The Labour Councillor for Old Town in Swindon, Nadine Watts, will be moving a motion at the Swindon Full Council Meeting on the 17th of January calling on the Conservative administration to rethink their proposed cut to the Swindon Dial a Ride service. She is also urging Dial a Ride users and friends of Swindon Dial a Ride to attend this meeting to hear their Councillors views about the £70K cut and the tendering out of the specialist transport service.
The Labour Councillor for Old Town in Swindon, Nadine Watts, will be moving a motion at the Swindon Full Council Meeting on the 17th of January calling on the Conservative administration to rethink their proposed cut to the Swindon Dial a Ride service. She is also urging Dial a Ride users and friends of Swindon Dial a Ride to attend this meeting to hear their Councillors views about the £70K cut and the tendering out of the specialist transport service.
Councillor Nadine Watts said:
“I am moving this motion to ask the Conservative Group to reconsider their proposal to cut the Dial a Ride service by £70K. This will be a great opportunity for all Councillors to discuss the impact the cut will have on the Dial a Ride service and to discuss the benefits of Swindon Dial a Ride running this service rather than another transport provider.
This meeting will also be a great opportunity for Swindon Dial a Ride friends and users to come along and hear their Councillors views on this issue and I would welcome them to come along.
I am not persuaded that the cut the Conservative Group are proposing won’t have an impact on the service Dial a Ride currently provides. And, for me, no other transport provider could deliver the same quality of service to disabled and elderly users as Swindon Dial a Ride, so I think it would be a shame if the service was provided by a different transport provider.”
Cllr Nadine Watts, Old Town Ward Councillor
Swindon Dial a Ride Motion
Councillor Nadine Watts will move and Councillor Steve Wakefield will second that:
“This Council notes the administration’s proposal to cut £70K from Swindon’s Dial a Ride service and to tender the service out to the private market.
With further cuts also being proposed to Swindon’s bus services subsidised by the Council’s revenue budget, this Council believes it is likely that demand from Swindon’s elderly and disabled for Dial a Ride services in the borough will likely increase. This Council is concerned that if it doesn’t meet that need then more elderly and disabled people in the borough will feel isolated from society.
The Labour Group does not believe £70K should be cut from Swindon’s Dial a Ride service and also doesn’t believe another transport provider could provide as quality a transport service to Swindon’s disabled and elderly as Swindon Dial a Ride.
Cabinet is requested to have regard to these concerns in its final budget proposals to be determined by Council on 21st February 2013”