Arun fends off £1.7m bus pass bill

Bus operator Stagecoach originally claimed the seven-figure sum for the cost of the “additional capacity” – the extra vehicles it had to provide to carry the 33,000 bus pass holders in Arun.

The claim against Arun was one of several made against district councils across Sussex in the wake of the huge success of the concessionary fares schemes, giving pensioners the ability to travel far and wide on the county’s bus routes.

Stagecoach applied for the extra money to cover the four years the scheme was operated by the district councils, from 2007/08 to 2010/11. It is now being run by the county council, in West Sussex.

However, consultants working for the consortium of district councils have negotiated Arun’s claim down to £551,000, a 70 per cent reduction on the original.

And the good news for hard-pressed council tax payers and for the council itself, already facing tough spending decisions to save £2m a year from its budget, is that the money can be met from good housing by Arun.

The council had wisely kept back more than £500,000 of payments from the Government it had received over the course of the five years for operating the bus pass scheme, in the event that further expenses would have to be met.

The money was ring-fenced to prevent it from being spent on other services, or used up to keep the council tax down.

A further £46,690 can be met from savings within existing budgets.

Arun’s cabinet, meeting on Monday, agreed to pay the £551,000, on condition that Stagecoach accepts the sum as a full and final settlement. If the sum is not accepted, the cabinet agreed that Arun should enter a process of non-binding mediation, with authority given to two senior officers to agree a final settlement.

Kevin Basford, the council’s head of environmental amenities and community safety, said in a report to the cabinet meeting that Stagecoach had based its claim on the principle that if the concessionary travel scheme did not exist, the operator would reduce his service levels on certain services, to reflect the reduced number of passengers journeys that he would carry.

He added that all the other West Sussex local authorities had agreed to the consultants’ recommendation and Stagecoach had indicated its willingness to settle for the amounts detailed.

“The consultants have advised that Stagecoach would be well within their rights to claim interest if there are any undue delays in dealing with their claim,” he pointed out.

Recommending that the sum should be paid, Mr Basford said: “Not agreeing the settlement opens up the council to the risk of Stagecoach pursuing claim via alternative statutory or legal procedures and, based upon local councils’ past experience, high risk of a higher settlement being imposed, along with costs.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Basford said the policy of ring-fencing the Government funding had proved to be a prudent strategy for Arun.