Kennington Parish Council provided a grant of £2,000 to support the running of the 35A Matthew Arnold School bus in 2020/21. The information below has been provided by the organisers of this service.
Addendum to impact report of March 2021
I refer to the application for a community grant to support the subsidy of discounted places on the 35A closed-door school bus service in 2019/20 and the subsidy of a second vehicle, if demand was not adequate to make it commercially viable. Passes for the second vehicle were sold from a gofundme fundraising site, a model that was established so that users could pledge to purchase a pass, and other grants and donations could be paid into it. Oxford Bus Company (OBC) committed to rebating those users who chose to opt in for a potential rebate under these conditions at the point of purchase, if funds were raised over and above the minimum required to enable both buses to run. This was stated clearly for users on both the Key website and the gofundme page.
Data received from OBC tells us that the service was projecting a £12,189 loss in September 2020 so no rebates were disbursed at that point. The suspension of the service in early 2021 owing to school closures enabled OBC to refund all users for that period (cf impact report). Final figures received show that the service ran at a loss in this academic year of £3,189 and there are therefore no surplus funds available for rebates.
Queries about the sales figures and costs of running the service should be directed to the Oxford Bus Company.
