Our Movement’s Manifesto: Invest in Community Solutions

Our Movement’s Manifesto: Invest in Community Solutions

Scotland will go to the polls on 7 May to elect a new Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. What does the Community Transport movement need from our future MSPs and the next Scottish Government over the next five years?

Our Manifesto – Our Communities, Our Transport – sets out exactly that. And in a series of blogs in the run-up to polling day, I’ll break down our 9 policy asks of the political parties and their candidates as we seek to inform and influence their policies and positions.

First up, is the first of our 3 priorities – Invest in Community Solutions.

This priority is all about securing the investment Community Transport needs to survive and thrive. While operators face rising demand and increasing costs, their work is essential to growing local economies and building community wealth.

We’re calling on MSPs and the next Scottish Government to Invest in Community Solutions by asking them to:

1. Deliver Fair Funding

Like many local charities and community groups, Community Transport operators face severe financial challenges. Many are struggling to keep services running and fares affordable due to ever rising equipment, fuel, labour and vehicle costs. At the same time, demand continues to rise thanks to Scotland’s shrinking bus network and ageing population.

Our Manifesto features the voices of our members, including Kelvin Cochrane, Chief Executive of Handicabs Lothian, whose testimonial brings this important issue to life. He explains that his organisation has suffered a “real-terms funding cut of over 51%” since 2006, because their Service Level Agreements with local authorities “have not received any inflation-based uplift” in 20 years. Unfortunately, Kelvin is far from alone.

For some operators, rising costs and funding cuts threaten their very future. Our Making Scotland Healthier report revealed that 26% of Community Transport operators in Scotland are not confident they will survive the next three years. We are at serious risk of losing lifeline services across the country if we do not act now to protect them.

We’re calling for the next Scottish Government to ensure that there is fair funding for Community Transport through local government, regional transport partnerships and other public bodies. Holyrood must ensure that all parts of the system have the resources and powers they need to deliver Fair Funding and are held accountable for doing so.

Fair funding settlements should provide the stability and sustainability which Community Transport operators need to plan for the long-term, provide certainty for their passengers and offer Fair Work to their employees. This requires multi-year agreements which keep pace with inflation, contribute to core operating costs and set flexible conditions.

We’ve been strongly supportive of SCVO’s Fair Funding campaign and will continue to campaign in solidarity with our friends and partners across the third, voluntary and community sectors.

2. Accelerate Bus Franchising

Scottish local authorities have had the power to create new bus franchises to regulate fares, routes and standards, as Greater Manchester has done recently, or establish new publicly owned municipal bus companies, like Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, since 2019. And yet, despite popular support and a failed status quo, progress has been painstakingly slow.

Only the West of Scotland is firmly on ‘the long road to bus franchising’, as Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) steps over the early bureaucratic hurdles. Unnecessary administrative barriers and a lack of financial support are frustrating progress, leaving passengers still waiting for better buses.

We’re calling for the next Scottish Government to accelerate progress towards bus franchising across Scotland which integrates with Community Transport and involves a mix of public, private and non-profit operators. Locally-owned and much-loved community bus services like those in Glenfarg or Strathaven need to be protected.

I’ve written previously about why CTA supports franchising, understanding it as both important for passengers and an opportunity for our sector. It’s not a silver bullet, but it is a critical step towards ensuring local transport meets the needs of everyone in our communities, not just shareholders.

3. End the ‘Bus Pass in Name Only’

Scotland’s National Concessionary Travel Schemes have been a tremendous success. Free bus travel for under 22s, over 60s, disabled people and now people seeking asylum has widened horizons, boosted connectivity and reduced poverty for more than 2 million people.

Last year, I was on BBC Radio Scotland talking about why fast and free buses for everyone would be fantastic for passengers, the economy and the environment. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and a climate crisis, making buses more affordable and attractive would cut congestion, pollution and emissions at the same time as boosting health and slashing journey times.

But many Scots who are already eligible for free bus travel have a ‘bus pass in name only’. They cannot use their bus pass either because there are simply no bus services on their doorstep or because they rely on Community Transport to get around. DRT-type services should be able to accept bus passes, but today they cannot.

We’re calling for the next Scottish Government to extend free bus travel to appropriate Section 19 servicesto end this unfairness. Older people and disabled people who need accessible transport should not lose out when they call on their local dial-a-ride or dial-a-bus. Children and young people should not be disadvantaged for living in our island or remote communities.

This is not a new issue. In fact, CTA has been banging the drum since at least 2013! And we’ll keep doing so in the upcoming parliamentary term that begins once our new cohort of MSPs at sworn in at Holyrood.

Be part of our movement for change

Click here to download our Manifesto for Scotland.

Click here to find out more about CTA’s campaigning, and ideas for how you can get involved too, ahead of the elections.

If you’d like to discuss working together to secure change, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at david.kelly@ctauk.org.