I would like to address concerns and dispel some myths that have arisen over the upcoming bus consultation.

Firstly, the only decision that we have taken is to undertake a further public consultation having listened to the responses from the previous one and refined the proposals.

Like all local authorities, Hertfordshire County Council is facing an unprecedented financial situation. Over the past four years the council has reduced its budget by £147million and must save a similar amount over the next four years.

We listened to the feedback from our previous consultation and have developed some alternative options to address concerns raised, while recognising the savings that we have to achieve. We would like as many people as possible to have their say on these options.

Hertfordshire County Council only subsidise a small number of passenger journeys on buses running in Hertfordshire and these are on routes that are not commercially viable. The proposals in this consultation, if enacted, will only affect two per cent of all the passenger journeys running in Hertfordshire, the other 98 per cent of the 35 million annual passenger journeys are unaffected and this includes all the commercial services.

If approved, this new proposition would save approximately £1.7million from the current base budget of £4.212m, but affect fewer passengers than the original proposals (760,000 passenger journeys a year as opposed to 809,000 passenger journeys a year).

We are proposing a later cut off point for contracted services to 7.30pm rather than 6.30pm and will protect services that directly serve hospitals on a Sunday up to 7.30pm. We have also listened to residents concerned about the amount of money we give to individual passenger journeys and are seeking to establish a clear, value for money approach by setting a limit on the amount of subsidy we provide for individual journeys.

Terry Douris

Cabinet Member for Highways Hertfordshire County Council