Pensioners are set to be hit with a massive cost increase to socialise or face isolation under plans to cut the community bus service.

Welwyn Hatfield council’s Conservative Cabinet have put out to consultation plans to cut the community bus service ,meaning pensioners will have to seek vastly more expensive options to travel. to Jimmy Macs to socialise and the sheltered housing schemes will have to hire outside bus companies for their day trips at unaffordable prices.

Welwyn Hatfield Council currently run a subsidised community bus service for sheltered housing scheme users to day trip, shopper hopper for ease of travel to shops and pensioners to get to Jimmy Macs; for many this is their only time and place to socialise during the week as over the years the Council has cut funding to Welwyn Garden City clubs meaning they had to close.

The council’s consultation asks for feedback from users of the service as well as anyone who lives in Welwyn Hatfield to take part. The consultation page on their website states that “without further investment” they will not be able to continue to run the service. However, in February 2020 when the Council agreed the 2020-21 budget, there was £320k included in the expenditure programme for each of the years 2020-21 through to 2022-23 (£960k in total) for “Community Buses Replacement Programme”.

The consultation states that the twelve buses currently owned will all need replacing (hence the inclusion on the expenditure programme) and they could cost between £80k and £120k each depending on whether they wanted to replace them with diesel or electric models. The money allocated would therefore either replace all twelve with diesels or they could buy eight electric ones.

Where has the money gone?

Looking at the budget agreed this year, the 2022/23 allocation of £320k for replacement buses (the third lump) has disappeared with just the unspent allocations from 2020/21 and 2021/22 rolling forward. Is this an oversight, mistake or has the money been allocated elsewhere even though councillors have already agreed the full amount?

Why is the council now saying they do not have the money when it has been allocated since 2020?

Have your say at the consultation which closes on Tuesday 6 September.