Tag Archives: young people

Buses, Cabinet, cuts, EMA, eXplore card, Schools, Suffolk County Council, Transport, young people, Your councillor

Post-16 Explore card back in front of council – 26 May

Leave a comment

Good  news:  we have got Suffolk County Council to accept the Save the Explore Card petition and agree to debate the Explore card cut again at their annual meeting starting at 2pm on 26 May at Endeavour House in Ipswich.

• THIS IS A PUBLIC MEETING. Any member of the public can attend. This means YOU.

This news doesn’t mean the card has been saved but it does give us another chance to tell the council how badly this cut is affecting so many young people in Suffolk.  

When people stand up and make a fuss there is a much better chance of them listening.
If they listen, there is a chance they may vote to restore the card.

Shortly before the meeting,  the petition will be presented officially to the Suffolk County Cabinet members responsible.

• Can YOU be there too? The more people who are there in person, the more it will show what the impact has been

In the meantime, can you please email statements, saying simply how the cut is affecting you and your family. Basically it is harder for councillors to ignore a statement saying “I cannot do … (whatever) …. because of you cutting the Explore card.”  

If you give the name of the town you live in, we can pass on your comment to your own councillor, before they vote!”

There is a facebook link to this event:

Buses, cuts, eXplore card, New Strategic direction, Schools, Suffolk County Council, Transport, Uncategorized, Woodbridge, young people

‘Explore Card’ petition reaches vital target

2 Comments

We’ve DONE it – we’re over the first hurdle and can challenge the Explore card cut!

Thanks to the hard work of huge numbers of people, our Explore card petition click here has achieved its first goal, with nearly 4,000 signatures and rising. Do keep on signing.   The online petition finishes 1 May! Support has included a recent article in the Evening Star , a poster campaign by members of Woodbridge’s Just 42 OTS club, and a last minute surge of paper signatures from Bungay, led by a superbly public spirited Bungay High School student, Hannah Alred.

In addition, I have just heard that FE students at Otley College, University College Suffolk and West Suffolk College have collected over two thousand further signatures, which the council are happy to include. This means the Save the Explore Card petition has six thousand signatories and rising!

Under its constitution, the council CAN respond to a petition by taking the action requested in the petition – in other words,deciding to retain the card . This would be wonderful because it would cause minimum damage. The Explore card became invalid only four weeks ago – on 1 April – and already we are hearing stories of the hardship caused to young people by cutting it halfway through a school/college year.

However, the County Council may require more persuasion.

If a petition contains more than 3675 signatures it can be debated by the full council, if the petitioner requests it.  This means that it gets discussed and voted on  at a council meeting at which all county councillors attend. The council “will endeavour to consider the petition at its next meeting, although on some occasions this may not be possible and consideration will then take place at the following meeting.”

This weekend, the petitioner, Patrick Gillard, will be writing to the Council to ask it to change its mind and restore the Explore card. If – for any reason – the Council cannot immediately take this action, he will ask for a time to deliver the petition in person and request that the immediate restoration of the Explore card should be debated at next full council – May 26.

What YOU can do:

  • Please keep signing. The e-petition is now closed but  I can send you a printable version .
  •  Please keep telling people that they can sign and that we are past the first target. It is important for everyone to realise that people can have an effect on decision-making. The county council is funded by the people of Suffolk for the people of Suffolk. Everyone has a stake in it and should make their voice heard!
  • In addition, please keep on emailing me (or posting on my blog) with your individual stories of how the loss of the card affects you personally. It would be useful to know what town/postcode you are in so that individual county councillors can see how it is affecting the people they represent!

The petition in full:   I am petitioning to overturn SCCs proposal to abolish the young person’s eXplore Card. Up till now young people have had this card to help with travel costs to post-16 education, to work and to find work, and for socialising. Explore cards were available free to students 16-19, and have enabled them to pay only half adult fares on buses and on many off-peak rail journeys. Additionally, the SCC post-16 transport policy relies on the fact that all post-16 students can have an Explore card to help with fares – and a very good thing too!. The proposed abolition of the card would mean there will be more cars on the road because many more young people will be driven or drive to school, college, employment etc. It will put more, less confident cyclists on busier roads. It will lead to less take-up of FE education because of difficulties of access. It will harm young people’s chances of going for job interviews and training. The proposed abolition is a retrograde step that threatens the very education and employment opportunities that our young people need in order to help us out of our current economic crisis. It also makes a mockery of our ‘Greenest county’ aspirations. Please sign this petition to keep SCC’s eXplore card.

SAVE the EXPLORE CARD!

I am petitioning to overturn SCCs proposal to abolish the young person’s eXplore Card. Up till now young people have had this card to help with travel costs to post-16 education, to work and to find work, and for socialising. Explore cards were available free to students 16-19, and have enabled them to pay only half adult fares on buses and on many off-peak rail journeys. Additionally, the SCC post-16 transport policy relies on the fact that all post-16 students can have an Explore card to help with fares – and a very good thing too!. The proposed abolition of the card would mean there will be more cars on the road because many more young people will be driven or drive to school, college, employment etc. It will put more, less confident cyclists on busier roads. It will lead to less take-up of FE education because of difficulties of access. It will harm young people’s chances of going for job interviews and training. The proposed abolition is a retrograde step that threatens the very education and employment opportunities that our young people need in order to help us out of our current economic crisis. It also makes a mockery of our ‘Greenest county’ aspirations. Please sign this petition to keep SCC’s eXplore card.

Buses, eXplore card, New Strategic direction, Suffolk County Council, Transport, Uncategorized, young people

Explore card, RIP

2 Comments

Today, April 1, is a sad day for Suffolk. Not only has Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council resigned, but there has been another departure, one which, in truth, will affect far more people in Suffolk far more immediately. Today the Tory administration that Mr Pembroke has led for the last 6 years has seen off the Suffolk Explore card.

Any of the 28,130 post-16 year old cardholders, relying on their Explore card to get to school, college or work will find that from today it will not be valid, and that from today they may be paying double the amount for the same journey, making other arrangements, or staying at home.

In connection with the same administration’s cuts in subsidised transport services (many of which also start today) this is a huge blow to the young, the poor and the rural – and most particularly to the young, rural, poor.

Currently the scheme has 52,555 card holders representing 55% of the eligible group. The Explore card was divided into two age ranges 5-15 (24,425 card holders ) and 16-19 (28,130 cardholders).

The only thing wrong with this card was that Suffolk County Council’s administration identified cutting it as a means of saving money.   A pretty safe move, if you’re not worried about social justice. After all, people can’t vote until they’re 18 – and by then they might have forgotten who was responsaible, or  might not be voting in Suffolk!

This cut was made halfway through the school and college year.   And who cares?   Certainly  not the administration who runs Suffolk County Council! They didn’t even do an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)  before they decided to abolish our Explore card  because their pre-screening decided that :

there may be an adverse impact to the 15-19 age group but this is not unlawful discrimination as providing the scheme is not a statutory duty.  Concluding: This function should not move to a full impact assessment as it is a discretionary activity and has been indentified as a budget saving proposal.

Good excuse!

Can I mention that the press release notifying us of Mr Pembroke’s departure praises “his unquestioned commitment to protect the most vulnerable in society”.

Right.

Notes
Please continue signing the petition to save SCC’s  eXplore cards We need to get 3,675 signatures to get this decision back to Council – and now have less than 1,000 to go.
The Explore card scheme was the brainchild of Suffolk County’s previous Liberal-Labour coalition, started in January 2005, and was designed to help tackle social isolation by enabling young people to travel cheaply from rural areas to the main urban centres in the county as well as within those urban centres. It is also designed to assist the local economy of Suffolk by enabling access for young people to retail and leisure opportunities. The scheme is also PASS approved and therefore qualifies as a Proof of Age card.
Currently the scheme has 52,555 card holders representing 55% of the eligible group. The Explore card is divided into two age ranges 5-15 (24,425 card holders ) and 16-19 (28,130 cardholders).
In Leicestershire a similar county council proposal for withdrawal of non-statutory bus services triggered an immediate EIA (unlike here in Suffolk)  which concluded public consultation  with all  affected groups is essential (unlike here in Suffolk) , including special interest organisations,invited to comment publicly on the proposals to curtail non-statutory service provision (unlike here in Suffolk).  Consultation documentation to be available by web, post (and large print on request). Once more, unlike here in Suffolk!