THE clock is ticking for people to have their say on changes to public transport subsidies and street lighting.

Hampshire County Council has launched an eight-week public consultation, asking for residents and stakeholders to register their comments on proposed budget reductions in both of these key areas of public service provision.

People have until August 5 to respond.

It follows the Shaping Hampshire: Balancing the Budget public consultation in 2017 which identified residents’ priorities.

Rob Humby, the county council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “We’ve had to look hard at all services the county council provides to close the funding shortfall brought about by reduced funding for council services and rising demand for social care for both adults and children.

“We are, therefore, having to consider how we reduce the subsidies we provide to support those bus services which are not commercially viable to contribute to these savings. Our priority is to direct resources to where they are most needed, and I’m pleased to say that the county council’s cabinet agreed earlier this year to protect the community transport service which provides vital support for elderly and disabled residents in particular.

“For some time I’ve been working with Hampshire’s bus operators to discuss how, between us, we can reduce the impact of our budget pressures on supporting bus travel. Bus use in Hampshire is close to a 20-year high, and the vast majority of journeys are made on commercial services operating without any public subsidy at all. However, even though 89 per cent of bus services in Hampshire run without public subsidy, the pressure on the county council’s revenue budget means we can no longer afford the level of subsidies we have provided in the past.”

The county council is seeking to save £700,000 by making changes to financial support for public transport services by:

* Making operational changes to the current public bus and ferry services which Hampshire County Council supports, including reducing the frequency and/or days of services. In East Hampshire, subsidised services include the 13 Liphook/Alton/Basingstoke service; 28 Bordon local service; 38 Alton to Petersfield service; 206 Alton to Bentley; 208 Alton to Medstead; 240 Ropley to Alresford; and 250 Liphook local service.

• Replacing some supported public bus services with alternative forms of community transport, such as Taxishares and Call and Go

• Reducing the amount of printed material and make better use of electectronic information

• Reducing the amount of support available to organisations that provide, promote or support transport services

• Removing the use of the older people’s bus pass on Taxishares, Dial-a-Ride and Call and Go services.

While Hampshire County Council currently has a statutory responsibility to provide free off-peak travel on public bus services to older and disabled people, pending a possible change in law, the authority is also seeking views on the introduction of a 50p charge for single journeys for concessionary bus pass holders.

Mr Humby said: “Feedback from passengers will be carefully looked at, alongside data on passenger journeys and the cost of providing individual routes or services to inform final recommendations for consideration in the autumn.

“It’s important we hear people’s views so we can make informed decisions. It may be that service frequencies on subsidised routes are changed, or the days on which some services run, so we particularly need to hear from the people who use these routes what they think about potential changes.”

Community Transport schemes, such as Dial-a-Ride, Call and Go, Taxishares and minibus group hire schemes are not included in these proposals but people will be asked whether the discretionary discount for holders of older people’s bus passes on community transport should be continued.

Hampshire County Council is also asking residents for their views on proposals to switch off some street lights for at least two hours during the night.

Currently, energy for street lighting costs approximately £2.7m per year. Since 2010, the county council has reduced the brightness of street lights, predominantly in residential streets and with the greatest reduction after midnight. By the end of 2018, the county council will have more than halved its energy consumption compared with 2010, saving approximately £2m per year.

There is limited scope to save more money by dimming street lights further, but £230,000 per year could be saved by switching off street lights for part of the night.

To fill in the online questionnaire, visit hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/haveyoursay/consultations. Paper copies are available by calling 0300 555 1388.

The consultation closes at midnight on August 5.