The meeting will include an update on the committee's work programme, a presentation of the Cabinet's forward plan of key decisions, and a review of rural bus services in West Suffolk.

Review of Rural Buses in West Suffolk

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has scheduled a review of rural bus services in West Suffolk in response to the withdrawal or reduction of a number of routes. A number of people have been invited to present evidence to the committee, and a question plan based on the scoping document for the review has been prepared.

The committee has scheduled a presentation from Councillor Chris Chambers, Suffolk County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, Planning and Waste, to explain how the County Council engages with bus companies and how the Bus Improvement Plan will be used to improve services in West Suffolk.

The committee will also hear from Peter Nathanail, the Managing Director of Transport Made Simple, which acquired Simonds of Botesdale in 2024. Mr Nathanail has been asked to answer questions about the process followed by the company before its decision to make significant changes to its timetable in September 2024, which included the withdrawal of route 337/338 between Garboldisham and Bury St Edmunds.

The changes to the Simonds timetable saw the renumbering and frequency increase of route 304 between Diss and Bury St Edmunds. It is now known as the 70/70A, and provides an hourly service. However, to achieve this faster journey time, parts of Great Barton and Stanton were cut from the route, and other villages lost their service entirely.

Simonds also replaced routes 337/338 from Garboldisham with the 73, which initially only provided one return journey to Bury St Edmunds per day. This would have left Bardwell with no bus service at all. However, before the changes were implemented, Suffolk County Council intervened to ensure that a number of journeys on the 73 would be retained so that school children could continue to use the service. The council funded these journeys using money it received from central government to support bus services during the pandemic, but that funding is due to run out on 27 December 2024.

In response to the changes to the Simonds timetables, a campaign group, the Save Our Buses Task Force, was set up, and it submitted a bid to the second round of Suffolk County Council's Bus Service Improvement Plan. The group comprises representatives of 13 parishes:

• Badwell Ash
• Bardwell
• Barningham
• Coney Weston
• Great Barton
• Hepworth
• Hopton cum Knettishall
• Hunston
• Market Weston
• Pakenham
• Stanton
• Stowlangtoft
• Walsham-le-Willows

The group has proposed funding a reduced, but more frequent service on the 73 route. They have also proposed a later service to allow workers to use the bus and a Saturday service for shoppers.

The Chair of the Save Our Buses Task Force, Councillor Karen Witton, will be presenting evidence to the committee. The committee has prepared questions for her about the work of the group and the impact that the reduction of services has had on residents of the villages it represents.

Councillor Mike Chester, who represents the Chedburgh and Chevington ward, will also be presenting evidence. In his ward, changes to the Stephensons 14 service between Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill resulted in the withdrawal of the service from Chevington and Hargrave.

The committee also scheduled a presentation from Sarah Hedges, Senior Transformation Lead (West Suffolk Community and Integrated Services and West Suffolk Alliance Change Team, NHS Suffolk and North-East Essex Integrated Care Board). Ms Hedges will be answering questions about how the reduction of bus services has impacted the ability of residents to access healthcare.

The committee will also be receiving written evidence from:

• The Traffic Commissioner for the East of England
• Suffolk County Council
• Mulleys bus company
• Wickhambrook Parish Council

The Traffic Commissioner has been asked to explain the process it follows when considering applications to change or cease bus timetables. The evidence explains that bus companies must give 70 days' notice of any changes.

When registering, varying or cancelling a local bus service, the operator is required to provide notice of their intention to relevant local authorities in whose area the services have stopping places. Before submitting an application to a traffic commissioner, the notice must either be approved by the local authority or, a period of 28 days to have elapsed. Once submitted, a notice period of 42 days is generally required before the service can commence, be varied or cancelled. Provided a properly lodged application is made, a traffic commissioner must accept any application to register, vary or cancel a local bus service.

The evidence also explains the legal framework for bus registration.

Suffolk County Council's evidence includes a section on 'West Suffolk local issues', in which it discusses the withdrawal of services between Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Cambridge by Stagecoach in 2022, the changes to the Simonds timetable, and weight limits imposed on bridges in Moulton and Kentford, which prevented Stephensons' 16 service from accessing Kennett station. The council's evidence also points out that, despite their applications for funding, Moulton and Kentford were unsuccessful in the first round of the Bus Service Improvement Plan.

Mulleys' evidence makes a number of claims about the performance of West Suffolk Council. The company states that the council does little to support bus operators, claiming that unlike Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds has no bus lanes, no priority areas, dirty unkept bus shelters, a bus station with no staff or information desk and a filthy row of bus shelters. They go on to say that the whole Bus Station is an embarrassing welcome to Bury St Edmunds.

According to local press West Suffolk Council subsidised the Apex for the amount of £672,000.00 in 2022, £587,000.00 in 2023 and 75,000 tickets were purchased by people living outside West Suffolk. This vanity project is therefore funded from local taxes for the benefit of people who do not pay into the local economy. If ticket prices increased by £10.00 each those 75,000 people alone would generate £750,000.00 that could cover their costs, and any excess put into other services.

The Apex is a concert hall and entertainment venue in Bury St Edmunds. It was opened in 2010.

In November 2018 West Suffolk Council purchased the building previously known as the Anglia Warehouse in Anglian Lane, Bury St Edmunds for £1,710,000.00 and this property has stood empty ever since. It now needs recladding and refurbishment, cost TBA. Over the past six years how much has this cost taking into account no rent, security, interest costs etc. etc.

Anglia House is a large office building located very close to The Apex in Bury St Edmunds.

Wickhambrook Parish Council's evidence states that it was not consulted about the withdrawal of the 10.46am Stephensons 14 service from the village. They claim that:

The change will take away a lifeline for villagers without cars, which include not just elderly people, but young people without private transport.

They also point out that the Connecting Communities transport links require advance booking and cost disproportionately more at £8 return (simply to get to the bus stop, with no guarantee of a connection).

Cabinet Decisions Plan: 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025

The Cabinet has prepared a forward plan of key decisions that it intends to make in the period 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025. This plan has been presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which has been asked to note its contents.

The Cabinet has scheduled a decision on the commissioning of a new leisure centre in Bury St Edmunds. This decision follows a public consultation and will be considered at a meeting on 10 December 2024. The plan also includes a decision on the Council's budget and Council Tax setting for 2025/26, which is scheduled to be made on 4 February 2025.

Scrutiny Work Programme Update (2025)

The committee's work programme has been updated. It shows that there are two meetings scheduled for 2025:

• 6 March 2025

The agenda for the March meeting includes presentations from the council's representatives on the Suffolk County Council Health Scrutiny Committee and the Suffolk Police and Crime Panel, a presentation of the Cabinet's forward plan of key decisions, and the consideration of suggestions for future scrutiny reviews.

The work programme update shows that the committee's Task and Finish Group looking at transport and infrastructure in the borough is due to report its findings in Winter 2025. The group is made up of Councillors:

• Sarah Broughton
• Beccy Hopfensperger
• Birgitte Mager
• Andrew Smith
• Don Waldron
• Julia Wakelam
• Kevin Yarrow

The work programme also includes a review of the Mildenhall Hub. This is scheduled to be considered in 2026, and a scoping document will be prepared before that meeting.