Major transport review to start across the County

Council bosses currentlyinvest £24mproviding and supporting a range oftransport services. These includehome to school transport, services for adult social care, concessionary fares and non-commercial bus services that often run in the evenings, weekends or in rural areas.

Whilst significant savings have been made in recent years, further savingsof £2.3m need to be found to meet the Council’s agreed budget strategy going forward.

Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mark Shaw said the all-encompassing review will look at both externalservices andthe way in which services are managed and providedinternally bythe council.

“We will be looking at everything we do in this area, how we do it,how much it costs and whether we can do it differently.

“Unfortunately a do-nothing approach is not an option. What we have to do isdelivermore efficient transport arrangements, that best meets the needs of communities whilst doing it for less cost.

“We don’t know all the answers, so it’s vital we work with communities so they can tell us what’s needed locally and how we can design new approaches together. We are therefore planning to work through our local area forums to launch four suggested pilot areas – Buckingham, Waddesdon and Chesham and theirsurrounding rural areasand High Wycombe – so we can look in detail at what goes on locally and hopefullyfind solutions that can alsobeapplied across the county.”

The Councilhas also just launched its budget consultationwhich asks local residents, communities and businesses where they think the Council should best directits limited resources.The survey is online at www.buckscc.gov.uk/budget until the closing date of Thursday, December 17.