Adur and Worthing community transport funding ‘significantly reduced’

In a decision published by Adur and Worthing councils on Friday, March 1, it was revealed the annual community transport grants budget would be reduced from £51,290 in 2022/23 to £40,000 in 2023/24 due to the councils’ budget pressures.

A report by the councils on the decision described this as a ‘significant reduction’ to funding, seeing £15,000 going to Adur and £25,000 to Worthing in 2023/24, compared to £20,000 and £31,290 in 2022/23 respectively.

The grant funding will be given by the councils to the only bidder, charity Community Transport Sussex (CTS), who asked for £54,000 in its bid to the councils, saying they are seeking to expand their fleet of 12 vehicles across Adur and Worthing in order to support more people in the area.

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The councils stated CTS have hired a dedicated Adur and Worthing volunteer coordinator with the councils’ funding, and are also trialling a Travel Buddy scheme for which they need to train new volunteers.

Currently, they help to transport children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), residents with charity Age UK, people with mobility aids and wheelchairs, and they run a group hire and ‘dial-a-ride’ service – running 20158 journeys for 826 customers across 2022/23.

CTS stated its mission in a report to the council as addressing ‘social isolation through assisting people who struggle to access mainstream transport’, and operate in Mid Sussex, Chichester, Horsham, Crawley, and Adur and Worthing councils.

The grant decision was made by Worthing Borough Council’s Deputy Leader Carl Walker (Lab, Selden) and Adur District Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing Kevin Boram (Con, Buckingham), and will come into effect on March 9.