Shake-up of Plymouth school taxis leaves 17 routes uncovered and is no longer expected to cut costs
By ChiaraHerald | Posted: March 23, 2016
By CHIARA GIORDANO Education Reporter @cfgiordano
A CONTROVERSIAL shake-up of school taxis has left 17 routes without drivers – and is no longer expected to cut costs either, the council has admitted.
The council has admitted it no longer expects to save tax payers £350,000 a year through a controversial shake-up to school taxi provision.
And that means the axe may fall on other services, says the man leading the cost-cutting mission.
As previously reported in The Herald, Plymouth City Council overhauled its school transport service for 700 children with special needs at the beginning of the year in a bid to save money and improve provision.
At the time, the council hoped to knock £350,000-a-year off its £3.5million transport running costs by activating an early release clause to call time on its contract with providers Taxifirst and Crownhill Taxis.
The contract was instead opened up to smaller taxi firms and individual drivers, who were able to bid for the work.
But the councillor overseeing the changes has now admitted the new system is no longer expected to achieve the predicted savings after Taxifirst, which previously covered 70 per cent of the runs, opted not to get on board.
"We aren't identifying all of the savings we thought which is disappointing," admitted Councillor Jon Taylor.
"The savings target for the new tender over two years was £350,000 but that is unlikely to be realised as a result of what's happened.
"You would've thought if you were putting out an attractive business proposition that they [Taxifirst] would bid for the work.
"It was a risk that was identified but not seen as significant but these things do happen sometimes."
The Budshead councillor said it was "difficult to tell" whether the new system is in fact saving the council any money at all and that they "just don't know".
He says the council now plans to look at cutting costs in other areas through the Growth Assets and Municipal Enterprise Programme (GAME).
"This project is part of a much bigger programme," said Cllr Taylor.
"What normally happens when we've got hundreds of projects is if one doesn't deliver then we will find alternative savings so I think in this case they are looking for alternative savings around commercialisation.
"If you look at a £65million programme, there's always going to be a risk with a project you are looking at – but if you don't take any risks you aren't ever going to see any of the numbers you want to deliver.
"If you look at the changes that we've made to our fleet of vehicles in relation to rubbish collection, that project has delivered big savings so if you look at it in a wider context you offset the savings from one project to another."
In January, The Herald learned that up to 50 children were at risk of being affected by a lack of cover after the council scrapped its arrangements with the two taxi firms.
But Cllr Taylor says the council is making strides in this area and that just 17 routes now remain uncovered by taxi drivers.
"What's happening is those routes are still being covered as they were previously by parents, schools and Plymouth City Council so significant progress has been made," he said.
Read more:
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Shake-P ... z43lqLjq46
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