DIAL-A-RIDE funding is to be slashed by 53 per cent from today after a last minute deal was reached with Swindon Borough Council.

The door to door disability bus service, which acts as a lifeline for many of the town’s most vulnerable people, is the latest in a line of services to be hit as a result of the financial pressures facing the council.

The current contract between Dial-A-Ride and the council ran out yesterday and discussions have been ongoing for some time about the extent to which the funding would be reduced.

In February’s budget it was agreed that there would be a £100,000 cut to the £311,000 they currently receive.

But last month it emerged that this was only a ‘part-year figure’.

The new agreement, set to last for two years, will see the funding reduced to £146,000 with weekends no longer supported.

The organisation now faces the inevitable prospect of cutting staff and reducing the service to cope with the cut.

Dale Heenan, the cabinet member for transport, said: “I am pleased to confirm that Swindon council officers and Swindon Dial-A-Ride have agreed a new deal which will extend the council’s financial support by another two years.

“The new contract will minimise the impact on passengers, with Swindon council continuing to subsidise the service between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

“Transport for people with disabilities is a topic that needs to be handled sensitively to avoid creating fear among the most vulnerable. Yet in recent weeks there has been lots of scaremongering about Swindon Dial-A-Ride facing closure or massive cuts to the service because of funding reductions.

“We can now show that these claims are simply not true.

“Swindon Dial-A-Ride can still run its own peak-time and Saturday service but the council will no longer subsidise them.”

The future of Dial-A-Ride beyond 2018 is unknown, the council’s recent bus strategy suggested that by 2020 the funding would disappear completely.

As the debate about its long term future continues, calls for it to be moved from the transport budget into that which is ring fenced for helping vulnerable adults will likely intensify.

Coun Derique Montaut, who has been leading Labour’s response to the cuts, said: “This is not a success story, while it might give people a little bit of hope it is still a dramatic cut to a vital service.

“Dial-A-Ride felt they had little option but to sign this agreement but it means that their business plan will not be as secure as it should be.

“There is still a danger that a cut of 53 per cent means they could fold within the two year period and after that two years nobody knows what will happen to them.

“We still feel that the council did not have the authorisation to make these cuts, the budget that was agreed was for a cut of £100,000.

“We must continue to fight to save the Dial-A-Ride service, in full, both now and after 2018 and 2020.”