LIB DEMS ATTACK TORIES FOR SUGGESTING BUS CUTS WHEN SAVING ALREADY MADE

Lib Dem councillors present petition at county hall

Lib Dem councillors present petition at county hall

Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), has lambasted the ruling Conservatives at County Hall for proposing bus cuts when council papers just released now show the savings have already been made.

On 16th July the County Council put forward a public consultation saying that “the county council is committed to saving at least £700k from the annual bus budget of £3.8m by April 2015”.  In order to achieve this the Conservatives proposed in the consultation to cease bus routes after 6.30pm and on a Sunday, affecting as many as 809,000 trips a year.

Now in papers made available to councillors officers have told them that “efficiencies in excess of £700,000 have been achieved in the current financial year and in 2015/16 and 2016/17 through a mixture of underspends and contributions.” No cuts to routes have been made so far this year. (more…)

Vulnerable families to suffer most from county council cuts

The Conservative run County Council has decided to cut £500,000 per annum in the funding of vital public transport for young people, including those with special educational needs. This followed a consultation with pupils, parents and schools where only 279 responses were received, of which, shockingly,  just 15 were young people. Respondents were not allowed to askfor the continuation of the existing service, but were asked to choose between 5 different proposals of which, thankfully two of the more draconian were withdrawn.

Families with children with Special Educational Needs, who already face significant costs related to their children’s needs, will be asked to pay up to £1173 towards the cost of their transport.

Councillor Mark Watkin, Opposition Spokesperson for Education commented like so many cost cutting proposals I am worried about the ill-considered consequences. Will families with children with decide to withdraw their children from courses because the additional charges will be more than they can bear? At least the county has promised to review this scheme after running it for a while to see what the impact has been.”

Tories challenged to withdraw bus cuts

Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), has challenged the Conservative run county council that is proposing bus cuts to 58 routes to cancel the plans after almost no one supported them.Just 30 residents out of 4548 that responded to the official council consultation entitled “Have your say on a more efficient bus service for Hertfordshire” supported the idea.

In addition several thousands of petition signatures have already been presented to the county council opposing the cuts. It is estimated some 10,000 residents have now signed petitions across the county being collected by bus user groups, residents’ associations and the Liberal Democrats that will go to a meeting to consider the cuts on 4 November.

In an open letter to the Conservative member for Highways who proposed the cuts, the Liberal Democrat Leader has asked him to drop the cuts programme totally and review services with other partners such as the NHS Trust and bus operators to see what savings might be achieved. If revised changes are possible thee would be a  fresh consultation.

Cllr Giles-Medhurst also wants a review other routes whereby working with commercial operators the council might increase passenger trips and ensure the service goes to the areas that passengers want to go to and at the times that suits them.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst said: “The cuts figure – an 18% reduction in one year on top of cuts made a few back – is unacceptable and will unduly affect the young, less able and less well off in our society. Some areas will have no public transport at night or on a Sunday: this will be in effect a curfew for them and must not be allowed to happen.

(more…)

Crossrail news is good news for Hertfordshire Business

Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that an extension to Crossrail is being considered which would mean it served Tring, Hemel Hempstead, Watford Junction and Berkhamsted.
Stephen Giles-Medhurst, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Hertfordshire County Council commented, “This will help support jobs and businesses in the County, as well well as making travel to and from London significantly faster for many who live in the west of the County.”
It is thought that the new services would run into Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street and Bond Street, reducing overcrowding at Euston, and making onward travel easier for those getting tube lines towards the south of the capital.

 

Bus cuts to include bank holidays

Hertfordshire County Council’s plans to cut bus services on 39 routes after 6.30pm each evening and on Sundays has now been exposed to also include Bank Holidays.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst has found this out by questioning officers.

“Yet again we have had to drag out of the ruling Conservatives what they are really planning: first they say the cuts will save £700,000, then after Lib Dem questioning it’s found it is a £887,000 cut! They told us it would ‘only’ affect 200,000 passenger trips; then we exposed it was 887,000 passenger trips. Now we are told that Sunday services also includes ‘all bank holidays’.  So that is at least another five days a year with no buses.

“I am outraged about the dishonest way the Conservatives have pushed ahead with this. They will not even call their consultation ‘bus cuts or reducing services’ instead calling it ‘more efficient bus service’. Since when has stopping 807,000 passenger trips been that? The consultation says nothing about Bank Holiday services being cut: it’s a farce!

“The Conservatives  are claiming to consult but are hiding the real facts.  The consultation says that the amount of support the County Council pays per passenger journey ranges from 10p to over £9 per individual journey. Yet on none of the routes being cut is the subsidy that high – the highest it is £4.19 and the lowest is 8 pence.  They are misleading the public and hiding the truth.” 

Stephen has called on the council to suspend the consultation and put the cuts on hold so that the true impact on the public can be assessed.

“The Tories have lost a grip on this and need to amend their mistakes. We do not support these bus cuts and I know the public do not either,” said Stephen Giles-Medhurst.

Open letter about bus cuts

39 bus routes across Hertforshire are all under threat from the Conservative-run county council.

The Conservatives have forced through a flawed consultation on bus cuts on County supported routes, wanting to cut buses after 6.30pm every day and cut all routes on Sundays.

The County consultation on this is at https://consult.hertsdirect.org/bus-services/, but it provides no real options and also implies that some of these bus routes are subsidised to the cost of £9 a journey which is not true.

When this was debated by the Council the Tories said these blanket cuts would save £700,000. Only after questioning was it revealed that the cut was £887,000. They then said it only affected 200,000 passenger journeys. Now, again after questioning, this the true figure of over £809,000, a four-fold increase has been dug out. The highest subsidy of any of the routes is £4.19 not the £9 as claimed.

The Conservatives have already cut bus support by £800,000, just over 2 years ago. If these cuts go ahead that’s another £800,000, mounting to over a 36% cut in just three years. Yet they refuse to cut the press and publicity budget by this amount and gleefully spend over £5m on securing empty buildings they will not sell, and spend over £10m on trying to get a incinerator built in Hatfield – that money was wasted as its been rejected!

It seems cutting bus services for the less well off and those unable to drive due to health problems, thus forcing people to stay indoors at night and on a Sunday is an easy choice for them. That’s why Liberal Democrats have opposed these blanket cuts  and  tried to get this flawed consultation stopped – but we were outvoted. So now we have launched a county-wide petition that you can sign at http://signme.org.uk/985.

Please sign this petition and also say so no on the web consultation. If you are not a bus user it’s still important. Just think if everyone or even just half who used this buses diverted to a private car or taxi what the effect of 800,000 extra such trips would be on traffic at night and weekends!

TORIES ACCUSED OF MISLEADING RESIDENTS OVER BUS CUTS AS NEW FIGURES SHOW OVER 800,000 BUS JOURNEYS COULD BE CUT

Hertfordshire’s ruling Conservatives have been accused of misleading residents over plans to reduce bus services in the evenings and at weekends.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, and Highways Spokesperson, Stephen Giles-Medhurst has found out that instead of the 200,000 passenger journeys being cut due to the Tories suggested cuts to evening and Sunday services, the real figure will actually be closer to 809,000 passenger journeys.

Stephen said, “When the proposal first come out I asked for details of who would be affected by what route and what the county subsides were. I have had to chase several times for this and now after the Consultation process has started, with in my mind flawed data, the Council has had to admit that the number of people affected by this cut is 4 times as many as theyfirst told us, with some 809,00 journeys actually facing the cut. This is scandalous, the Tories run the council and they should be checking what they are proposing, tens of thousands of residents will be affected and no longer able to use buses if these cuts go ahead. (more…)

Bus cuts condemned

At today’s meeting of HCC the Liberal Democrat group fought to save local bus services from swinging cuts planned by local Conservative politicians.

County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst said “We need full and detailed information to make sense of these budget cuts and what they will mean for non-commercial bus services.

“It might be that there are other options we could consult on, such as fare changes, rather than these swinging cuts that shall affect 200,000 passengers a year on 39 different routes.”

County Councillor Sandy Walkington commented “This shall affect young people and the elderly, but also commuters who rely on bus services to and from train stations and in effect place a curfew on some of our residents”

Sadly the local Conservatives forced through a wrecking amendment that totally ignored the practical reality of what these cuts will mean for those not served by commercial bus routes.