AT A MEETING of the SCRUTINY REVIEW GROUP of the ENVIRONMENT AND TRANSPORTATION SELECT COMMITTEE examining TRANSPORT IN THE COMMUNITY held at The Castle, Winchester on 25 September 2007

PRESENT:

Chairman

p Councillor P.R.C. Hutcheson

Councillors:

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Carew.

2. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman welcomed all those who had come to present evidence to the Group and thanked them for giving up their time to support the scrutiny review.

3. TRANSPORT IN THE COMMUNITY - EVIDENCE FROM WITNESSES

The Group received oral evidence from the following witnesses:

· Keith Willcox, Head of Passenger Transport, Hampshire County Council (lead witness, supported by other Officers) in relation to the Area Review process, value for money of subsidised conventional bus services, tendering arrangements for conventional and non-conventional transport, and public consultation and awareness.

· Iain Reeve, Head of Transport, Surrey County Council on how Surrey achieves value for money.

· Andrew Dyer, Managing Director, Stagecoach South in relation to the use of subsidies from Hampshire County Council and the dialogue and relationship between Hampshire and Stagecoach South.

· Jim Lawson from Basingstoke Dial-a-Ride on their use of subsidies, their view on the introduction of competitive tendering for community transport and the effectiveness of public consultation undertaken by Hampshire County Council.

· Pat Gulliford from Fareham and Gosport Network of Hampshire Primary Care PPI Forum on the effectiveness of public consultation undertaken by Hampshire County Council.

Members questioned the witnesses based on their written submissions, these appear as Appendices 1 to 5 in the Minute Book. The session was recorded and is store securely as part of the public record.