Partnership plans and schemes – inserted sections 3A and 3B
111.Section 3A(2) sets out the core requirements of what a partnership plan is and what it must contain.
112.Partnership plans operate at the strategic level and are to have three core elements, namely:
providing an analysis of the local services operating in an area;
determining policies relating to those services; and
setting objectives to be achieved within the life of the plan.
113.Partnership plans must also make provision for obtaining the views of those in the community using the local services about how well those services are working and make provision for when it is to be reviewed.
114.Section 3B(1) provides that a partnership plan must be underpinned by one or more implementation schemes (referred to in the Act as partnership schemes) which set out in detail how the desired improvements to services or standards required are to be achieved. Section 3B(2) confirms that further schemes may be made in relation to existing plans.
115.A partnership scheme may relate to the whole of the area of a partnership plan or any part of it. It will contain the standards of service that are expected of the operators of local services which have stopping places in the area of the scheme. It must also contain a requirement for at least one facility or measure to be provided by the local transport authority. Facilities will typically take the form of an investment in infrastructure, such as providing improved bus stops, whereas measures will relate to taking actions, such as restricting the number of times in a year that local authority roadworks occur on key bus corridors. It is also possible for a scheme to contain a requirement on a local transport authority or operator to take some other action designed to facilitate the operation of the scheme. This might include publicising the scheme or committing to meet on a regular basis to discuss matters.
116.Once a partnership scheme is in place, section 3F(1) confirms it will apply to all operators of local services within the area of the scheme. Failure to comply with the operational service standards of the scheme can lead to an operator being deregistered as an operator of a local service and therefore unable to provide services in that area (see sections 6(7ZA) and 6L of the 1985 Act, as added by section 37 of the Act). It is also open to the traffic commissioner to issue penalties under section 39 of the 2001 Act (as amended by paragraph 3(4) of the schedule of the Act) for non-compliance.
117.However, some types of services may be exempted from complying with partnership schemes. For example, it would be inappropriate for tour operators or community bus permit holders who stop in the area of a partnership scheme to have to comply with the service standards set for operators of local services. Regulations made under section 3M will set out the types of service that local transport authorities may decide to exempt from a scheme and can further provide that some types of service must be exempted.
