Rutland County Council is planning to withdraw a number of bus routes, including those to schools, as part of a cost-saving drive. 

Pupils travelling from Uppingham to neighbouring schools and colleges in Great Casterton, Stamford and Peterborough will be most affected by the changes, which the council's cabinet will discuss and likely agree next week. 

The authority, which discussed the overarching bus review behind closed doors 12 months ago, is proposing to pull the current R4 weekday service between Uppingham and The Kings School in Peterborough, which is used by around a dozen children as their route to school. The service will cease at the end of the current academic year and the authority will start a consultation with parents soon. 

A report to be considered by the council's cabinet next week says it spends £40,000 on the bus route. The proposal is also to reduce or cut the R5 service which travels on weekdays between Uppingham and Stamford, including stops at Great Casterton College and Stamford College. This costs the authority around £132,000 each year. The proposal is to reduce the service to only school times and peak hours. 

Another route that will be pulled is the R2 service between Oakham and Melton Mowbray. The council says the service carries 14,000 passengers a year at an average cost of £15 per trip, which is no longer sustainable. 

However, this will be replaced by two new shuttle services that will operate from the planned new bus interchange at Cold Overton Road. This will be funded by Levelling up Funds and is anticipated to start next spring. However, the authority has suffered a recent setback, as the planning committee decided last month not to approve planning for the new hub due to traffic safety concerns. 

The R1, which runs between Melton and Corby and travels through Oakham and Uppingham will remain, however neighbouring authorities will contribute more to the running of this service. 

The report says that £300,000 of savings must be made from the current £642,000 bus budget next year. 

Changes to the bus services are just one of many money saving measures being implemented by RCC. (Photo: Rutland County Council)

The changes to the routes; small charges for the new on demand services, plus the government's bus service improvement grants, will make the savings. However the bus grant runs out in 2027. 

The authority has also been in discussions with Lincolnshire County Council to run its new on demand services through its fleet services Transport Connect. The proposal is that five of the new electric buses purchased with the levelling up money will be used as part of the demand service, which will run from Mondays to Saturdays from 7am to 7pm. 

There are also suggestions it could run a primary school route, although details of locations and times are not given. 

However, as the council is not running the service, the proposed free routes it had talked about in its private meeting, last October, now cannot proceed as a long-term scheme. 

The report says: "In October 2023, cabinet agreed that free fares could operate across the DDRT (dynamic demand responsive transport) services.  

"Rutland County Council can only set fare levels on the DDRT and supported local bus services they directly commission and have no powers to influence fares on the commercial services operating in the county. Free travel on DDRT may, therefore, extract passengers and fares from the supported and commercial bus services. 

"The financial plan also indicates that there could be a funding gap if fares are not charged. It is, therefore, proposed that a fixed fare of £1 a trip for all paying passengers is initially set for the first year of the new DDRT services, with free fares for the first three months of operation. 

"Concessionary fare pass holders will be able to use their free travel pass on the DDRT services and have the additional benefit of travelling free from 9am instead of 9.30am. This removes any conflicts with the commercial services and potential risk of passenger abstraction from the other local bus services. Bus fares will be reviewed annually to ensure that the proposed income levels are achieved." 

The cabinet, which is led by council leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem) will discuss the proposals on Tuesday, November 12.