Ms Anne Graham:

Following a value for money report, we were asked to examine how to make the service more efficient. It was suffering a reduced budget, but we have to consider how to reduce the level of administrative costs associated with providing it. Without reducing services, we have achieved a compromise between having an efficient service and meeting the needs of the community. There has been a budget reduction and we have maintained as much as possible the level of service provision. If we had done the opposite and kept the service at a very local basis with a higher administrative cost, the service rather than the administrative costs would have had to face cuts. This is the decision we faced. We believe that we can replicate local knowledge in the transport co-ordination units by continuing the links with local development companies.