Issue - meetings

To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.

A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions.  This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.

The Chairman advised that one Question on Notice had been received for this meeting.  

Question submitted by Councillor D. Hopkins

“Would the Leader of the Council be able to provide an update with regards to the progress made in lobbying Worcestershire County Council and Birmingham City Council on the full restoration of the 144 Bus Service?”

Councillor K. May responded that “This was raised at Council on 25^th  October 2023. As a result, the Council called upon myself to continue to lobby the County Council to ensure that the full route previously covered by the 144 bus is restored, because whilst the 20 bus route had been in place for some time it was currently failing to meet the needs of residents.

I did therefore write to County Councillor Mike Rouse, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at Worcestershire County Council, who thanked the Council for raising this.  In his response he said that due to the success of the new 20 route it allowed the County to support the extension to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which is what passengers who use the service asked them for the most.  Users also wanted improved frequencies and Sunday running, and this has been delivered. Customer satisfaction from those who use it is high and they value the service to the hospital.  If the buses had to travel into Birmingham City Centre and back again, the frequency would have to be reduced to allow for this additional time.  The County are regularly reviewing services and responding to the market demands as it changes. It may well be that travel behaviours change in the future, and the County can reconsider this option. 

So, whilst our request to reinstate the 144 bus route cannot be supported by the County at this moment in time, they wish to work in partnership with us in the future.”

In addition, the Leader reported that she had spoken to local members where the number 20 bus service ran, and they reported that residents fed back that they preferred the bus as it was reliable and clean. 

Birmingham City Council did not contribute financially to the service and the Council would continue to liaise with the County Council which was responsible for funding the current route.

Councillor Hopkins asked a supplementary question, “for those who still feel the 20 bus service didn’t represent their needs or requirements, how do they raise it with the County Council?”

The Leader responded that Councillors and residents could contact the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at the County Council, Councillor M. Rouse.  Councillor May also offered to arrange to meet with Councillor Rouse and interested District Councillors to discuss the situation, potentially meeting in Bromsgrove.