Community transport is about providing flexible and accessible community-led solutions in response to unmet local transport needs, and often represents the only means of transport for many vulnerable and isolated people. Significant user groups are older people and disabled people with a majority of services and projects working in rural areas.
Using everything from minibuses to mopeds, typical services include voluntary car schemes, community bus services, school transport, hospital transport, dial-a-ride, wheels to work and group hire services. Most services are demand-responsive, taking people from door to door, but a growing number are offering scheduled services along fixed routes where conventional bus services are not available.
Services are always run for a social purpose and community benefit, but never for a profit - it often a more reliable and resilient way of ensuring a broader range of transport needs can be met.
The community Transport Association in Wales represents 100 organisations, many of which are small charities – and all of which provide transport services that fulfil a social purpose and community benefit.
140,000 individuals and 3,500 groups are registered to use community transport in Wales.
Services deliver approximately 2m passenger journeys per year, travelling 6m miles.
The sector is predominantly volunteer-led with nearly 2,000 volunteers giving their time freely to ensure services can be delivered - a contribution worth millions to the Welsh economy.
Community Transport Association in Wales represents 100 organisations, many of which are small charities.
These vital services help to reduce loneliness and isolation, ensuring people can access hospitals, GP surgeries, social events, leisure facilities, places of employment, shops and more.
However, despite the obvious positive contribution community transport makes in Wales, the sector currently faces a range of challenges.
The responsibility for community transport is distributed across all levels of government, from EU regulations, to UK Government responsibility over permits and licensing, to Welsh Government responsibility over how Community Transport operates in Wales, to Local Authorities funding and framing the use of community transport locally.
It is therefore vital that all levels of government together seek to find a solution to the current
problem, to find a solution to the current problem, seek to mitigate the short term effects on our communities, and look to develop a strong and sustainable long term future for community transport in Wales.
At a devolved level, the Community Transport Association has identified three key issues –
- that funding settlements do not enable long-term planning;
- that their members are not remunerated cross departmentally for work they do;
- and that, one off capital funding may be necessary to support growth.
Whilst welcoming the uplift in Concessionary fare reimbursement rates for Community Transport, they have also called for the formula to be reviewed for community transport operators. The reimbursement rate remains less than 100% and, while commercial operators can make that back elsewhere, community transport permit restrictions mean that they are unable to recover losses from those journeys.
Short term funding cycles mean operators are unable to plan for the future and develop sustainability.
Late funding decisions can lead to personnel losses, removing vital expertise from the sector.
The Welsh Government provides funding directly to transport operators through the Bus Service Support Grant (BSSG), administered on an annual basis by local authorities.
The amount allocated to community transport operators varies between local authorities.
For example, the Welsh Government suggested that Vale of Glamorgan Council set a target of £81,164 for spending on community transport in 2016/17, but they only contributed £28,200.
The combination of annualised funding, and lack of certainty of funding amounts makes forward planning very difficult.
It is therefore impossible to develop meaningful 3-5 year business plans.
This is particularly problematical when organisations wish to make capital investments in either vehicles, or their organisational infrastructure.
Community Transport operators are increasingly providing health and social care services, taking pressure off public sector bodies and allowing people to live independently for longer.
However, few operators receive financial recognition for this, relying on volunteers to go the extra mile to ensure individuals have the support they need.
Finding and retaining volunteers is already a challenge, especially as people are working later and often have additional responsibilities.
Budgets are therefore needed which support cross-departmental working in order to develop innovative solutions that enable the sector to deliver the activities obviously required.
Operating community transport is more expensive than an average charitable enterprise, and despite fund raising, some operators will be unable to raise capital for future investment, compromising development of their services.
For example, many converted their vehicles to Diesel when told that that was the right thing to do, and replacing these with wheelchair adapted electric or hybrid vehicles will be costly.
A well targeted capital funding programme could therefore drive innovative projects extend the scope, and reach, of community
transport operators throughout Wales – and save money for the statutory sector.
In 2015 the European Commission told the UK Government to address how its directives on passenger transport operator licensing were interpreted into UK law.
This focused on the rules operators should follow when fulfilling local authority contracts and how derogations from the regulations apply.
Alongside this there has been a campaign from a small group of commercial operators to force a settlement through threats of legal challenges to community transport operators, local authorities and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
The UK Government is currently consulting on plans to change how EU rules for regulating passenger transport services apply in Great Britain.
Its consultation document states that it remains committed to supporting the sector, but concerns have been raised that some Community Transport operators that use permits are competing with commercial operators, which is not allowed by EU law.
The proposed changes would mean that under Section 19 & 22 permits (used by community transport operators to deliver minibus services and community bus services) many organisations will only be able to engage in competitive tendering for public sector contracts, such as social care contracts and school contracts, if they obtain a Public Service Vehicle Operator’s License, unless there has been no competition for any of those services from holders of PSV Operator Licences.
This is costly and requires that the organisation has a number of paid roles with professional qualifications.
During my most recent visits to Community Transport operators in North Wales, they emphasised that most operators in Wales are small, unlike some giants in England, and that the proposals now threaten the continuation of community transport here.
Further, whilst the consultation is still underway, the EU interpretation that Community Transport in the UK is in breach of its rules is already being treated in some cases at Local level in Wales as though it is already in force.
The UK Department for Transport has announced a transition fund of £250,000, but it is unclear if a proportion of this will be reserved for Wales, and it is unlikely to be enough to cover transition costs for all organisations affected in Britain.
Local Authorities have said that there will be a shortage of accessible minibuses if they are unable to work with community transport to deliver services, impacting on passengers who need them most.
Evidence has shown that Community Transport provides £3 vale for every £1 spent on it.
The Older People’s Commissioner has stated that Community transport makes a significant contribution to older people’s health and wellbeing, helping them to maintain their independence for longer and participate in community life, plugging the gaps in the public transport network which are particularly important for older people and those living in isolated communities and rural areas.
We therefore call on the Welsh Government to:
a) work in partnership with the community transport sector and public bodies to ensure the sector can continue in its unique role providing bespoke transport options for vulnerable people, to ensure access to services while the consultation process is underway; b) develop contingency plans to mitigate any impact on transport provision through minibus services delivered through Section 19 and 22 permits; c) publish a clear strategy which recognises the cross-cutting aspect of community transport provision across Welsh Government departments in delivering the Welsh Government’s strategic aims; d) provide much needed stability for the sector by moving toward three year funding agreements to allow organisations to develop and take forward plans, to ensure greater sustainability and a more strategic approach to service provision; and e) ensure engagement with relevant partners and stakeholders across Wales to inform the Welsh Government’s own response to the consultation, and ensure understanding in the sector of the Welsh Government’s position.
Community transport offers an invaluable service for those who face particular barriers to accessing transport for whatever reason.
Whilst it is a very resilient sector, the individuals and organisations who work within it must be valued and supported.
Despite the challenges, Community Transport Association Wales believes, there is an opportunity for organisations and authorities in Wales to work together to ensure continued services for our communities.
Let us justify their belief.