Archived decisions

Contact: Kevin Ings, tel 01962 846986 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 A report to the Executive Member for Environment on 9 October 2007 outlined the changes which needed to be made to the financial arrangements for supporting community transport schemes in the future in order to ensure that the County Council continues to fully meet procurement regulations and the Council's latest Standing Orders. These changes are currently being implemented and this report identifies where further decisions are now required to complete this process.

1.2 The report proposes arrangements for purchasing a number of existing vehicles from Dial-a-Ride schemes, if required, and for recovering the vehicle replacement reserve funds currently held by these schemes. Authority to order and purchase a replacement vehicle for one scheme is also sought. It also recommends the interim award of a further round of single tender contracts to service providers prior to the award of contracts following the competitive tendering process. The report also addresses the ownership arrangements for community transport vehicles financed by the County Council.

2. Recommendations

2.1 That a sum of up to £75,000 be agreed for the purpose of purchasing vehicles, if required, from existing Dial-A-Ride schemes as outlined in the report.

2.2 That where vehicles are being purchased from Dial-A-Ride schemes the respective district councils should be requested to contribute up to 50% of the purchase price.

2.3 That the vehicle replacement reserves currently held by Dial-A-Ride schemes should be reclaimed by the County Council on behalf of the funders of these services, subject to the agreement of the respective district councils.

2.4 That a replacement vehicle be ordered and purchased for the Eastleigh Dial-A-Ride scheme, subject to the agreement of the Borough Council.

2.5 That single tender negotiations with the current service providers identified in this report be undertaken and that temporary single tender contracts be awarded for the period 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009.

2.6 That the revised approach to pursuing ownership of community transport scheme vehicles funded by the County Council, as set out in the report, be agreed.

3. Vehicle Ownership - Dial-A-Ride

3.1 Existing single tender contracts for Dial-A-Ride schemes have sought to clarify the ownership of those vehicles which are used to provide these services. This has identified a number of vehicles which are owned by the operator. Negotiations are currently underway with these schemes to secure the purchase, if necessary, of these vehicles by the County Council prior to the introduction of contracts following the competitive tendering process. A breakdown of these vehicle values is set out in the confidential appendix to this report. It is proposed that a sum of up to £75,000 be agreed, if required, for the purpose of purchasing these vehicles from the vehicle replacement reserve.

3.2 Dial-A-Ride services are jointly funded with district councils in Hampshire. It is therefore proposed that where vehicles are being purchased from Dial-A-Ride schemes the respective district councils should be requested to contribute up to 50% of the purchase price.

Dial-A-Ride Vehicle Replacement Funds

3.3 The existing single tender contracts have also sought to clarify the position with regard to the vehicle replacement reserves held by Dial-A-Ride schemes. In most cases these comprise the annual contributions for vehicle replacement which have been made by the County Council and respective district councils.

3.4 Schemes again had until 13 May 2008 to challenge the Council's claims to reclaim this money and no such challenges were received. It is proposed therefore that the vehicle replacement reserves currently held by the Dial-A-Ride schemes should be reclaimed by the County Council and held in a reserve account on behalf of the funders of these services as soon as is practically possible after 1 July 2008, subject to the agreement of the respective district council.

Vehicle Purchase

3.5 Given the new vehicle ownership arrangements, the responsibility for purchasing replacement dial-a-ride vehicles will fall to the County Council. One of the vehicles operated on the Eastleigh Dial-A-Ride service will be due for replacement in November 2008. Given the timescale for procuring these vehicles, authority is now sought to order and purchase a replacement vehicle, subject to the agreement of Eastleigh Borough Council. The cost of this replacement vehicle is estimated at £42,000. This will be funded from the vehicle replacement reserve and jointly funded by the County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council.

Interim Single Tender Contracts

3.6 The majority of Dial-A-Ride and Call and Go schemes and Basingstoke Community Transport are in the process of being competitively tendered. These services are currently being supported through single tender contract arrangements which have been agreed up to 30 September 2008.

3.7 The report to the Executive Member on 17 March 2008 outlined that the work which needed to be undertaken to clarify the vehicle ownership issues could have an impact on the timescale for competitively tendering these services. It is now clear that this is proving to be the case. Consequently, authority is now sought for further interim arrangements prior to the completion of the tendering process and the award of contracts. It is proposed that temporary single tender contracts be awarded to the providers listed below for the period 1 October 2008-31 March 2009.

Operator	Service
Basingstoke Community Transport	Basingstoke Community Transport
Basingstoke Dial-a-Ride	Basingstoke Dial-A-Ride
One Community	Eastleigh Dial-A-Ride
Fareham Community Action	Fareham Dial-A-Ride
Fareham Community Action	Gosport Dial-A-Ride
Havant Council of Community Service	Havant Call and Go
Community First New Forest	New Forest Call and Go
Rushmoor Voluntary Services	Hart Call and Go
Rushmoor Voluntary Services	Rushmoor Dial-A-Ride
Winchester Area Community Action	Winchester Dial-A-Ride

These contracts will have a one month notice clause so that the new tendered contracts can commence as soon as practically possible after the tender process has been completed.

Vehicle Ownership - District-Wide Community Transport Schemes

3.8 A report to the Executive Member on 17 March 2008 outlined the approach to future vehicle ownership arrangements for community transport vehicles which had been purchased with financial support from the County Council.

3.9 A small number of these vehicles are already owned by the County Council. Those vehicles not owned by the Council are covered in most cases by some form of agreement. However, many of these agreements were written prior to the move to new contract arrangements and therefore do not allow for the transfer of ownership to the County Council. The termination clauses only allow the sale of these vehicles by the operator with the County Council receiving a proportion of the proceeds from this sale, based on the proportion of funding originally provided for the purchase of the vehicle.

3.10 The preferred arrangement would be for the vehicle ownership to be transferred to the County Council, with the Council buying out the operator's share of the vehicle. However, this will require a variation to the existing agreements and the consent of each operator, as set out in the confidential appendix to this report.

4. Impact Assessments

4.1 Many of the services operated by these schemes will be available to all bona fide voluntary and community groups in their area of operation. Where services are available to individuals they are often targeted at members of the community who are disadvantaged in some way.

5. Conclusion

5.1 The report identifies where further decisions are required to assist the process of moving from service agreements to contracts under the new financial arrangements for supporting community transport schemes. The report proposes arrangements for purchasing a number of existing vehicles from Dial-a-Ride schemes, if required, and for recovering the vehicle replacement reserves currently held by these schemes. It also recommends the award of a number of single tender contracts to service providers prior to the awarded of contracts following the competitive tendering process. Finally, the report further addresses a revised approach to the ownership of community transport vehicles financed by the County Council.

1676Rpt/KI