High Court backs bus cuts in Three Rivers
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• Hertfordshire County Council's decision to cut some bus services in the Three Rivers District Council area has been upheld by the High Court: the district council's bid to obtain a judicial review of the decision has failed.
The court heard that Three Rivers had decided to stop making a contribution to the subsidies on bus services in its area. As a consequence, Hertfordshire, which provided the bulk of the money for the services, decided to withdraw financial support from some of them.
Stephen Hockman QC, for the district council, argued that once public transport requirements which were not met by commercial services were identified, the county had no discretionary powers — it had an absolute duty under the 1985 Act to meet those requirements.
Dismissing the application, Mr Justice Roch said the county council had a duty to identify public transport requirements, and to secure the provision of such services as it considered appropriate to meet those requirements. It was for the county council to decide what was appropriate, taking into consideration the funds it had available and, where part was contributed by district councils, the source of those funds.
There was no evidence that the county council's decision had been irrational, perverse or absurd, he said.