A new transport plan that will see more on-demand services in Rutland has been approved – but there is criticism of the existing scheme.

Rutland County Council signed off the refreshed bus service improvement plan at a meeting of the full council on Thursday (Sept 26). This was required by the government to unlock an additional £486,000 in funding.

As part of the plan the authority wants to introduce a new on-demand bus service scheme, and has three electric buses on order. But at Thursday's meeting an existing service provided in the east of the county by Call Connect came in for criticism. This provides services to places such as Cottesmore and Empingham and is run by Lincolnshire County Council.

Cllr Karen Payne (Con), who represents Ketton, said the current on-demand services were 'not well used' because residents could not depend on it.

She said: "The service frequently cancels at the last moment or does not turn up. This is not good if people have a long awaited hospital appointment, job interview or whatever else.

"Residents tell me they don't trust this service because it is unreliable."

The plan will see more on-demand services in Rutland (RCC).

She asked cabinet member for transport, Cllr Christine Wise (Lib Dem), what assurance would be given that the issues would be looked at ahead of the new on demand service beginning.

Cllr Wise said: "The bus service improvement plan does not contain all the details of the contracts that will be on the demand responsive transport. It is my belief we won't have the same contract that we currently have with Call Connect and I strongly suggest there may be some clauses in any contract that is drawn up."

She said the new system had to work.

"What we do have to remember is we have a large number of people in our county who don't have access to a car. They might have moved somewhere when they could drive – they now can't.

"And so we need to find a way to get them to health appointments in particular, which aren't next door to where they live.

And so this service has to work in this way for those people."

Bus use has dropped drastically in Rutland since the pandemic – with annual journeys falling from 414,000 in 2018 to the current level of 175,000.

All services are classed as non-frequent, with no evening or Sunday services.

Currently five per cent of Rutland residents have no access to bus services and 65 per cent do not have access to an on-demand service. The new on-demand service is due to pilot in spring and be operational across the county by September next year.

The authority is planning to build a new transport hub in Oakham off Cold Overton Road in Jules House. This scheme received a setback last month when councillors on the planning committee decided more information was needed about the safety of a pedestrian crossing to the hub. The hub is being funded from the government's levelling up fund as well as capital project funding from the county council,and is due to open next year.

Cllr Wise said any delay in opening the transport hub should not affect the new buses getting on the road.

She said: "The developments are dependent on the buses bought with the levelling up funding, if the hub is not ready I believe we can still go ahead with the beginning of the transformation. 

"It is the buses, not the building. It would be the icing on the cake if it all came together. And I tell you, you won't need to cut the ribbon, I'll be leaping over it if we manage that. But we are not going to let the building stop us putting this into place."