Bus Service Operators Grant: Information Pack and Conditions of Eligibility (PSV 360-S)

AN EXPLANATION OF THE BUS SERVICE OPERATORS GRANT SCHEME
NOTES FOR GUIDANCE ON HOW TO COMPLETE FORMS PSV 310-S and PSV 311-S
BSOG RATES

ISBN 978 1 908181 00 8

This document is also available in pdf format (471k)

AN EXPLANATION OF THE BUS SERVICE OPERATORS GRANT SCHEME

The Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) is a discretionary grant paid under section 38 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 by Transport Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The aim of BSOG is principally to benefit passengers. It does this by helping operators to keep their fares down and enabling operators to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable thus contributing to the maintenance of the overall bus network. It also contributes to the operation of Community Transport organisations allowing people who cannot make use of conventional bus services to access local services. This grant is payable only on a local bus service as defined in section 2 of the Transport Act 1985 or a community transport service possessing a section 19 permit. The service(s) must then meet the further requirements detailed in the Bus Service Operators Grant (Scotland) Regulations 2002 which are detailed in this form, the PSV 360-S.

There is a separate information sheet for Community Bus Operators.

The process is that an eligible bus operator submits an estimate claim on form PSV 310-S which details the kilometres which are estimated to be operated during the forward claim year. When this form is received and the claims are checked and approved for payment, Transport Scotland will write to the bus operator notifying them of the amount(s) which they are due to receive and the dates on which it is intended to credit these amount(s) to the company’s bank account.

Transport Scotland will then make four quarterly payments at three-monthly intervals based on the estimate. These payments are conditional upon a further claim form PSV 311-S being submitted by the company within three months of the end of the previous claim period. The form PSV 311-S should show the actual (as opposed to the estimated) kilometres operated during the period and must be certified by a qualified independent accountant/auditor.

On receipt of the certified claim form PSV 311-S Transport Scotland will calculate the actual amount of the grant that should have been paid during the period. This amount is compared with amounts already paid based on the estimate: any underpayment will result in an additional payment being made; any overpayment will usually be recovered from future quarterly payments.

All payments of Bus Service Operators Grant are made through the Bankers Automated Clearing Service (BACS) and any new operators are asked to supply Transport Scotland with their banking details. A form for these is available on request.

For their part, companies are required, under the conditions imposed under section 38 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, to keep adequate records of the kilometres run and the fuel consumed in operation of local bus services so as to satisfy both the independent accountant who must certify the actual claim form PSV 311-S and Transport Scotland that the figures on the claim are correctly stated.

It should be noted that whilst Transport Scotland’s intentions are to avoid placing unnecessary administrative burdens on bus operators which are not commensurate with either the size of the operator, or its type of operations, the verification/inspection branch of the BSOG team will periodically visit bus operators for the purpose of checking that claims comply with the appropriate legislation governing the Bus Service Operators Grant Scheme and to ensure that adequate records are being kept in support of claims.

Summary of Key Differences in BSOG

Below are the key differences for Commercial Bus Operators:

• Transport Scotland will administer BSOG from 1 April 2010, remember to contact them for all queries from that date onwards. If you contact the Department for Transport by mistake it may slow down the time taken to process your claim/query.
• Scottish Ministers have removed the formal link to fuel duty from 1 April 2010 and whilst payment calculations are still linked to fuel consumption they are no longer linked to fuel duty.
• From 1 April 2010 there are new incentives for Low Carbon Vehicles (LCVs). A separate form is available from Transport Scotland on request. The payment rate for LCVs will be set at twice the conventional rate. This incentive has been extended beyond 1 April 2011. An LCV is defined as:

"A vehicle that produces at least 30% fewer Greenhouse Gas Emissions than a current Euro 3 equivalent diesel bus of the same total passenger capacity. The Greenhouse Gas emissions will be expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent measured over a standard test, and will cover ‘Well-to-Wheel’ performance, thereby taking into account both the production of the fuel and its consumption on board. A vehicle must be certified by the manufacturer that it meets these conditions."

• The Scottish Government intend to introduce additional changes to the BSOG scheme in due course, only for Commercial Bus Operators, to more closely align the outcomes of the scheme with the Scottish Government’s strategic objectives. The Scottish Government will engage with stakeholders as part of determining what changes will be introduced. All operators in the scheme will be informed of these changes in advance of their implementation.
• Transport Scotland are bringing all Scottish Bus Operators claim years into line with the financial year. From 1 April 2011 all claim years (whether estimate and certified or certified only) will run from 1 April to 31 March.
• From 1 April 2011 Transport Scotland are only accepting backdated Certified forms for one financial year prior to the current financial year in question. Therefore for example, in April 2012 you could only submit a certified claim for period 1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012 but no further back.

Below are the conditions of eligibility for Bus Service Operators Grant. This leaflet is for guidance only; full conditions of eligibility for Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) are contained within the Bus Service Operators Grant (Scotland) Regulations 2002 and are printed in full on the reverse of the estimated claim form (PSV 310-S) and certified claim form (PSV 311-S).

CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY FOR COMMERCIAL BUS OPERATORS

A separate information sheet is available for Community Bus Operators.

(1) A bus service is an eligible bus service for the purposes of section 38 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (Grants to bus service operators) if it is of one of the following classes:

(a) a local service provided or secured:

(i) by a local education authority pursuant to arrangements made under section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980; or

(ii) for persons who have attained the age of sixty years or disabled persons, and in respect of which the conditions set out in paragraph (2) are satisfied;

(b) a local service, other than a service described in paragraph (1)(a), which is provided by means of a vehicle adapted to carry more than eight passengers (or by a smaller vehicle, but only if the services are operated in accordance with a timetable) and in respect of which the conditions set out in paragraph (3) are satisfied; and

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1)(a) are that:

(a) seats on the vehicle by means of which the service is provided are normally available to members of the public and the service is regularly used by such members;

(b) the stopping places (other than those to or from which the service is mainly provided) are situated at locations where they are likely to be used with reasonable frequency by members of the public;

(c) such members are able to make a single journey between any two stopping places upon payment of a fare which is not a deliberate deterrent to their use of the service;

(d) such members are able to pay the fare at a place and in a manner which are not a deliberate deterrent to their use of the service; and

(e) arrangements are made which afford members of the public a reasonable opportunity to inform themselves of the existence of the service, the times of its operation, and the places which it serves.

(3) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1)(b) are that:

(a) at least half of the accommodation on the vehicle by means of which the service is provided is normally available to members of the public and the service is regularly used by such members;

(b) the stopping places are situated at locations where they are likely to be used with reasonable frequency by members of the public;

(c) such members are able to make a single journey between any two stopping places upon payment of a fare which is not a deliberate deterrent to their use of the service;

(d) such members are able to pay the fare at a place and in a manner which are not a deliberate deterrent to their use of the service;

(e) there is not displayed on the vehicle, by means of which the service is provided, any sign or description intended or likely to convey the impression that the service is only available to a particular category of person; and

(f) arrangements are made which afford members of the public a reasonable opportunity to inform themselves of the existence of the service, times of its operation and the places which it serves.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you require further information or if you think you are entitled to claim Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) for some or all of the local bus service(s) you are operating or intend to operate, please contact:

Tel: 0141 272 7164
E-mail: bsog@transportscotland.gsi.gov.uk

Notes for guidance on how to complete forms PSV 310-S and PSV 311-S

Form PSV 310-S (yellow form) for kilometres to be run

You should enter your best estimate of the kilometres you intend to run between the dates shown on the front of the form. Please note that it is not in your interest to overestimate, as any amount overpaid will be recovered from the next estimate claim.

Section 1: You should enter the intended number of eligible and dead kilometres to be run based on your timetables; the notes on the form itself explain what is meant by ‘eligible’ kilometres although the definition of ‘dead’ kilometres can be clarified to include all kilometres run ‘light’ (i.e. empty) between:

(a) the depot and the first registered stop or boarding point of a local service journey;

(b) the finishing point of one service journey and the starting point of the next service journey where two points are different;

(c) the last registered stop or alighting point of a local service journey and the depot.

‘Dead’ kilometres also include those run by vehicles changing from private hire/contract or non-eligible service work onto eligible service work (though not the other way round) and those run by a substitute bus in the event of a breakdown occurring to a bus on eligible local service work. If the defective vehicle can get back to the depot under its own power, then this can be claimed as ‘dead’ kilometres.

In order that the grant payments may reflect any seasonal variations in stage kilometres run, the estimate of eligible kilometres for the period should be divided in quarters (i.e. every three calendar months).

Section 2: The figures you enter in this section are important in that they allow Transport Scotland to calculate the kilometres per litre (kpl) rate which your vehicles will achieve during the period of the claim. If you can isolate from the rest of your fleet those vehicles which will run at least 50% of their kilometres on local service work during the claim period, then you should enter in 2a all the kilometres to be run by those vehicles: this figure should include not just eligible local service journeys but also any other journeys which the vehicles may run, for example on driver training, PSV testing, private hire/excursions etc. In section 2b you should enter all the fuel that will be used by those vehicles.

If you cannot divide your fleet in this way, then you must enter all the kilometres to be run by your whole fleet over the claim period, again whether local service or not, in section 2c of the claim form, and all fuel issued to the fleet in section 2d.

It is vital whichever combinations of section 2 you fill in that you keep distance travelled and fuel issued records adequate to support your claim. In addition to this, records should be maintained of the daily eligible local service live and dead kilometres and any kilometres lost or gained on the daily schedule. These records are necessary to satisfy the independent accountant who must certify the actual claim form PSV 311-S at the end of the period, and also Transport Scotland, that the figures thereon are correctly stated.

Section 3:

Column 1: You should enter your route/service number.

Column 2: The registration number given to you by the Traffic Area Office.

Column 3: You should enter the date on which the service began and the issue number of the Notice and Proceedings in which it first appeared.

Column 4: You should enter the longest one-way journey on the route eligible for BSOG.

Column 5: The total estimated number of journeys to be run on the route in one week during the period covered by the claim (average weekly number of journeys).

Column 6: The total estimated number of journeys to be run on the route in the period covered by the claim (usually one year).

Column 7: The total estimated local service Kms to be run on the route during the period covered by the claim.

Column 8: The total estimated dead Kms to be run in connection with the route during the period covered by the claim.

Column 9: The total estimated eligible Kms on which BSOG is claimed (ie the total of columns 7 and 8).

From 1 April 2011 every BSOG claim which you send us, whether it is an Estimate or Certified Claim, must be accompanied by a timetable with kilometres marked on it and clearly stating the additional kilometres where there are part-route journeys or short workings. If not, your claim and payment will be delayed whilst we seek the appropriate information from you. Please contact Daniel Lafferty (0141 272 7164) if you need to discuss this in further detail or if you have a large number of services and many timetables.

Form PSV 311-S (green form) for kilometres actually run

You will see that the information required is very like that on PSV 310-S except that you will have to enter the actual number of eligible and dead kilometres run based on your service records; you must not enter estimated figures on the PSV 311-S.

It is not necessary to divide the actual kilometres run by quarterly periods as on the estimated claim; you should only complete those of section 1 where the start and end dates of the claim period appear. Transport Scotland will send you a PSV 311-S when your claim year is coming to an end. We may split the ‘from’ and ‘to’ column at section 1 if the payment rate changes mid-year. If this does happen we will hand-write on the PSV 311-S with the relevant dates.

The information required in section 2 is exactly the same as that on the estimated claim except that only the actual total kilometres travelled and the actual fuel physically issued to your vehicles must be entered.

You should note that the payments which you receive based on an estimated claim are not yours by right but are subject to the condition that you submit a PSV 311-S certified by an independent accountant/auditor within three months of the end of the claim period. If you do not submit a properly certified PSV 311-S, or submit a PSV 311-S that is not supported by full accurate records, Transport Scotland may withhold payments on a current estimated claim, recover payments already made or even exclude you from further participation in the scheme.

Please enclose a copy of your record of scheduled kilometres lost/not travelled with each certified claim.

From 1 April 2011 we also require a letter from your auditors which sets out which tests have been done and which routes (and figures) have been sample checked as part of the certification process.

The following explanation should be read in conjunction with the ‘Notes for Guidance’ which are printed on the back of each claim form. This is not an official document but a guide that operators may find helpful when completing the form.

Start with Section 3

ROUTE ANALYSIS

Column 1: Service number – how the service is identified by passengers, usually by numbers or destination.

Column 2: The registration number of the service(s); more than one service may have been authorised under the same registration.

Column 3: Self-explanatory – as much detail as possible will enable Transport Scotland to identify and check the registration details. (It will be helpful to record dates of authorised variations when kilometres run were affected)

Column 4: The longest single route length (not including dead kilometres) for each service. Alternatively, if a timetable is complicated with a number of journeys at varying lengths, you may quote the total daily number of kilometres operated. You should enclose a copy of the timetable showing the kilometres for each section of the journey.

Column 5: The actual average number of journeys run on the route in one week during the period covered by the claim (average weekly number of journeys).

Column 6: The actual number of journeys run on the route in the period covered by the claim (usually one year).

Column 7: This is the kilometres run on each service usually obtained by multiplying the column 4 figures by the number of journeys run. If the column 4 figure is based on total daily kilometres run then multiply them by the number of days operated. (Remember to deduct the lost kilometres when the service was only partially run or cancelled for some reason). Also, if an authorised variation to the service caused a change in the daily kilometres run, your calculations should reflect this.

Column 8: The figure to be entered in this column is the total amount of dead kilometres incurred on the service during the claim period. It is not a requirement that the single dead kilometres figure is shown; it is, however, essential that the operator knows exactly what dead kilometres are incurred on each service and supporting records are maintained.

Column 9: This is the sum of columns 7 and 8.

Column 10: The actual number of Kms, per the timetable, not run on the route in the period covered by the claim.

Section 1

The figures in this section should be the total of those in section 3. The quoted figures should accurately portray what kilometres were operated in the periods shown, therefore, a separate ‘days and kilometres’ calculation may be necessary for each service before transferring the totals from Section 3.

Section 2

Kilometres

If vehicles are operated which are not used for 50% of their kilometres on local service work, then no details of fuel and kilometres run for those vehicles must be included on the form at (a) and (b). For the remainder, i.e. those used on eligible local service(s), the total amount of kilometres run, regardless of what type of duty has been performed, should be recorded in the space marked (a). The most effective means of obtaining this figure is by using odometer/tachograph or hubometer readings taken at the start and finish of the claim period. (We would also suggest regular, perhaps monthly, checks to ensure correct operation of this equipment).

Litres

This should be the total amount of fuel actually issued to those vehicles. Calculation should not be based on a perceived kilometres per litre factor. Records must be maintained to show actual issues; quantities of fuel obtained away from base should be included. (Invoices or receipts must be retained as proof of usage).

When the vehicles operated are used on a variety of work and not necessarily for 50% of their usage on local services, then the kilometres and litres for the whole PSV fleet should be recorded in (c) and (d). (Again, the quoted figures should be total kilometres run and fuel issued). Care should be taken to ensure that kilometres run and fuel issues to non PSV’s/PCV’s plant or equipment, private cars etc, are not included in the figures on Section 2.

Conversion Factors

Transport Scotland uses the following conversion factors:

(a) miles to kilometres : multiply by 1.61

(b) gallons to litres : multiply by 4.55

Should you wish to identify a kilometres per litre factor (kpl) as the more familiar miles per gallon factor (mpg), divide by 1.61 and multiply by 4.55

Example: 3.5385 kpl ÷ 1.61 = 2.1978 x 4.55 = 10 mpg

BSOG Rates from 1 April 2010 - 41.21 pence per litre for all fuel types except for Bio-Fuel where the rate is 57.19 pence per litre.

Further copies of this document are available, on request, in audio and large print formats and in community languages (Urdu; Bengali; Gaelic; Hindi; Punjabi; Cantonese; Arabic; Polish).