Grant cash is tied u
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
[141LE many municipal bus operators are having cash-flow ificulties caused by the non-payment of bus grants, the cash is ill tied up in the Department of Transport. It looks like !maining there for some time until a row between the ssociation of District Councils and the Transport Department ; resolved.
The DoT is constrained by Act Treasury limits on the mount of bus grant cash it an spend in any one year and as run into problems in ationing this out to the ifferent operators.
Vaiting advice
The DoT is waiting for dvice from its legal advisors Thether it is legally obliged to ay out on psv 302 "agreement principle" forms issued to iunicipal bus operators. 'The )oT feels it would be able to chieve a fairer distribution of ash if it was not tied to these Drms.
In particular, operators who lid not apply for psv 302 forms vould not suffer by a reducion of available cash after the oustanding psv 302s had wen paid. But the Association if District Councils is threaening legal action against the )epartment if outstanding psv 102s are not honoured.
The municipal operators .hrough the ADC, claim that he Transport Department led :hem to believe that grant applications put in before the md of April 76 would be paid 3ut of the funds from the 3revious financial year. But We Transport Department maintains that these applications were bound to be paid out of the 7677 allocation.
Issuing forms
This would then continue into a "rolling programme" with grants from the last quarter before the 77/78 financial year being paid out of that year's allocation.
The Department is still issuing psv 302 forms to independent operators but not to others as it hoped the rationing agreements would make these unnecessary. A major meeting is to be held in January to discuss future allocations of grant.