Residents are being asked for their views as Bath and North East Somerset Council reviews the provision of supported bus services in the local area.

The Council funds a number of supported bus services under contracts that are due to end during 2018, and is reviewing them prior to carrying out a competitive tender process.

The management of these contracts is jointly undertaken with the West of England Combined Authority, although all funding is currently provided by B&NES Council.

Roughly 90% of bus services in Bath and North East Somerset are operated on a commercial basis. In 2017/18, the Council spent £1.1million on bus services that are not provided by the commercial operators.

Over £400,000 of this came from contributions made by developers or other third parties. These contributions are used to directly support services or improve frequencies and connections on existing services, and the Council says it will actively look for opportunities to increase such outside contributions.

Councillor Mark Shelford, (Conservative Lyncombe), Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: “To help us make decisions on the future of these services, we are seeking the views of residents and users of the services as to the best and most appropriate way to proceed.

“No decisions over any of the routes have been made, and the Council has no preferences over the various options at this stage. This is an open consultation, and we want to hear everyone’s views. The responses will help us develop the detail of specifications for any contracts that are re-tendered.

“Although bus operators are not obliged to consult users before making changes to their commercial route network, the Council is keen to hear the views of users on the services it supports financially, to help inform its decisions.”

B&NES Council faces a number of challenges over the next two years, as it seeks to re-shape itself in light of continuing national policy change, increases in demand for services, rising costs and the need to become financially more self-sufficient as the grant from national Government reduces. It is already in the process of saving £27million, and announced £15million of savings in last year’s budget. However, it now has to save a further £16million by 2020, and is looking at bus services next.

The Council is publishing details of all the supported services involved, and setting out potential options for how it might make changes.

There are options to redesign services to save money, or withdraw services if there are more efficient options available, or if the services do not offer good value for money.

The bus services being consulted on are:

• Services 2, 6A, 8, 9, 265: Evening Services in Bath,

• Service 20A/C: Bath Circular services,

• Service 82/82A: Paulton, Westfield, Radstock Tyning,

• Service 172: Bath, Midsomer Norton, Paulton (evenings),

• Service 179: Bath, Timsbury, Radstock, Writhlington (evenings and Sundays),

• Service 672 & 67: Blagdon to Bristol via Bishop Sutton, Chew Magna, and Dundry,

• Service 768: Clutton, Radstock, Timsbury, Englishcombe, Bath,

• Service A4: Early morning service from Chandag Estate in Keynsham.

For all services, the Council intends that fares will be aligned with commercial fare levels in the area, and consideration will be given to offering bus service operators the opportunity to raise fares to make services viable. All consultees are invited to submit their views on specific issues such as timetabling, routing, frequency, fares, or any other matter affecting one or more of the individual services.

Further details and the consultation are available at: http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/consultations/public-consultation-contracts-supported-bus-servicesReaders must submit any comments, proposals, or suggestions by Wednesday, 31st January, through the online consultation or by email to: [email protected]