The Chair handed over to the Vice-Chair Councillor Julian Saunders to introduce this item.

The Vice-Chair welcomed Phil Lightowler, the Head of Public Transport at Kent County Council (KCC) to the meeting and explained that at the June 2021 meeting, Committee Members requested a full discussion on the issue of bus services between Faversham villages and rural areas.  As requested Phil Lightowler provided timetables for all services in the Eastern area as shown in the agenda pack.

Phil Lightowler started by giving an update on bus services in the area.  During lockdown KCC supported bus services dropped to 20% of the normal service throughout Kent, due to a drop in demand.  Services were now at 70% and it was hoped they would return to 85%.  The elderly and disabled users had not returned fully and were at 50%.  The Government Bus Recovery Grant continued until March 2022.  The biggest change was that Arriva withdrew its service between Sittingbourne and Faversham in the pandemic, however, Stagecoach had taken on this service as well as introducing a new service between Sittingbourne and Maidstone.

In March 2021 the Government published the National Bus Strategy,  Bus Back Better, which set out the vision and opportunity to deliver better bus services for passengers across England.  It was an aspirational document which would set timelines for KCC to deliver key items.  There would be an improvement plan to take forward suggestions for different areas. There was £3 billion of Government funding available across England, it was not certain that KCC would get all the funding required but they should hear back at the end of November 2021.

In response to questions, Phil Lightowler provided the following responses:

·         KCC provided funding each year for Swale as follows:

Ø  older/disabled persons bus pass - £17.2 million;

Ø  Kent travel saver - £7.5 million;

Ø  supported services - £6.5 million; and

Ø  public transport development £450,000.

·         To provide a daily bus service, one bus per hour, it would cost an average of £375,000 to £400,000 per month;

·         schools did not always liaise with KCC or bus operators about changes to the timing of the school day;

·         KCC tried to work closely with transport colleagues and districts over Section 106 agreements; and

·         Stagecoach were moving to a more flexible season ticket model.

When asked if the Area Committee could practically  improve bus services in the area, Phil Lightowler suggested consulting with the public to see what they wanted from the services.  Councillor Mike Whiting put forward a proposal to bring back a funding proposal to the December 2021 meeting for a public consultation to find out what residents wanted from local bus services and a figure of £10k was suggested by Councillor Mike Whiting.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor Alastair Gould and agreed by the Committee.

Resolved:

(1)  That a funding proposal be brought back to the December 2021 meeting to allocate £10k for a public consultation to find out what residents wanted from local bus services in the Eastern Area.

The Chair thanked Phil Lightowler for taking the time to attend the meeting.