Changes to Surrey Choices Transport

We are writing to inform everyone that over the coming weeks Surrey Choices will be changing the arrangements we have for transporting people to and from our day services.

Currently, transport to and from our day services is provided by six different transport providers across the county, via a mix of Community Transport Providers and Private Hire Contractors. From September we will be transitioning to providing this transport directly ourselves, utilising our own fleet of vehicles and employing our own dedicated drivers.

The prime reason for making this change is that since we have been supporting more people to access community-based activities, we have identified a need for our transport to be more flexible than can be provided by the current arrangements.

Directly providing transport ourselves will, over time, enable more people to be transported directly from home to community-based activities, rather than having to come into one of our buildings and then have an additional journey on one of our vehicles to their activity. This change will both reduce the amount of time individuals spend travelling to and from activities, as well as increase the amount of time people have to undertake activities.

Directly providing transport ourselves will also reduce our expenditure on transport, as we will be able to utilise our existing fleet of vehicles for journeys at the start and end of the day, rather than having to pay for the vehicle costs associated with the current contractual arrangements.

Given this change will undoubtedly raise questions, we will be scheduling a series of engagement events and individual meetings over the coming weeks to keep you informed of progress and to detail how this change may affect you or your family member. We will also be providing regular updates via our newsletter, emails and on our website.

Details of these meetings will be sent out within the next couple of weeks. However, if you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact the manager of your service, who will be able to answer any questions you may have. If for any reason they are unable to assist you please contact Camilla Blanchard who is project managing this change at camilla.blanchard@surreychoices.com or Jerry Ratcliff, Chief Operating Officer, by emailing jerry.ratcliff@surreychoices.com

 

 

 

Remember, you can keep up to date with all of our stories on social media: