Bus subsidy review - still early days

There has been a lot of concern and debate following a meeting of Kent County Council's Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on 30 November, at which a paper on possible reductions in bus subsidies was discussed. This was followed by the release of a list of services that might be affected.

It is certainly the case that, in its budget for 2018/19 the County Council is considering reducing bus subsidies by £2 million, with a further potential reduction of £2 million in 2019/20. This is part of the savings package of around £65 million that the Council indicated in its earlier consultations would be needed to balance its finances for the coming years.

However, the list of services potentially affected gave an exaggerated picture of the possible impacts of the subsidy reductions. 97% of bus journeys in Kent are commercial, whereas just 3% are subsidised. In many cases, it may be only journeys at the extremes of the day that are subsidised, not the entire service. Furthermore, discontinuation of the subsidy will not always mean that the operator will find it necessary to cease the service.

With all those caveats, the services listed that have some presence in the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division are:

404/405 - (Go Coach) - Stone Street, Bichet Green, Fawke Common, Godden Green, Seal

435 - (Go Coach) - Otford

204 -  (Autocar) - Underriver

421 - (Go Coach) - Farningham, Eynsford, Shoreham, Otford

I will be examining carefully what impact, if any, comes from proposed changes to services in the Division. Formal consultation, it is worth remembering, does not start until January.

In addition, the County Council leader, Paul Carter, has made clear that he is meeting bus company leaders to examine what impact any subsidy reductions might have, while also focusing strongly on alternative ways of tackling the undoubted issues of rural and elderly isolation, such as taxi share schemes and community minibuses. In at least some circumstances, there may well be more efficient ways in which the County Council can support transport and reduce isolation than some of the more expensive and under-used bus routes.

The debate will continue in the New Year, and very little is settled yet.

The 531 bus

Throughout the autumn and into winter, there have been persistent problems with the 531 Arriva bus serving many school children travelling between Tonbridge and parts of the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division such as Seal and Kemsing. There have been a variety of difficulties, but the most common has been afternoon buses filling up at the very early stages of the journey, with many children and young people then left stranded and having to make much more difficult journeys home - or ultimately be picked up by a parent at considerable inconvenience.

I have raised these concerns with Kent Highways officers, who have in turn taken them up with Arriva. The service is a commercial bus, not one commissioned by KCC (though of\ course many of the users have the KCC-supported Young Person's Travel Pass), so this has been a process of representation and discussion rather than contracting. However, Arriva has agreed to run the afternoon 531 service some ten minutes later, with the aim of encouraging those taking short journeys to take another bus and so relieve pressure on the 531. This change was registered quickly with the Traffic Commissioner and so came into effect today. I will watch carefully to see if this proves effective in easing the problems experienced by children and parents.

Drainage works in Eynsford Road

Residents in Eynsford Road, Farningham, experienced serious flooding in the autumn, and I have since been in frequent contact with Kent Highways officers who have been looking into the problem.

The latest update from the officers is that they are focusing on the main line that runs down the grass verge and then into South Hall Close. Officers will arrange for this to be cleansed and surveyed by a CCTV crew, improving the efficiency of the system as well as identifying any defects within it. There is a manhole cover in South Hall Close which is currently jammed shut and will need to be broken out and replaced before the CCTV crew can access the chamber. There have been  some delays because South Hall Close is a private road, but the works are now set to go ahead, hopefully before Christmas (though the demands of winter gritting might get in the way). Once the manhole is released, the CCTV survey and mainline cleansing can be carried out in the New Year.

Hopefully this will offer resolution of the issue for Eynsford Road residents.