.
19.2.9 Rugby is served by a number of operators on both local and interurban routes
making a multi-operator ticketing scheme a worthwhile part of the
partnership.
Stratford-upon-Avon
19.2.10 This might be the smallest of the partnerships being centred around the
creation of a bus hub on Bridge Street. Unfortunately the opportunity has been
lost for the creation of a bus station on the land between the railway station
and the hospital.
19.2.11 Local services are again in the hands of a number of operators so a multi-
operator ticketing scheme would be desired. Very few of these services are
‘town’ services so the ability to introduce electric vehicles might be limited.
19.3 Expansion of Park and Ride Provision
19.3.1 As covered in 7.4 many successful Park and Ride schemes are based on
multiple sites. If commitment is forthcoming from Stratford District Council to
increase the cost of parking within the town centre then further Park and Ride
sites should be explored. The simplest one would be to reopen the site at
Stratford Waitrose with the existing Park and Ride service extended to it.
There could be a third site set up at Stratford-upon-Avon Race Course for use
on non-race days with Stagecoach service X18 diverting into the site and
some other services perhaps extended to the racecourse to give an attractive
service level.
19.3.2 If changes are made to the roads in Rugby town centre to give greater bus
priority then it may be harder for motorists to access Rugby town centre and
railway station. For those travelling from rural areas which have a sparse bus
service a number of pocket park and ride sites might need to be created.
These would be located on the key roads into the town served by services with
at least a 20 minute frequency.
19.3.3 Nuneaton may not have many suitable sites for a Park and Ride, however
there should still be some investigation. With the provision of a bus service to
Bermuda Park and the increase in frequency of the Coventry – Nuneaton train
service to half-hourly a site around the station would perhaps make the most
sense. A site on the A5 between the two A47 junctions could be used for
Hinckley too.
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Interaction with new Railway Stations
19.3.4 Three new stations are proposed in Warwickshire which could double as park
and ride and bus hubs. Nuneaton Parkway is proposed on the Birmingham to
Leicester line near the A5. Galley Common on the west side of Nuneaton could
intercept traffic from the B4112 heading for Nuneaton. A new station is also
proposed between Coventry and Kenilworth, this would require a bus link
between the station and the University of Warwick but would also act as a
Parkway station being accessible from both the A429 and A46.
19.4 New Routes
19.4.1 Although these could be introduced by 2022, in order for resources to be
focused on Quick Wins associated with the Commonwealth Games it is better
to look to 2023 to introduce a wider number of new routes on Warwickshire.
These include but are not limited to:
Banbury – Gaydon – Southam – Coventry;
Stratford-upon-Avon – Wellesbourne – Gaydon – Southam – Daventry;
Nuneaton – Magna Park – Lutterworth or Rugby; and
Atherstone or Polesworth – Coleshill – Birmingham International.
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Appendix A: Operator Engagement Questions
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Operator Consultation Questions
1. What do you feel Warwickshire County Council (WCC) does well in relation to
bus services?
2. Are you involved in any Voluntary Quality Partnerships with WCC? If so what
are they and how well do you feel each party is meeting its commitments?
3. Where do you think that WCC can improve its support for bus services? Are
there any particular places in which bus priority is essential to help make bus
more attractive?
4. Are there any gaps in the current network that you feel should be filled but
might require council support, even if just as a kick start? Do you see any merit
in better links to railway stations especially those not currently well served by
buses? [Kenilworth and Bermuda]
5. Do you have any views on Advanced and Enhanced Partnerships? Would you be
willing to enter into one or either of these with WCC?
6. Would you be willing to enter into a multi-operator ticketing scheme for part of
or all of Warwickshire? Do you feel there are any barriers to overcome if it is to
be implemented? What about cross-boundary services?
7. Would you be willing be part of a ‘fares promotion’ to encourage bus use
through cheaper fares? If so what do you think it should look like?
8. Are you currently or have you been operating a service using Section 106
funding in Warwickshire? How successfully has it / have they been? Are we able
to get any data regarding passenger numbers? Do you think more could be
done with S106 funding to encourage bus use from new developments?
9. What do you feel are the best ways to encourage greater bus use? Are there
any examples you can provide of this in practice?
10. Do you feel that the current ENCTS re-imbursement rate and process is fair to
you? Are there any enhancements that you think would be beneficial (currently
09:00 – 23:59)?
11. Do you think that there should be a discount scheme for young persons? If so
what do you think it should look like?
12. Would you support an annual Warwickshire Bus Conference? If so, do you think
it should be by invite only (operators, council(s) and passenger groups) or open
to the general public?
13. How are you preparing for the government’s Open Data scheme? Is there
anywhere you feel that WCC could help or should be involved?
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14. How are you currently seeking to reduce your impact on the climate as an
operator? Have you any plans for reducing the overall emissions level from your
fleet? Would you be prepared to run electric buses? How would you require
support for low / zero emissions buses?
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Appendix B: Community Transport in Warwickshire
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1. Community Transport Provision within Warwickshire
1.1 The table below provides operational details of the various Community
Transport and Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) that are either based in
Warwickshire or operate services into the county.
Table 9: Community Transport & DRT Operations in Warwickshire
Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
A&M Group
https://www.flexi-
bus.co.uk/
Warwickshire County
Council financially
support a network of
services throughout the
county that operate to a
timetable but can deviate
from the route to pick up
people with mobility
issues.
Based in Harbury.
Flexi-Bus
Eligibility: general, but mobility
impaired users are registered.
Mode: PSV, registered flexible
routes. The vehicles are fully
accessible and can carry up to
two wheelchairs. Some have
passenger assistants and all are
currently operated by A&M.
door to door pick-ups are pre
booked.
Cost: Various fare tables.
Concessionary passes are
accepted for travel.
Flexi-bus services cover areas of
the County not served by
commercial services and operate
anything from once a week to six
days a week. All of these services
operate between 0915 & 1445
and each vehicle operates a
school contract.
B1 Bedworth / Dalton Rd /
Bedworth. Monday to Saturday
0910-1505.
B2 Bedworth / Coalpit Fields /
Bedworth. Monday to Saturday
0920-1442.
B3 Bedworth / Trenance Rd /
Bedworth. Monday to Saturday
0935-1500.
9 Lime Tree-Bilton-Woodlands-
Rokeby-Clifton. Monday to
Saturday 0738-1853.
11 Rugby Woodlands St Cross
Hospital Abbotts Farm. Monday
to Saturday 0907-1442.
69 Weston under Weatherley -
Leamington Spa. Monday to
Saturday 0918-1448.
201 St Nicholas Park Drive –
Nuneaton. Wednesdays 1040-
1310.
203 Princethorpe -
Grandborough – Rugby.
Mondays 0925-1245.
209 Princethorpe Hill top -
Rugby – Elliot’s Field.
Wednesdays and Fridays 1045-
1444.
210 Rugby - Wolvey – Hinckley.
Mondays 1020-1414
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
211 Willey - Churchover –
Rugby. Tuesdays 1055-1415.
212 Bidford - Stratford upon
Avon. Tuesdays & Fridays 0930-
1422.
213 Rugby - Withybrook –
Bedworth. Tuesdays 0910-1314.
214 Priors Hardwick - Flecknoe -
Rugby – Elliot’s Field.
Wednesdays 0925-1240.
216 Coleshill – Tamworth.
Thursdays 0915-1335.
218 Binley Woods – Morrison’s –
Tesco. Fridays 1100-1310.
220 Nuneaton – Hinckley.
Wednesdays 1025-1325
223 Lea Marston – Solihull.
Mondays 0920-1320.
224 No Man’s Heath –
Tamworth. Thursdays 1015-
1235.
232 Coleshill – Nuneaton.
Wednesdays & Fridays 1020-
1420.
233 Solihull – Kenilworth
Mondays & Thursdays 1025-
1357.
241 Rugby - Burton Hastings –
Nuneaton. Wednesdays 0910-
1335.
496 Napton - Southam -
Bishops Itch – Banbury.
Thursdays 0925-1330.
497 Radford Semele – Banbury.
Thursdays 0922-1349.
504 Stratford - Old Town -
Saffron Meadow. Monday to
Friday 0922-1200.
505 Wellesbourne - Hampton
Lucy – Stratford. Monday to
Friday 1000-1332
510 Henley in Arden -
Leamington Spa. Wednesdays &
Saturdays 0855-1316.
511 Rowington- Leamington
Spa. Wednesdays 1052-1332.
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
512 Stratford upon Avon –
Redditch. Mondays 0930-1420
513 Norton Lindsey - Claverdon
– Solihull. Monday 0925-1244.
514 Hatton Green - Lapworth –
Solihull. Mondays & Saturdays
1010-1453.
517 Wootton Wawen -
Earlswood – Redditch. Monday
to Saturday 0940-1309.
519 Redditch - Earlswood –
Solihull. Monday, Thursday &
Saturday 1030-1347.
520 Lapworth - Claverdon -
Stratford upon Avon. Tuesdays
& Fridays 0940-1309
521 Hatton Green - Norton
Lindsey – Stratford. Tuesdays
1050-1406.
538 Princethorpe -
Hunningham-Leamington Spa.
Fridays 0925-1302.
735 Coleshill - Ansley -
Coventry Pool Meadow. Monday
to Saturday 0715-1618.
Beeline Community
Transport
http://www.beelinect.org
.uk/
Partly funded by
Warwickshire County
Council. Beeline is one of
five members of
Warwickshire Voluntary
Transport Partnership.
Based in Atherstone.
Eligibility: Residents of North
Warwickshire who are unable to
use public or private transport
either through sickness or
disability or because the bus
service does not meet your
needs. Also open to people who
do not live in North
Warwickshire but who are
registered with a North
Warwickshire GP
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Cost: 45p per mile from the
driver’s home to their
destination and return, plus a
£2 booking fee
North Warwickshire residents to
hospitals, clinics and other
essential health services such as
doctors’ surgeries, chiropodists,
dentists and opticians.
Clarkes of Shipston
https://www.clarkesofshi
pstononstour.co.uk/hom
e
Based in Shipston-on-
Stour
UBUS
See entry below under
Warwickshire Rural Community
Council for full details.
See entry below under
Warwickshire Rural Community
Council for full details.
Harbury Energy
Initiative
Harbury e-Wheels 15 mile radius of Harbury.
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
http://www.harburyener
gy.co.uk/harbury-e-
wheels/
“We need to fund raise
over £10,000 a year to
keep e-wheels rolling…
We are staffed entirely
by 24 volunteers
(coordinators, drivers,
board members) and we
work with local social
agencies: Surgeries and
hospitals, Children’s
Centres, Citizens Advice,
AgeUK, Churches, Local
Councils, etc.”
Based in Harbury.
Eligibility: referrals of families
and individuals who are
prevented from reaching
important, sometimes vital
appointments for financial or
physical reasons.
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
using 2 electric vehicles
supplied by Electric Zoo.
Cost: free to users.
Lilbourne Community
Minibus
https://www.northampto
nshire.gov.uk/councilser
vices/children-families-
education/SEND/local-
offer/transport/3232-
community-minibus-
scheme-lilbourne
Based in Lilbourne,
Northamptonshire
Eligibility: general
Mode: s22 Community Bus
Cost: staged fare table,
concessions accepted.
Warwickshire coverage:
Service L1 Lilbourne - Rugby –
Elliot’s Field Retail Park service
Monday, Wednesday, Friday &
Saturday.
Service L2 Stanford - Clay Coton
– Yelvertoft - Rugby service
Monday, Wednesday, Friday &
Saturday
Service L3 Lilbourne - Rugby
Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
North Cotswold
Community Bus
Association
http://hedgehogbus.org/
Based in Chipping
Campden,
Gloucestershire.
Hedgehog Community Bus
Eligibility: general
Mode: s22 Community Bus
Cost: staged fare table,
concessions accepted.
Warwickshire coverage:
Service H3A Tuesdays -
Mickleton - Campden – Stratford
(9.30-10.40am). Stratford –
Campden – Mickleton (12.30-
13.39pm)
Service H3B Wednesdays -
Mickleton - Campden – Stratford
(9.30-10.30am). Stratford –
Campden – Mickleton (12.30-
13.29pm)
Service H3C Fridays - Mickleton
- Campden – Stratford (9.30-
10.17am). Stratford – Campden
– Mickleton (12.30-13.16pm)
Service H3E Saturdays -
Mickleton - Campden – Stratford
(9.30-10.31am). Stratford –
Campden – Mickleton (12.30-
13.39pm)
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
Shipston Link
http://shipstonlink.co.uk
/
Two 16 seat minibuses,
also available for private
hire.
Grant aid from
Warwickshire County
Council but not under
contract.
Based at Shipston-on-
Stour.
Shipston Link Community
Minibus
Eligibility: general
Mode: s22 Community Bus
Cost: staged fare table,
concessions accepted.
Service S1 Tuesdays - Shipston,
Tredington, Halford, Ettington,
Halford, Tredington, Shipston
(8.55-11.40am)
Service S2 Wednesdays -
Shipston, Tysoe, Oxhill,
Whatcote, Idlicote, Honington,
Shipston (8.55-11.59am)
Service S3 Wednesdays -
Shipston, Burmington, Wolford
Fields, Cherington, Sutton Under
Brailes, Stourton, Whichford,
Long Compton, Chipping Norton
(8.55-11.59am)
Service S4 Tuesdays - Shipston,
Tredington, Armscote,
Blackwell, Ilmington, Shipston
(9.30-12.15am)
Service S5 Thursday - Barton
On The Heath, Little Compton,
Long Compton, Whichford,
Cherington, Stourton, Sutton
Under Brailes, Brailes, Banbury
(9.20-13.07am)
Service S6 Tuesdays - Shipston,
Stretton On Fosse, Todenham,
Moreton In Marsh, Shipston
(10.10-12.55am)
Service S7 Fridays - Shipston,
Wolford Fields, Long Compton,
Whichford, Cherington,
Stourton, Sutton Under Brailes,
Brailes, Shipston (8.55-
12.00am)
Service S8 Fridays -
Burmington, Little Wolford,
Great Wolford, Todenham,
Stretton On Fosse, Shipston
(9.50-12.49)
Service S9 Tuesdays – Shipston
Town Service (2.00-16.05pm)
Service S10 – Whichford-
Cherington - Stourton - Sutton
Under Brailes - Brailes -
Shipston - Ilmington -
Admington -Lower Quinton -
Clifford Chambers - Stratford -
Stratford Tesco (9.00-13.06pm)
South Staffordshire
Coach Hire
IndieGo Coleshill
Eligibility: general, pre-
registered.
Monday to Friday, to and from
Coleshill and Hams Hall at key
shift change times and Coleshill
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
https://www.warwickshir
e.gov.uk/indiego
WCC funded Dial-a-Ride
Scheme
Based in Tamworth.
Mode: PSV, registered flexible
route with accessible vehicle.
Pick up at bus stops, or can be
door to door for those who are
mobility impaired. School
contract is operated PM only.
Cost: Flat fare single adult £3,
return £5. Concessions
accepted.
Parkway station along with
numerous villages around
Coleshill.
Hams Hall and Coleshill Parkway
Station. To arrive at Hams Hall
for 5.45am, 1.45pm and
9.45pm. To arrive at Coleshill
Parkway Station for 5.55am,
1.55pm and 9.55pm.
Coleshill Parkway Station and
Hams Hall. To Depart from
Coleshill Parkway Station at
around 6.05am, 2.05pm and
10.05pm. To depart from Hams
Hall at around 6.15am, 2.15pm
and 10.15pm.
Service is available to be booked
from the following communities:
Bodymoor Heath, Curdworth,
Furnace End, Gilson, Hurley,
Hurley Common, Kingsbury, Lea
Marston, Marston, Nether
Whitacre, Over Whitacre,
Piccadilly, Shustoke, Whitacre
Heath, Wood End
Service can be booked for travel
to/from Hams Hall, Coleshill
Parkway Station, Coleshill High
Street, Coleshill Medical Centre
and Coleshill Morrison’s on a
demand-responsive basis
between:7am to 1pm and
3.45pm to 9pm. Service is
available to be booked from the
following communities: as service
above but also including
Maxstoke, Packington &
Shawbury.
Southam Community
Minibus
https://www.southam.co
.uk/community/communi
ty-transport/
Based in Southam.
Eligibility: non-profit
organisations in Southam &
surrounding areas
Mode: s19 Group Travel, 16-
seater minibus
Cost: Not Known
Southam & surrounding areas.
Southam Town Council
https://www.southam.co
.uk/directory/all/southa
m-town-council-
volunteer-drivers-
service/
Based in Southam.
Volunteer Drivers Service
Eligibility: Residents of
Southam, Napton, Bishops
Itchington and Priors Marston
who are unable to use public or
private transport either through
sickness or disability to meet
medical appointments.
Residents of Southam, Napton,
Bishops Itchington and Priors
Marston
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Cost: 45p per mile, concessions
accepted in Southam & Napton
T J Travel
https://www.warwickshir
e.gov.uk/indiego
WCC funded flexible bus
scheme.
Based in Polesworth.
IndieGo Atherstone
Eligibility: general, pre-
registered.
Mode: PSV, pre-booked DRT
accessible bus. Registered
flexible service. Pick up at bus
stops, or can be door to door
for those who are mobility
impaired.
Cost: Flat fare single adult £3,
return £5. Concessions
accepted.
To and from Atherstone, along
with numerous villages around
the Atherstone area
Service A1 - To arrive in
Atherstone for 9.45am. From
Kingsbury, Piccadilly, Wood End,
Hurley Common and Hurley.
Return from Atherstone at
12.20pm.
Service A2 - To arrive in
Atherstone for 10.45am. From
Shuttington, Seckington,
Newton Regis, Austrey and
Warton. Return from Atherstone
at 1.20pm.
Service A3 - To arrive in
Atherstone for 11.35am. From
Ansley, Gun Hill, New Arley and
Old Arley. Return from
Atherstone at 2.20pm.
The Villager
http://www.villagerbus.c
om/
Supported by WCC.
Based in Stow-on-the-
Wold
Villager Community Bus
Eligibility: general
Mode: s22 Community Bus
Cost: staged fare table,
concessions accepted.
V8 Friday - Oddington - Little
Compton - Chipping Norton
(9.50am-12.32pm)
Voluntary Action
Stratford-upon-Avon
(VASA)
https://www.vasa.org.uk
/services/community-
transport/
Annual Report 2019:
received during the year
a £35,000 multiyear
grant from Stratford
Town Trust, enabling us
to look at the long term
future of Community
Transport.
“VASA is the largest
community transport
provider in the county,
and one of the largest
nationally. We have over
3,500 registered clients.
In 2018/19 we
Community Transport
Eligibility: residents of Stratford
District who have “a genuine
need for transport” to medical
appointments at hospitals, GP
surgeries, chiropodists,
opticians and dentists or to
groups and activities
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Cost: 45p per mile and a £3
admin fee. Concessions not
accepted.
Stratford on Avon, Warwick,
Leamington Spa, Kenilworth,
Southam, Alcester, Studley,
Wellesbourne, Shipston on Stour
and the surrounding villages.
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
completed over 19,000
journeys. This Invaluable
service is provided by
over 180 community
volunteers. Transport
costs: £152,126.”
Some grant funding from
Warwickshire County
Council.
Based in Stratford Upon
Avon.
Volunteer Friends
https://volunteerfriends.
org.uk/community-
transport-services/
Two minibuses.
Medicar is funded by
WCC.
Based in Bulkington and
providing services in
Nuneaton and Bedworth
District.
Medicar Transport Service
Eligibility: medically related
journeys only for those who not
able to use public transport
because of ill-health (short or
long term), caring
responsibilities, old age or
disability.
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Cost: 45p per mile plus £2
administration charge per
return journey. Concessions not
accepted.
Residents of Nuneaton and
Bedworth District for medically
related social journeys, such as
visits to hospitals or day care
centres.
Supported Shopping Service
Eligibility: People who want to
do their own shopping and have
a wide variety of choice, but
find it difficult to go shopping on
their own because of ill-health
(short or long term), old age or
disability.
Mode: s19 pre-booked
accessible minibus, volunteer
driver and assistant.
Cost: £8 per return trip.
Concessions not accepted.
Residents of Nuneaton and
Bedworth District to Asda in
Nuneaton. Wednesdays & Fridays
only.
On Wednesdays – Bulkington,
Stockingford, Camp Hill and
Central Nuneaton
On Fridays – Bulkington, St
Nicolas Park, Weddington and
Central Nuneaton
Social Transport
Eligibility: people living in the
Borough of Nuneaton &
Bedworth who need to make
social related journeys and are
not able to use public transport,
because of ill health (short or
long term) old age or disability,
and are 65+
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Residents of Nuneaton and
Bedworth District for social
related journeys.
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
Cost: 45p per mile plus £2
administration charge per
return journey.
Minibus Hire
Eligibility: non-profit
organisations in Nuneaton and
Bedworth
Mode: s19 accessible minibus,
volunteer driver or self-drive
with MiDAS
Cost: Not known.
Community organisations in
Nuneaton and Bedworth District
Warwickshire
Community &
Voluntary Action
https://www.wcava.org.
uk/transport-scheme and
https://www.facebook.co
m/RugbyTransportWCAV
A
Based in Atherstone.
Rugby Transport Service
Eligibility: any age, rurally
isolated, mobility impaired
Journeys to health and social
care related appointments only.
Mode: Volunteer Car Scheme
Cost: 45p per mile plus £2
administration charge per
return journey.
Rugby Borough and surrounding
areas. Hospitals served include
Coventry and Warwickshire and
elsewhere (e.g. London,
Nottingham)
Warwickshire Rural
Community Council (CT
services branded Back &
4th)
https://www.wrccrural.or
g.uk/services/back-
4th/shoppa-hoppa/
and
https://www.wrccrural.or
g.uk/services/back-
4th/rugby-dial-a-ride/
and
https://www.wrccrural.or
g.uk/services/back-
4th/community-group/
Annual report 2019:
WRCC Back & 4th
delivered 17,298
individual passenger
journeys to community
groups and individuals
during the year - a 15%
increase on the previous
year. The project
delivered MiDAS training
to 15 people and started
to offer a dial-a-Ride
service in the rural areas
Rugby Dial-a-Ride
Eligibility: any age, rurally
isolated, mobility impaired
Mode: s22 minibus with paid
drivers, also undertakes a
school contract.
Cost: £5 per return trip.
Concessions are accepted.
Rural areas of Rugby Borough.
There are five zones of operation
A Monday, B Tuesday, C
Wednesday, D Thursday and E
Friday.
Pick up
from
zoned
areas
10-
11am,
pick up
from
Rugby
for
returns
1-2pm
Shoppa-Hoppa
Eligibility: any age, rurally
isolated, mobility impaired
Mode: s19 pre-booked
accessible minibus with
volunteer driver. Volunteer
assistants also available.
Cost: £6 per return trip.
Concessions not accepted.
Leamington, Warwick or the
surrounding villages to local
supermarkets.
Mondays only between 9.30 and
2pm.
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Operator & Funding Service Name & Details Area & Times Covered
of Rugby Borough in
March 2019.
No funding support for
CT services. However,
Annual report does
mention a s22
Community Bus fund of £
6,644. Not clear which
service this is.
UBUS service is
supported by Stratford
District Council,
Warwickshire County
Council and Stratford
Town Trust.
Based in Warwick.
Community Group Hire
Eligibility: non-profit
organisations in Warwickshire
Mode: s19 accessible minibus,
volunteer driver or self-drive
with MiDAS
Cost: £25 (half day) or £50 (full
day) + £0.50 per mile.
Vehicle can be booked Monday to
Sunday. Half day bookings
available in term times between
9.45am and 2pm.
UBUS
Eligibility: residents of Stratford
upon Avon district of any age,
who cannot access public
transport because of mobility
problems or other issues or live
in an isolated location with no,
or infrequent levels of, public
transport
Mode: 2 x s19, pre-booked
accessible buses with paid
drivers + 2 x Private Hire by
Clarkes. Pick up at bus stops, or
can be door to door for those
who are mobility impaired. 4
vehicles are used, covering one
zone each. These vehicles also
operate school contracts. The
bookings facility is contracted to
Lincolnshire County Council.
Concessionary passes are not
valid.
Cost: Single Journey: £2.90 or
£3.60. Return Journey: £5.80
or £7.20.
Service is available weekdays,
between about 9.30am and
2.30pm.
West Zone – Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday Thursday & Friday -
Alcester, Bidford, Henley,
Studley & Surrounding area
East Zone – Monday,
Wednesday & Friday - Harbury,
Kineton, Southam, Wellesbourne
& Surrounding area
South Zone – Tuesday,
Wednesday & Thursday - Long
Compton, Lower Quinton,
Shipston, Tysoe & Surrounding
area
Stratford upon Avon Zone -
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday & Friday - including
Alveston, Luddington, Old
Stratford & Tiddington
Additional travel is offered from
Southam and surrounding areas
to Leamington on Mondays / to
and from Southam on Tuesdays
and Thursdays.
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Appendix C: Multi-Operator Ticketing
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Appendix C: Multi-Operator Ticketing ▪ 163
1. Introduction
1.1 The current legal provision for ticketing schemes has limitations, chiefly that
only local authorities or consortia of local authorities may set up statutory
schemes and prices can only be set by agreement with operators.
Subsequently the Competition and Markets Authority suggested a pricing
formula. The legislation does however allow the consortia to pursue
participation by rail (or even light rail) operations. It should also be
remembered that the competition authorities came down very firmly in favour
of multi-operator tickets in its 2011 investigation, provided that these tickets
follow the rules of the Ticketing Block Exemption. Neither of these restrictions,
of course, applies to voluntary multi-operator schemes.
1.2 The vast majority of successful multi-operator and multi-modal tickets are run
as voluntary schemes which follow the guidance laid down by the competition
authorities, particularly with regard to pricing and revenue distribution. The
majority of these established voluntary schemes have functioned successfully
for many years without the need for any expensive new technology, although
some, such as West Yorkshire's 'M-Card', have now moved onto a smart
platform. ALL of the English and Scottish Metropolitan areas also have well-
established multi-modal tickets. The exception is Manchester, where TfGM
excludes its own Metrolink trams from the main multi-modal range.
1.3 There are frequent calls for an 'Oyster' card for almost anywhere. It is
important that a fixation with technology does not override the usefulness of
multi-operator products. Set-up, software and back-office costs can outweigh
any potential benefit and need to meet their own business case criteria. The
National Audit Office's recent criticism of the SEFT smartcard system which
swallowed around £40 million of public funding in development costs without
having a robust business case or producing a significantly attractive and useful
product is a case in point.
1.4 Fundamentally we must consider what the passenger wants from a ticketing
range. Passengers using multiple operators simply want a ticket that suits
them at a worthwhile price and care not whether it's paper, smartcard or
something on their phone.
1.5 Crucially we must not lose sight of the fact that these are a minority of bus
users with the majority of passengers making a single trip on a single
operator. They need easy access to ticketing products and this means the
ability to buy on the bus. New ticket types and ranges must exist in response
to passenger demand rather than ideology. Progress would be easier by
testing the market rather than committing significant investment to a product
which may see limited use.
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2. Types of Scheme Governance
2.1 There are two types of multi-operator schemes: voluntary and statutory.
A voluntary scheme is one set up jointly by the bus operators with or
without the local authority. It is up to the individual operator as to whether
it participates or not. However all operators in the relevant area should
have the opportunity to partake in the scheme.
A statutory scheme is one which is set up by the local authority and all
operators in the relevant area must partake in the scheme. Outside the
former Passenger Transport Executive areas, statutory schemes tend to be
part of a partnership arrangement, but even so are quite rare.
Advanced Ticketing Schemes
2.2 The Bus Services Act 2017 amended section 134 of the Transport Act 2000 to
include a new type of ticketing scheme. This allows a Local Transport Authority
LTA) of a consortia of LTAs to introduce a multi-operator and multi-modal
ticketing scheme. Although realistically designed to allow new Combined
Authorities to introduce PTE type ticketing schemes it is open to all English
LTAs and does not have to be applied to the whole authority area or indeed
open to all passenger types.
2.3 The LTA(s) must provide a minimum of three months notice of the intention to
create a scheme before the proposed start date. Before the scheme can be
introduced, the LTA(s) must consult with:
All operators (bus, rail, light rail and community transport) within the
proposed scheme’s area;
Local passenger groups;
Relevant authorities including neighbouring LTAs, district councils and
National Park authorities;
The Passenger’s Council;
The Competition and Markets Authority; and
The local Traffic Commissioner.
2.4 If a rail or light rail operator is to be affected the scheme can only progress
with that operator’s permission (the same restrictions do not seem to apply in
regard of bus operators) and with notice given to the Secretary of State.
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3. Types of Ticketing Schemes
3.1 There are four main types of ticketing schemes, these are:
Multi-operator Travelcards – This is where there is a specific multi-operator
product such as the Oxford SmartZone period tickets and the n-bus in the
West Midlands. The suggested method for setting the price is:
Average Fare (for services or area) x Estimated Ticket Usage x Multi-
journey Discount Factor;
Multi-operator individual tickets – This is where operators agree to accept a
selection of each other’s products on their services such as in Scunthorpe;
Through Tickets – This is where a ticket can be bought from one operator
that can be used for a second stage of a journey on another operator’s
service such as to reach a hospital or business park; and
Add-ons – This is where a multi-operator function is added on to a standard
product for a premium price, for example Oxford SmartZone can be added
onto Stagecoach and Thames Travel wider area period tickets and more
generally the PlusBus scheme.
4. Scheme Agreement
4.1 No matter what governance and ticketing scheme is used there must be a
scheme agreement in place. This principally sets out the following:
Who is involved in the scheme;
The geographical area and services covered;
What tickets are involved in the scheme;
How revenue is apportioned; and
How the scheme meets the Block Exemption requirements.
5. Revenue Apportionment
5.1 There are two ways revenue from multi-operator products can be apportioned.
The simplest method is for the revenue to remain where it lies and is
standard for individual ticket schemes and day ticket products of Travelcard
schemes. The major benefit is that there is no need for administration costs
however it only works if there is a fair distribution of purchase and use
amongst operators. Where there is an imbalance in flows such as one
operator having high sales and another high usage due to locations of traffic
generators then this is not a satisfactory method to use.
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Appendix C: Multi-Operator Ticketing ▪ 166
Pooling of revenue is a more complicated method, especially where the
scheme involves add-ons, however it is generally the more equitable. The
Scheme Agreement would set out the frequency of apportionment (e.g.
monthly or quarterly) and the methodology. Operators would report the
revenue received for sales of and usage of products within the scheme for
that period. The total revenue for that period is then divided by the total
number of trips which gives a price per trip. This is then applied to each
operator to give a revenue due per operator, the revenue actually take by
the operator is deducted from the revenue owed to give an actual figure for
money owed or owing – only this money is actually transferred between
operators either directly or via the scheme administrators.
Table 10 gives an example of how it works, this is at its simplest and avoids
such additional cost pools as scheme administration and Smartcard costs. If
this is a voluntary scheme then its success hinges on Operator C being
willing and able to pay out over half its revenue from the scheme every
time. If Operator C were to decide that it doesn’t benefit from the scheme
and so withdraws then the attractiveness of it to passengers may diminish.
There can be a weighting applied if, for example, one operator provides
longer interurban services and the second shorter town services, but no
revenue pool must be reallocated on the basis of revenue forgone.
Table 10: Example Revenue Pool
Operator A Operator B Operator C Total
Actual Revenue £20,000 £17,500 £10,250
Actual Trips 45,050 40,200 9,750
Total Revenue 41.9% 36.6% 21.5% £47,750
Total Trips 47.7% 42.3% 10.3% 95,000
Revenue per Trip £0.503
Calculated Revenue £22,643.55 £20,205.79 £4,900.66
Revenue Owed £2,643.55 £2,705.79 £-5,349.34
6. Block Exemption – CMA Guidance24
“To minimise the burden on the parties to agreements, under the CA98 the
Secretary of State may make a ‘block’ exemption order that exempts from the
Chapter I Prohibition any agreements that fall within particular categories of
agreement which the CMA considers are likely to satisfy the conditions in
section 9(1) [of the Competition Act 1998]. This allows companies to have
confidence that their agreement is legal under Chapter I Prohibition, without
needing to self-assess against the section 9(1) criteria.
24 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/553470/cma53-public-transport-ticketing-schemes-block-exemption-guidance.pdf
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An agreement that falls within a category specified in the block exemption
(and that does not breach any of the conditions specified in the block
exemption) will not be prohibited under the Chapter I Prohibition and is
enforceable by the parties to the agreement…. [T]he parties to the agreement
need to satisfy themselves that the agreement meets the conditions set out in
the block exemption and be in a position to prove that the agreement is block
exempted. Where an agreement has as its object or effect an appreciable
restriction of competition but does not fall within the terms of the block
exemption, consideration will need to be given to one of the following:
Does it satisfy the conditions in section 9(1) so as to be individually
exempted?
Should it be amended so as to bring it within the terms of the block
exemption?
Does it fall within an exclusion under other legislation?”
CA98 Article 9(1)25
“An agreement is exempt from the Chapter I prohibition if it—
(a) contributes to—
(i) improving production or distribution, or
(ii) promoting technical or economic progress,
while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit;
(b) does not—
(i) impose on the undertakings concerned restrictions which are not
indispensable to the attainment of those objectives; or
(ii) afford the undertakings concerned the possibility of eliminating
competition in respect of a substantial part of the products in question.”
25 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/41/section/9
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1
Warwickshire County Council Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) Form
The purpose of an EIA is to ensure WCC is as inclusive as possible, both as a service deliverer and as an employer. It also
demonstrates our compliance with Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
This document is a planning tool, designed to help you improve programmes of work by considering the implications for different
groups of people. A guidance document is available here.
Please note that, once approved, this document will be made public, unless you have indicated that it contains sensitive information.
Please ensure that the form is clear and easy to understand. If you would like any support or advice on completing this document,
please contact the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team on 01926 412370 or [email protected]
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Is this a new or existing service / policy / strategy /
practice / plan? If an existing service / policy / strategy /
practice / plan please state date of last assessment
New
EIA Review team – list of members Nigel Whyte, Keira Rounsley
Do any other Business Units / Service Areas need to be
included?
WCC Passenger Transport Team
Does this EIA contain personal and / or sensitive
information?
No
Are any of the outcomes from this assessment likely to
result in complaints from existing services users,
members of the public and / or employees?
No
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1. Please explain the background to your proposed activity and the reasons for it.
At its meeting on 17 December 2019 the County Council agreed a Motion that the Strategic Director (Communities) takes a report to Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee responding to the following five objectives:
1. Clarifies and prioritises the Authority’s powers and key objectives in relation to bus provision to enable more consistent and effective negotiations with bus operators. This should include investigating multi-operator ticketing, bus priority measures and improved bus information.
2. Analyses the success of Section 106 developer contributions which have been used to pump prime new bus routes over the last 10 years in Warwickshire and investigates alternative frameworks to incentivise long term successful routes around new developments if necessary.
3. Fully scopes the use of Advanced Quality and Enhanced Partnership schemes as set out in the Transport Act 2000 and Bus Services Act 2017, including engagement with operators and sets a date no later than December 2020 to assess whether implementation of the AQ or EP schemes are necessary to achieve the Authority’s key objectives.
4. Considers and assesses the resources required to successfully deliver the Council’s key objectives recognising that any strategy or objectives that emerge from this process must be fully costed before they can be presented to Cabinet and all sources of funding identified.
5. Considers the call by the “Campaign for Better Transport” report called “The Future of the Bus” WCC Transport Planning commissioned The TAS Partnership Ltd (a transport consultancy specializing in public transport provision) to investigate the item raised in the Motion and produce an independent report.
2. Please outline your proposed activity including a summary of the main actions.
The proposed activities to be undertaken by WCC Transport Planning are listed as follows: A. Relay the key findings in the independent report produced by The TAS Partnership to WCC Communities Overview and
Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 23 September 2020 B. WCC Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee to note the key findings of the Bus Services Motion Report
produced by The TAS Partnership Ltd investigating the items in the Bus Services Motion endorsed by full Council on 17 December 2020
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C. WCC Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee to note the proposed Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule consisting of measures aimed at delivering improvements to the bus services and supporting infrastructure, which The TAS Partnership Ltd has presented in the report following consultation with bus operators, County Council officers, Borough and District officers, Department for Transport and employers
D. WCC Transport Planning to further develop the initiatives and schemes in the proposed Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule and present to WCC Cabinet for endorsement to carry out further development work, e.g. development of a Business Case, which would act as the driver for obtaining capital funding to secure implementation
Note: The proposed Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule is focused on delivering the following bus improvement initiatives and schemes:
How to use the bus information guide;
Better roadside publicity;
Planning policy guidance;
Annual Warwickshire Bus Conference;
New Bus Links to Birmingham International Airport / NEC / UK Central;
Warwick – Leamington - Coventry Corridor Enhanced Partnership;
Introduce a Countywide Multi-Operator Day Ticket;
Improvement to southbound bus stop on Leicester Road (A426) opposite Elliott's Field Retail Park in Rugby;
Expansion of DRT Provision and Technology; and
Provision of Park and Ride in Leamington for the Commonwealth Games.
3. Who is this going to impact and how? (customers, service users, public and staff)
It is good practice to seek the views of your stakeholders and for these to influence your proposed activity. Please list anything
you have already found out. If you still need to talk to stakeholders, include this as an ‘action’ at the end of your EIA. Note that
in some cases, there is a duty to consult, see more.
Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report does not intend to single out a group characteristic within Warwickshire. Notwithstanding, all groups with protected characteristics would benefit, including individuals with a mobility and/or visual disability, the elderly who may not be able to travel by private car and people carrying children.
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Consultation: Consultation has already been carried out with bus operators and employers (workforce of 50+ employees) who actively participated into shaping the Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report produced by The TAS Partnership. Officers of all 5 Borough / District Councils in Warwickshire were also consulted.
I. How did they do this?
The TAS Partnership Ltd issued a questionnaire to bus operators and employers regarding local bus services;
The TAS Partnership Ltd engaged key officers at Borough / District Councils; and
The TAS Partnership Ltd reviewed responses regarding bus services issued by residents to the County Council as part of the major WCC consultations regarding the Council Plan and Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs).
II. What did this tell you?
Some residents require access to employment, services and amenities which are currently not being met by public transport;
There are gaps in the Warwickshire Bus Network which need to be filled particularly in rural areas, and hence, the expansion of flexible Demand Responsive Transport services in Warwickshire is key in satisfying this travel demand in a cost-effective manner;
There is customer dissatisfaction regarding the level of bus fares particularly during off-peak periods;
The need to make bus timetables easier to read and encourage enhanced quality of information;
The need for provision of bus priority measures to support local bus services to operate when levels of traffic congestion on the local highway network are increasing;
The need for bus services to support improvements to the local environment, e.g. carbon reduction;
The importance of school transport to provide children with access to education and curtailing parents from driving their children to school, eligibility criteria for free school transport was also a key issue.
4. Please analyse the potential impact of your proposed activity against the protected characteristics.
N.B Think about what actions you might take to mitigate / remove the negative impacts and maximize on the positive ones.
This will form part of your action plan at question 7.
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What information do you have? What information do
you still need to get?
Positive impacts Negative impacts
Age
The bus is a key form of
transport for elderly people.
Accessibility enhancements at bus stops to ease the boarding and alighting of
buses will need to be considered. In addition,
information, including the bus information guide, will need to
be accessible.
Audio information on bus, i.e. next stop confirmation.
Further enhance use of
mobile apps to obtain bus information and on route location details frequently
used by younger people, e.g. students
Reduced bus journey times and environmental benefits.
Improvements to school transport provision will be
considered.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
Disability Consider
Physical disabilities
Sensory impairments
Neurodiverse conditions (e.g. dyslexia)
It is recognised that the term disability is a broad one and
includes people with physical, sensory or cognitive
impairments. Many people
Accessibility enhancements at some bus stops to ease
the boarding and alighting of buses will need to be
considered.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support
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Mental health conditions (e.g. depression)
Medical conditions (e.g. diabetes)
with disabilities have mobility impairments, and some are wheelchair users. Disability
can affect locomotion, seeing, hearing, reaching, stretching,
dexterity, and cognitive functions, but these categories are not
exhaustive, or mutually exclusive; many disabled people, particularly older
people, have more than one impairment.
Audio information on bus, i.e.
next stop confirmation.
Reduced bus journey times and environmental benefits.
Provision of bus priority measures to reduce journey times and enhance schedule adherence will be considered.
Audio information at bus stops where possible to
support the visually impaired.
further development of the Bus Services Motion
Enhancement Schedule.
Gender Reassignment
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Improvements to bus services in terms of
frequency, ticketing, fares and vehicle specification.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
Marriage and Civil Partnership
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Improvements to bus services in terms of
frequency, ticketing, fares and vehicle specification.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
Pregnancy and Maternity
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Accessibility enhancements at bus some stops to ease
Further market research aimed at identifying the
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the boarding and alighting of buses will need to be
considered.
Enhanced customer satisfaction of bus services,
e.g. improved fleet and comfortability.
Provision of bus priority
measures to reduce journey times and enhance schedule adherence will be considered.
needs and wants of bus passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
Race
Where appropriate information will be provided in plain English to make it more accessible and in the relevant
alternative language, depending on the
demographic of the area.
Provide information at the bus stop or on bus in relevant
alternative language, depending on the
demographic of the area.
Reduced bus journey times and environmental benefits.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
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Religion or Belief
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Improvements to bus services in terms of
frequency, ticketing, fares and vehicle specification.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
Sex
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Improvements to bus services in terms of
frequency, ticketing, fares and vehicle specification.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule.
Sexual Orientation
No impacts identified. To be monitored and reviewed.
Improvements to bus services in terms of
frequency, ticketing, fares and vehicle specification.
Further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus
passengers in Warwickshire will be carried out to support further development of the
Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
5. What could the impact of your proposed activity be on other vulnerable groups e.g. deprivation, looked after
children, carers?
Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report is expected to contribute towards improving population health and is not anticipated to have any adverse impact on population health.
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Guidance on how to travel by bus in adherence to COVID-19 public health requirements on public transport is openly available on the websites of bus operators, the County Council and Government. Cards for residents who are unable to follow COVID-19 public health requirements on public transport, e.g. due to health and/or mobility issues, are being distributed by bus operators and the County Council as below:
6. How does / could your proposed activity fulfil the three aims of PSED, giving due regard to:
the elimination of discrimination, harassment and victimisation
creating equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
fostering good relationships between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
The proposed activities fulfil the three aims of Public Sector Equality Duty as follows: I. The Elimination of Discrimination, Harassment and Victimisation: Further investment in the Warwickshire Bus Network would promote social inclusion and support reduction in crime by visibly increasing the numbers of people on the streetscape, and therefore, criminal activity is likely to decrease in such open and society conscious environment.
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II. Creating Equality of Opportunity between those who Share a Protected Characteristic and those who do not: Warwickshire Bus Services Motion Report is the driver towards providing residents, specifically individuals with a disability and the elderly who may not have access to their own private car, with further improved public transport provision enabling access employment, services and facilities. This would promote social inclusion, improve health (e.g. walking to and from a bus stop), tackle loneliness which can result in reduced feelings of isolation that may impact their mental health. Improving the Warwickshire Bus Network would encourage people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low. III. Fostering Good Relationships between those who share a Protected Characteristic and those who do not Further investment in the Warwickshire Bus Network would enable people to travel together safely, and thus, enhance social cohesion and community spirit. This would have tangible benefits regarding reduction the number of cars on the local highway network, reducing traffic congestion and improving the local environment, e.g. air quality. Increasing and/or encouraging the use of local bus services is also key in promoting social inclusion and combating loneliness, e.g. talking to other passengers on the bus and creating / maintaining friendships. Encouraging residents to undertake further physical exercise, i.e. walk to the bus stop and to destinations when departing the bus which provides health benefits.
7. Actions – what do you need to do next?
Consider:
Who else do you need to talk to? Do you need to engage or consult?
How you will ensure your activity is clearly communicated
Whether you could mitigate any negative impacts for protected groups
Whether you could do more to fulfil the aims of PSED
Anything else you can think of!
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Action Timescale Name of person responsible
Undertake further market research aimed at identifying the needs and wants of bus passengers in Warwickshire to support of further development of the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule
12 months Nigel Whyte (WCC Transport Planning) designated as Project Manager
Monitor progression of the Bus Services Motion Enhancement Schedule including potential reporting to WCC Cabinet, development of a Business Case and implementation
12 months Nigel Whyte (WCC Transport Planning) designated as Project Manager
Undertake Analysis of Impact: Review the proposed launch of a Warwickshire multi operator bus ticket in lead up to the Commonwealth Games 2022, in acknowledgement some of the events will be held in the county. This will review will include assessing whether the introduction of the multi-day operator ticket provides savings for passengers. This could positively impact poorer communities.
24 months Nigel Whyte (WCC Transport Planning) designated as Project Manager
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8. Sign off.
Name of person/s completing EIA Nigel Whyte and Keira Rounsley
Name and signature of Assistant Director
David Ayton-Hill
Date Thursday 20 August 2020
Date of next review and name of person/s responsible
Monday 21 August 2023. Nigel Whyte (WCC Transport Planning)
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1
Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee
One Organisational Plan Quarterly Progress Report
23 September 2020
Recommendation 1. That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
Considers and comments on the progress of the delivery of the One Organisational Plan 2020 for the period as contained in the report.
1. Executive Summary 1.1 The One Organisational Plan (OOP) Year-end Performance Report for the
period April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2020 was considered and approved by Cabinet on 9th July 2020. The report provides an overview of progress of the key elements of the OOP, specifically in relation to performance against Key Business Measures (KBMs), strategic risks and workforce management. A separate Financial Monitoring report for the period covering both the revenue and capital budgets, reserves and delivery of the savings plan was presented and considered at the Cabinet meeting held in June 2020.
1.2 This report draws on information extracted from both Cabinet reports to provide this Committee with information relevant to its remit.
2. One Organisational Plan 2020: Strategic Context and Performance Commentary
2.1 The OOP 2020 Plan aims to achieve two high level Outcomes:
● Warwickshire’s communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent; and,
● Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure.
Progress to achieve these outcomes is assessed against 64 KBMs.
Outcome No. of KBMs
Warwickshire’s communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent
23
Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure
12
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In addition, to demonstrate OOP delivery by ensuring that WCC makes the best use of its resources, a total of 29 KBMs are monitored.
As the Organisation continues to transform, this is the first full year performance report that will be reported against the new Commissioning Intentions Performance Framework. The new measures included in the Framework provide a sharpened focus on performance linked to the Organisation’s priorities. Detailed performance has been visualised utilising the functionality of the newly implemented Microsoft Power BI system.
2.2 Of the 64 KBMs, 11 are in the remit of this Overview and Scrutiny Committee. At the yearend position, 55% (6) of KBMs have achieved target while 27% (3) of KBMs have not achieved the yearend target. The other two KBM’s; Gross Value Added (GVA) per employee as a % of the UK average is reported in arrears and No. of journeys on public transport services supported by WCC do not have a target.
Chart 1 below summarises KBM performance by outcome for the remit of this Committee.
Chart 1
2.3 Of the 45% (5) KBMs achieving target there are 3 measures where performance is of particular note which are:
● % of household waste reused, recycled and composted, which is ahead of
target even though Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council have started charging for green waste which has resulted in less recycled waste from them;
● Total waste (kg) per household, which is currently ahead of target, charging for green waste collection in Nuneaton Borough Council has reduced the amount composted from that council. However, increases in green waste across the other District and Borough Councils has mitigated the county wide impact; and,
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● No. of properties better protected from flooding, after 3 significant floods events during November 2019, January 2020 and February 2020 WCC were still able to better protect 76 properties through jetting works and enforcement procedures undertaken by WCC and associated contractors.
Measure Remedial Action
Cost (£) of SEND Home to School transport provision
Growth in pupil numbers and delays in building work intended to increase capacity in Warwickshire's own in County specialist provision, has meant the service has been unable to reduce numbers in Out County provision as planned. Long term plans continue to provide more in county provision and reduce travel costs.
Rate of total recorded crime per 1000 population
Whilst the crime rate per thousand population remains within target, there is a renewed focus on serious violence, which although low compared to other most similar authorities, did see a rise in 2019/20. The Safer Warwickshire Serious Organised Crime Joint Action Group, has been refreshed and is taking a lead on this area. The Safer Warwickshire Serious Organised Crime Joint Action Group, has been refreshed and is taking a lead on this area.
To support this, each Community Safety Partnership (CSP) area has completed its Strategic assessment and has set priorities to address the local trends in each area through a multiagency action plan. These action plans alongside the monthly partnership problem solving meetings will identify trends and implement actions to address concern areas as quickly as possible. Analysts from the Police and the CSP’s will monitor the trends and provide analytical products that will assist in identifying the most appropriate actions to address trends.
The Safer Warwickshire Officer pilot is currently being developed which will also contribute to this agenda. The proposal is for an Officer in the north and in the south of the county who will work to deliver the agreed SWPB objectives.
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2
2.4 The full set of KBM’s form the basis of the 2020/21 performance framework and
therefore a forecast of performance projection for the next reporting period is included in this report. As targets have yet to be agreed the projection is based on measure owners current understanding of forecast performance levels. Chart 2 below illustrates the considered forecast performance projection over the forthcoming reporting period.
Chart 2
No. of people killed or seriously injured on our roads
WCC prioritises funding to those locations and interventions that will have maximum in terms of casualty reduction. Approval has been given for investment in to 3 casualty reduction schemes and a pilot implementation of average speed cameras: - Casualty reduction road improvement project at the junction of the A439 and Hatton Bank Lane. Signalised junction casualty reduction scheme at the Green Man Crossroads, Coleshill. Part fund the Portabello Crossroads Signalisation casualty reduction scheme. There has also been a commitment of investment to provide new safe cycling facilities between Kenilworth to Leamington, Hinckley and Nuneaton & Nuneaton and Coventry. WCC has reinvigorated the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership and established a Strategic Partnership Board. This will provide greater oversight and strategic direction for the road safety partnership working between WCC Road Safety, Fire & Rescue and Warwickshire Police and other partners. A road safety partnership coordinator post has been funded by WCC and will provide support to partners across the shared road safety activities.
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Of the 11 KBM’s, 45% (5) are projected to remain on target over the next reporting period. The table below highlights the 3 KBM’s, including remedial action being taken, where performance is projected to remain underperforming and static;
The table below highlights the 1 KBM, including remedial action being taken, where performance is projected to remain underperforming and decline;
Measure Remedial Action
% biodiversity net gain in Warwickshire
The Habitat Biodiversity Audit continues to map urban area in more detail through satellite imagery thereby lower value habitat is being added to the total area covered in Warwickshire. Therefore, a decline is anticipated with no remedial action. However, the annual decline equivalent to 2208 hectares is high and an averaged decline of 1439 hectares is of concern. This may be due to uncertainties of post Brexit agricultural payment schemes and a shift to greater production in the interim, Further analysis would be required to determine which habitat is being lost.
2.5 Comprehensive performance reporting is now enabled through the following
link to the Communities OSC Year End Performance Report.
The Communities Year End Exception Dashboard contains details of those measures that are of significant note where good performance or areas of concern need to be highlighted.
There is a further dashboard split by the 2 high level Outcomes Communities OSC Year End Full Dashboard which provides a summary of performance for all KBM’s within the remit of this Committee.
3. Financial Commentary – relevant finance information taken
from Cabinet report
3.1 Revenue Budget
3.1.1 The Council has set the following performance threshold in relation to revenue
spend: a tolerance has been set of zero overspend and no more than a 2%
underspend. The following table shows the forecast position for the Services
concerned.
2019/20
Budget
£'000
2019/20
Outturn
'000
Revenue Variance
£'000 %
Retained
Reserves
£'000
Financial
Standing
£'000
Communities 23,262 23,615 353
1.52% (2,269) (1,916)
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Throughout the year, the Service faced a loss of income as a result of the delays in the implementation of changes to parking management. The Service worked to pro-actively mitigate this impact through managing spend elsewhere, but the overall overspend was largely driven by the gap in this unrealised income as well as other pressures such as legal and insurance fees being greater than budgeted.
Environment Services 24,335 21,963 (2,372)
-9.75% 1,314 (1,058)
The net underspend was caused by an underspend in Highways and Transport, offset by an overspend in Gypsy and Traveller Services and a shortfall in the anticipated traded income from County Fleet Management. The underspend in Highways and Transport was driven by four factors: A mild winter resulting in less gritting of roads; substantial income recovery from utility operator enforcement; Covid-19 lockdown resulting in lack of ability to complete planned Quarter 4 spend; and concessionary fares underspend due to lack of take up.
3.2. Delivery of the 2017-20 Savings Plan
3.2.1. The savings targets and forecast outturn for the Business Units concerned are shown in the table below.
3.3 Capital Programme
3.3.1. The table below shows the approved capital budget for the business units and
any slippage into future years.
2019/20 Target
£'000
2019/20 Actual
to Date
£'000
2019/20 Outturn
£'000
Communities 1,141 773 773
Shortfall £0.368 million relating to the introduction of a new charging schedule for parking permits. This
has been delayed while a public consultation takes place. This has impacted on year 1 savings and
depending on the outcome of the consultation may impact on year.
Environment Services 605 580 580
Shortfall £0.025 million. This relates to the move to Hawkes Point from Montague Road. This is in question because it relied on increased income being made from the installation of an MOT test facility at the new site. The move to Hawkes point has been delayed and Environment Services are now also funding the installation.
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Approved
budget
for all
current
and
future
years
(£'000)
Slippage
from
2019/20
into
Future
Years
£'000
Slippage
from
2019/20
into
Future
Years
(%)
Current
quarter -
new
approved
funding /
schemes
(£'000)
Newly
resourced
spend
included
in
slippage
figures
(£'000)
All
Current
and
Future
Years
Forecas
t
(£'000)
Communities 42,543 (3,158) -19 31,248 79 73,870
The main reason for the movement was delays in area delegated schemes of £1.875m, Members are
involved in plans for the reorganisation of this area and have already contributed their requirements and
suggestions. There was also a delay of £0.572m on the Temple Hill Wolvey casualty reduction scheme
and an additional £0.239m on other casualty reduction projects. Delays to projects at design stage meant
the construction start date was moved to later in the year and then Covid-19 delayed that further. Casualty
reduction schemes were otherwise delayed due to poor weather in February. The Bermuda Connectivity
Scheme also suffered delays around sign-off (£0.237m). This was caused by technical approval delays
impacting on design finalisation, combined with issues with the land negotiations which resulted in
significant re-profiling being required to the project milestones with procurement and construction now
expected to be during 20020-21.
Environment Services 151,292 (17,237) -29 17,911 (749) 168,454
The A46 Stoneleigh junction scheme accounted for £1.650m of the total movement, where procurement
was delayed partly due to Covid-19 and partly due to the need for additional strategic modelling
requirements to support the business case. Issues with HS2 resulted in a need to liaise on design and
review work with HS2 consultants. There were also delays in annual maintenance projects, with funds
being rolled forward into the new financial year (£0.958m). Gypsy and Travellers projects were delayed as
funding planned for caravan refurbishments did not take place as a result of staffing issues within the
team. The project will be progressed in 2020-21. Street lighting maintenance was delayed because a large
road junction scheme that included planned cabling and street lighting works has not yet gone ahead;
other delays to planned works were caused by the extreme wet weather and the Covid-19 lockdown. For
highways maintenance staffing restructures in the team meant communications between WCC and
Balfour between January and March were sub optimal. In addition to this extreme wet weather caused
delays on some schemes.
4. Supporting Papers
4.1 A copy of the full report and supporting documents that went to Cabinet on the 9th July is available via the following link and in each of the Group Rooms.
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5. Environmental Implications None
6. Background Papers None
Authors: Vanessa Belton, Delivery Lead Business Intelligence Performance, Planning and Quality; [email protected] Christopher McNally, Performance and Improvement Service Lead; [email protected]
Assistant Directors David Ayton-Hill, Assistant Director Communities; [email protected]
Scott Tompkins, Assistant Director Environment Services; [email protected]
Strategic Director Mark Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities; [email protected]
Portfolio Holders Cllr J Clarke, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Transport & Planning; [email protected]
Cllr A Crump, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Fire & Community Safety; [email protected]
Cllr I Seccombe, Leader & Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth; [email protected]
Cllr H Timms, Cabinet Portfolio for Environment & Heritage & Culture; [email protected]
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Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee
23rd September 2020
Council Plan 2020 – 2025 Quarterly Progress Report Period under review: April 2020 to June 2020
Recommendation
That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
(i) Considers and comments on the progress of the delivery of the Council Plan 2020 - 2025 for the period as contained in the report.
1. Introduction
1.1. The Council Plan Quarter 1 Performance Report for the period April 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2020 was considered and approved by Cabinet on 10th September 2020. The report provides an overview of progress of the key elements of the Council Plan, specifically in relation to performance against Key Business Measures (KBMs), strategic risks and workforce management. A separate Financial Monitoring report for the period covering both the revenue and capital budgets, reserves and delivery of the savings plan was presented and considered at the same September Cabinet meeting.
1.2. This report draws on information extracted from both Cabinet reports to provide this Committee
with information relevant to its remit.
2. Council Plan 2020 - 2025: Strategic Context and Performance Commentary
2.1 The Council Plan 2020 – 2025 aims to achieve two high level Outcomes:
● Warwickshire’s communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent; and,
● Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure.
Progress to achieve these outcomes is assessed against 64 KBMs.
Outcome No. of KBMs
Warwickshire’s communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent
23
Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure
12
In addition, to demonstrate OOP delivery by ensuring that WCC makes the best use of its resources, a total of 29 KBMs are monitored.
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As the Organisation continues to transform the Commissioning Intentions Performance Framework was developed and implemented in October 2019 providing a sharpened focus on performance linked to the Organisation’s priorities. As part of this transformation several changes to measures were proposed for Cabinet to agree to ensure that the Framework remains fit for purpose and supports delivery of the priorities. The subsequent revised Commissioning Intentions Performance Framework which will be reported on from Quarter 2 can be accessed using this link.
Detailed performance for Quarter 1 for all current KBMs has been visualised utilising the
functionality of the Microsoft Power BI system.
2.2 At Quarter 1 there has been an improvement in overall performance against the full framework compared to the 2019/20 year-end position. Several measures, however, have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and as a consequence there is little or no sign of improvement in these areas. These are fully detailed in 2.5.
2.3 Of the 64 KBMs, 11 are in the remit of this Overview and Scrutiny Committee. At Quarter 1, 6 of the 11 KBM’s are being reported. 67% (4) of reportable KBMs are On Track and 33% (2) KBMs are Not on Track. In comparison at year-end position where 9 KBM’s were being reported with 55% (5) KBM’s being On Track while 45% (4) KBMs were Not on Track.
Chart 1 below summarises KBM status by quarter since the introduction of the Commissioning Intentions Framework.
Chart 1
5 KBMs are unavailable for reporting at this quarter. 4 are not available as they are annual measures and reported in arrears:
% of Warwickshire road network meeting specified condition because;
No. of journeys on public transport services supported by WCC;
% biodiversity net gain in Warwickshire; and,
6
5
4
1
4
2
4
2
5
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Quarter 3 2019/20
Quarter 4 2019/20
Quarter 1 2020/21
Communities OSC KBM Status
On Track Not on Track Not Available
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Gross Value Added (GVA) per employee as a % of the England average.
No. of properties better protected from flooding is not available as because of the Covid-19 pandemic DEFRA took the decision nationally that Property Flood Resilience (PFR) schemes should be halted due to the close contact to residents when at their properties.
2.4 Of the 67% (4) KBM’s achieving target there are 3 measures where performance is of note:
● % of household waste reused, recycled and composted. Household waste is down 6000 tonnes compared to last year and has helped improve the recycling % forecast to 52%. Largely due to less waste being brought into the Household Waste Recycling Centre sites and some suspended services from the districts in April due to Covid-19;
● Total waste (kg) per household. Household waste is down almost 6000 tonnes compared to last year, equivalent of 20kg per household. This is due to the effects of Covid-19 and a booking system having been put in place at the Household Waste Recycling Centres; and,
● Rate of total recorded crime per 1000 population. This indicator is currently on target. During the Covid-19 period Warwickshire has experienced a variation to the normal crime types, with reductions in acquisitive crime and violence with injury, but increased in environmental Antisocial Behaviour (ASB), connected to fly tipping. There have been increases in Domestic Abuse violence without injury and hate crime incidents, however figures had reduced in the late 2019 and early 2020, this is an indication of increased confidence to report Hate Crime and Domestic Abuse.
2.5 The 2 KBMs that are Not on Track at Quarter 1 are included in Table 1 below and details the
current performance narrative, improvement activity and explanation of projected trajectory:
Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure
Cost (£) of SEND Home to School transport provision
Current performance narrative: There is currently a £236,772 overspend which is due to a budgeted shortfall on the demand led statutory service.
Improvement activity: SEND Transport is part of the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme. The next several months baselining and application of the Transport policy will be scrutinised in detail. Figures to support findings will be shared once the Transport project is up and running. The Transport Project will help reduce costs moving forward as the SEND Change Programme's vision of children remaining in their local schools will put less pressure on the expensive out of county SEND transport costs. Explanation of the projection trajectory: Not on Track - declining This is a cumulative figure that will increase as the year progresses. There will be less Home to School transport over Quarter 2 because it covers the summer holidays. However the impact of Covid-19 on transport has potential to be significant for Children and Young People with special educational needs. The financial impact of social distancing and remaining in bubbles will require additional school transport arrangements. Transport and the costs associated are a significant concern to this area of the budget.
% of residents in Warwickshire aged 16 - 64 who are in employment, compared to the England average
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Current performance narrative: Latest data is from Jan – Mar 2020 (this measure is reported 3 months in arrears) with the employment rate currently standing at 81.3%, 0.6% higher than in Oct - Dec 2019. In contrast, England has only seen a 0.2% increase over the same period. Warwickshire's employment rate is currently 5.1% higher than the national rates. Warwickshire has seen overall growth from 77.7% in 2015/16 to 81.3%. Unemployment and employment figures are only up to Mar 2020 so WCC won't know the impacts of Covid-19 until later in the year. Job vacancy and claimant count data is reported more frequently which shows Warwickshire has had a 117% growth in the number of people on the claimant count from March 2020-June 2020 compared to England which has seen 110% growth. Warwickshire has experienced a slightly larger reduction in job vacancies compared with England. From this WCC can determine that Warwickshire is experiencing more of a challenge compared to the national figure. 3.6% of Warwickshire’s total 16+ population are currently on the claimant count as of May 2020, yet 4.9% of England’s are, 1.3% more than Warwickshire, compared with only 0.6% in March 2020.
Improvement activity (if appropriate): WCC already works with the Department for Work and Pensions, Education and Skills Funding Agency, Big Lottery and other funders as well as their contracted providers to co-ordinate and promote employment and skills support programmes in Warwickshire.
WCC is now working with DWP to look at how these programmes can be scaled up to meet the expected increase in demand. WCC IS also working with DWP, the CWLEP Growth Hub, Coventry City Council, Chamber and other partners to develop a co-ordinated sub-regional approach to responding to redundancies.
WCC is working with partners to look at addressing emerging gaps in support most notably for young people via the Skills for Employment programme and potentially via WCC’s new Place Shaping Fund which includes an allocation to support economic recovery. Explanation of the projection trajectory: Not on Track-static WCC expect to maintain a gap of around 6% as the employment rate settles at around 80% for Warwickshire. However, the target is likely to be revised as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, the full impact of which will not be fully known until the end of July. As this is a measure that compares itself to the England average it is difficult to determine at this stage how Warwickshire will perform. Since 15/16 Warwickshire has performed above the England average, it is too early to identify whether the industries that helped Warwickshire maintain this above average figure are greatly affected negatively by Covid-19.
Table 1
The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely impacted on both of these measures and the improvement activity has not seen the expected result due to extra pressures and demand of the pandemic on services. Improvement activity needs time to embed and positive results to be realised
All other measures have stayed static in their performance or have made improvements across the quarters. Notably, Rate of total recorded crime per 1000 population has moved to being On Track at Quarter 1 from Not Being On Track at year-end.
2.6 Chart 2 below illustrates the considered forecast performance projection over the forthcoming
reporting period compared to projection at previous quarters.
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Chart 2
Of the 11 KBM’s, 5 KBM’s have a forecast performance projection for the forthcoming reporting period, the other 6 are annual measures so it is not appropriate to project performance at this time. 80%of the measures that have forecast performance projection have a status of being On Track and remaining static. There are 24 KBMs have a forecast of being Not on Track and are expected to remain Not on Track during the next Quarter and these have been fully detailed in 2.5.
2.7 Comprehensive performance reporting is now enabled through Communities OSC Quarter 1 2020/21 Full Dashboard which provides a summary of performance for all KBM’s within the remit of this Committee.
The Communities OSC Quarter 1 2020/21 Exception Dashboard contains details of those measures that are of significant note where good performance or areas of concern need to be highlighted Warwickshire’s Communities Exception Dashboard
Warwickshire’s Economy Exception Dashboard
6
1
5
3
4
1
1
1
4
2
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
On Track Not on Track NotApplicable
On Track Not on Track NotApplicable
On Track Not on Track NotApplicable
Quarter 3 19/20 Quarter 4 19/20 Quarter 1 20/21
Performance Projection Status for Forthcoming Reporting Period
Improving Static Declining Not Applicable
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3. Financial Commentary – relevant finance information taken from Cabinet
report
3.1 Revenue Budget
3.1.1 The Council has set the following performance threshold in relation to revenue spend: a
tolerance has been set of zero overspend and no more than a 2% underspend. The following
table shows the forecast position for the Services concerned.
2020/21
Budget
£'000
2020/21
Outturn
'000
Revenue Variance
£'000 %
Retained
Reserves
£'000
Financial
Standing
£'000
Communities 21,885 27,422 5,537
25.30% 5,537
£4.806m loss of income in relation to Covid split between: £3.361m Parking Services, £0.594m County Parks, £0.443m rental income through Business Centres, £0.240m from Waste Services and £0.168m from Speed awareness courses;
Additionally, there is expenditure of £0.236m as a result of Covid for the re-allocation of road space in town centres and equipment, £0.200m for employee costs which cannot be charged to capital projects as a result of Covid;
Within Economy & Skills there is a £0.130m overspend for which funding is set aside in the European Match Funding and Rural Growth Network reserves.
Environment
Services 26,083 28,540
2,457
9.42% 2,457
The vast majority of this overspend is related to Covid-19 pressures consisting of:
the risk of additional costs relating to emergency Highways maintenance and compensation payment for Highways contracts (£1m);
the requirement to reallocate roadspace and carry out works in town centres and to enable social distancing and (1.040m);
There is a Covid-19 related pressure as a result of additional payments being made within Transport Delivery to voluntary organisations so that operations could continue during Covid-19 This overspend is partially offset by an underspend in planning delivery due to staff vacancies.
3.2. Delivery of the Savings Plan
3.2.1. The savings targets and forecast outturn for the Services concerned are shown in the table below.
2020/21 Target
£'000
2020/21 Actual
to Date
£'000
2020/21 Forecast
£'000
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Communities 0 0 0
Environment Services 200 200
3.3 Capital Programme
3.3.1. The table below shows the approved capital budget for the Services and any slippage into
future years.
Approved
budget for
all current
and future
years
(£'000)
Slippage
from
2020/21
into
Future
Years
£'000
Slippage
from
2020/21
into Future
Years
(%)
Current
quarter -
new
approved
funding /
schemes
(£'000)
Newly
resourced
spend
included in
slippage
figures
(£'000)
All
Current
and
Future
Years
Forecast
(£'000)
Communities 27,138 20,477 24.12% (114) 27,024
Area delegated projects (£2.224m). A report went to Cabinet on the 11th June 2020
proposing changes to the operation of area delegated schemes in order to facilitate the use
of funds in year.
Bermuda connectivity (£3.899m) delay has been caused by the protracted time taken for
detailed design to receive technical approval and to secure parcels of land required to
deliver the scheme. Consequently, the procurement of the construction contract will not
commence until Qtr2 of 2020-21 with construction works earmarked to commence in Qtr3
of 2020-21.
Leamington to Kenilworth cycle route (£0.5m) where delays to project progress have been
caused by COVID-19 and uncertainty surrounding land acquisitions. The progress of the
scheme will be reviewed by project managers in detail by Q2 to come up with a new
delivery plan.
Environment
Services 79,975 93,729 18.73% 28,736 108,711
£8.510m relates to S278 projects. The time frame for undertaking these is reviewed based
on progress around each development.
A3400 Birmingham road Stratford upon Avon (£3.090m). The construction works are now
expected to start in the last quarter of 2020/21 and finish in 2021/22. This is due to design
phase delays including drainage and utilities.
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A452 Myton Road and Shires Retail park roundabouts (£2.361m). This project funded from
S106 funds has been delayed due to Covid-19. The final design is still to be completed with
construction to follow in 2021-22.
The remaining £1.02m relates to a number of projects, please see the annex for details.
4. Supporting Papers
4.1 A copy of the full report and supporting documents that went to Cabinet on the 10th September is available via the committee system.
5. Environmental Implications
None
6. Background Papers
None
Authors: Vanessa Belton, Delivery Lead Business Intelligence Performance, Planning and Quality; [email protected] Christopher McNally, Performance and Improvement Service Lead; [email protected]
Assistant Directors David Ayton-Hill, Assistant Director Communities; [email protected]
Scott Tompkins, Assistant Director Environment Services; [email protected]
Strategic Director Mark Ryder, Strategic Director for Communities; [email protected]
Portfolio Holders Cllr J Clarke, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Transport & Planning; [email protected]
Cllr A Crump, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Fire & Community Safety; [email protected]
Cllr I Seccombe, Leader & Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth; [email protected]
Cllr H Timms, Cabinet Portfolio for Environment & Heritage & Culture; [email protected]
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Date of next report Item Report detail
Standing items
Questions to Cabinet Portfolio Holders
The Committee may put questions to the Cabinet Portfolio Holders on issues within their remit. The report will set out the forthcoming items listed in the Council’s published Forward Plan relevant to the Committee.
Economic Development Update
To receive an update on economic development in Warwickshire. This has expanded from the previous Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) update at the request of the Chair and Spokespersons.
To be a briefing note to be sent to the Committee Members rather than an agenda item (allowing members to raise any issue/ ask questions at the Committee should they wish).
23 September 2020 Improvement of Bus Provision
1. Clarifies and prioritises the Authority’s powers and key objectives in relation to bus provision to enable more consistent and effective negotiations with bus operators. This should include investigating multi-operator ticketing, bus priority measures and improved bus information.
2. Analyses the success of s.106 contributions which have been used to pump prime new bus routes over the last 10 years in Warwickshire and investigates alternative frameworks to incentivise long term successful routes around new developments if necessary.
3. Fully scopes the use of Advanced Quality and Enhanced Partnership schemes as set out in the Transport Act 2000 and Bus Services Act 2017, including engagement with operators and sets a date no later than December 2020 to assess whether 3 of 4 implementation of the AQ or EP schemes are necessary to achieve the Authority’s key objectives.
4. Considers and assesses the resources required to successfully deliver the Council’s key objectives recognising that any strategy or objectives that emerge from this process must be fully costed before they can be presented to Cabinet and all sources of funding identified.
5. Considers the call by the “Campaign for Better Transport” report called “The Future of the Bus”
Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Work Programme
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Agenda Item
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6. Communities OSC to discuss the findings of the report and to bring forward recommendations to Cabinet.
23 September 2020 Local Enterprise Partnerships Update
How effective are LEPs in delivering a geographically balanced level of investment across Warwickshire? Members suggested that there was scope for improved monitoring of the CWLEP and a request was made for projected completion dates and project targets to be included in future Economic Development Updates.
23 September 2020 One Organisational Plan Quarterly Progress Report
Period under review: April 2019 to March 2020
23 September 2020 Quarter 1 Performance Progress Report
Quarter 1 Performance Progress Report
18 November 2020 Air Quality Monitor Report
To provide the findings of the air quality monitors worn around Warwickshire
18 November 2020 Air Quality Monitoring To provide and update on air quality monitoring since the TFG recommendations in 2018
18 November 2020 School Safety Education TFG
A report on the education-based ways of encouraging more children to walk / scooter / cycle in safety to their schools and report on costed options to inform the refreshed MTFS (Medium Term Finance Strategy), for the MTFP in 2021/22.
18 November 2020 Mid-Term Organisational Plan Progress Report
Mid-Year Performance Progress Report
17 February 2021 Road Space Allocation review
A review of the ‘Road Space Allocation’ including what has been done and lessons learnt/improvements that could be made. This will include the discussions regarding the 20mph zones in Warwickshire.
17 February 2021 Covid-19 People Counters
Information from the town centre people counters set up to monitor numbers during the Covid-19 period
17 February 2021 ‘Nuckle’ Line update Update on the Nuckle line which is run by Coventry City Council
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Items for future work programming and review
Item Description
Planning
HS2 grants To monitor the level of income from HS2 to seek reassurance that WCC is being fully reimbursed.
Capital programme How managed/ overall picture of schemes (Note Resources & Fire and Rescue are also getting regular update on capital slippage).
West Midland Railway To review the new system West Midlands Railway have implemented in Warwickshire
Economy
Local Enterprise Partnerships
How effective are LEPs in delivering a geographically balanced level of investment across Warwickshire? Members suggested that there was scope for improved monitoring of the CWLEP and a request was made for projected completion dates and project targets to be included in future Economic Development Updates.
Strategic Investment To monitor WCCs investment in priority road safety schemes across Warwickshire targeted at reducing the numbers killed or seriously injured on our roads. This includes monitoring investment in local highways priorities, spending on LED streetlights and investment in safer routes to schools.
Sub National Transport Body Update when appropriate
Community Cohesion
Impact of OOP 2020 To consider the impact of OOP 2020 on first responder response times, specifically in relation to road traffic collisions.
KSIs and Speed Limits To review the Council’s speed limit and speed camera policies.
Waste Management Review For when the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England in published in 2021
Population statistics To review to population growth in Warwickshire in relation to housing developments (briefing note)
Sustainable Transport
Air Quality Progress on Recommendations
To consider progress on those recommendations agreed by Cabinet that require further action/outcomes (including information from personal monitors and progress on Supplementary Planning Guidance).
The Clean Air Act To consider the policy and implications of the new Government proposals.
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