The Public Transport Scrutiny Panel of Charnwood Council met to discuss various issues affecting local bus services, including reliability, recruitment challenges, and the impact of new developments on bus routes. The panel agreed on several actions to improve communication and coordination with bus service providers and to address public concerns about bus service reliability.

Public Transport Providers

Representatives from Kinch Bus, Trent Barton, and Arriva discussed the factors affecting bus service provision, such as road works, congestion, and staff sickness. They highlighted the use of GPS technology to monitor bus locations and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure service reliability and punctuality. Christian Allen-Clay, General Manager of Kinch Bus, noted that communications about road works and other issues on the roads were not always communicated to bus companies in good time.

The panel also discussed recruitment and retention issues in the sector, with a shortage of skilled bus drivers and engineers. Toby France, Head of Commercial at Arriva, mentioned that bus companies were actively trying to recruit more people into in-house training programmes and were present at careers fairs and on recruitment websites.

The panel agreed to draft a recommendation to increase parking enforcement in the Baxter Gate/High Street area of Loughborough Town Centre.

Improving Passenger Transport Through Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus and Network North Funding

The panel reviewed a report approved by the Leicestershire County Council Cabinet on 19th December 2023. The Democratic Services Officer explained that officers at Leicestershire County Council could not participate in scrutiny at other local authorities. The panel felt it was important to feed recommendations into the public transport plans developed by Leicestershire County Council and agreed to liaise with the Council’s representative on the Enhanced Partnership Board to find a suitable date for them to attend a panel meeting.

Section 106 Briefing Note

The panel discussed a briefing note by the Team Leader – Strategic Development outlining Section 106 processes. They felt that increased clarity was required regarding the use of Section 106 money¹. The panel suggested using more flexible wording in Section 106 agreements to allow contributions to be used on other sustainable transport interventions if situations changed before the development was built.

The panel also decided to ask the Team Leader – Strategic Development about the pedestrianisation of Loughborough Town Centre and its impact on bus routes and reliability.

Public Transport Survey

The panel approved a draft of the Public Transport Survey but were concerned that respondents might not understand what subsidised bus services were. They agreed to list the subsidised bus services in the survey and to reissue it to ward Councillors, Parish and Town Clerks, and local residents groups in Loughborough. The panel will review the survey responses at their meeting scheduled for 29th May 2024.

Work Programme and Key Task Planning

The panel made no changes to their work programme other than those highlighted earlier in the meeting. The work programme will be updated to reflect the discussions during the meeting.