It is unfortunate that Tony Hill appears not to be a fan of the Pussycat Dolls – “Be careful what you wish for ‘cause you just might get it”.
Enforcing EU Regulation 1071/2009 using the logic as ably spelled out by the Bus & Coach Association (BCA’s) solicitors, Martin Lee & Co, means that all community transport (CT) groups making anything other than nominal charges for their services will be considered ‘commercial’ regardless of whether any ‘contracts’ are involved.
This will cover dial-a-rides for disabled people, rural community buses and general purpose community minibus groups, which will all be required to upgrade their operations to full PSV to continue, or downsize to MPVs. The Community Transport Association (CTA) is quite rightly preparing support packages for its membership to enable them to upgrade.
Local authorities under continuing budget pressure will no doubt welcome an influx of hundreds of additional PSV operations onto the market, particularly ones that can help them meet their legal obligations in respect of social value procurement, and which will need to win contracts in order to cross-subsidise their core work.
This is clearly a ‘win-win’ for government’s enthusiasm for social enterprises, for which Hackney CT is such an outstandingly successful example as a PSV operator.
Note that soft finance is available to help this sector develop, and, of course, in most cases they can retain charitable status.
And as for trying to inform me about what CT was originally intended for, I was a CT operator in 1977 at the time permits were first introduced, so I think I’m in a good position to assess this. I agree with his final point, though – Let’s remember the passengers, not the profits.
John Taylor
Technical Advisor
Mobility Matters
