NICK HARVEY HITS BACK AT COUNCIL LEADERS FOR "DODGING THE ISSUE"
June 26, 2009 3:25 PM
North Devon MP NICK HARVEY has hit back at council leaders after they expressed "outrage" at his straight forward request for more transport choices for disabled people. Mr Harvey said:
"District leader Des Brailey and County leader John Hart would do better to respond to what my disabled constituents are asking for, rather than dodging the issue and huffing and puffing in synthetic "outrage". Des Brailey asks where I am coming from: straight from constituents who raised it with me!
"The councillors are choosing to answer a quite different question from the one I asked them. I did not say that there is no help with transport for disabled people; I stated they are failing to provide alternatives.
"Good practice in other local authorities is to offer a direct alternative to the free bus pass for those unable to use buses. I am asking them to do likewise and offer flexibility within the existing scheme to provide options - such as a taxi voucher.
"I acknowledge that Devon councils struggle to fund free bus passes, but the lack of flexibility in the current scheme means that it discriminates against people too disabled to use buses, who gain no benefit from the free travel principle.
"Dodging my point by pleading that they help fund community transport schemes is deliberately evading the point. So too do those councils which offer taxi tokens. Go North Devon provides excellent services, which I fully support and from which hundreds of people benefit.
"But Ring & Ride, despite local authority funding support, is reliant on volunteers. It is on a pay as you go basis - not free like the bus pass. It requires a minimum of 24 hours notice - so is no good if you suddenly need to go to a doctor - and is on a first come first served basis.
"Some frail elderly people either don't feel up to using Ring & Ride, or can't work round its perfectly understandable operating restrictions. Such people simply need to use taxis, but in the absence of tokens this is an expensive option in our area.
"I stand by my observation that our local authorities are failing to provide alternative disabled transport. Many local authorities manage to offer a taxi voucher scheme alongside bus passes. The Conservatives said they could do a better job of running our local councils: here is a chance to prove it!
"Nor did I say the local authorities were failing to provide leisure facilities: I said they are struggling to fund them. Free leisure facility access was supposed to cover pensioners and teenagers. North Devon Council itself told me that it simply couldn't afford to extend it to both groups."
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