Burt pledges to fight funding cuts Ring and Ride service for disabled people

4.56.27pm GMT Tue 21st Nov 2006

Lorely Burt MP has pledged to fight funding cuts that a charity claims has forced it to axe it's cross-boundary Ring and Ride service for disabled people.

The service, run by West Midlands Special Needs Transport, allows disabled people to book the popular 'Ring and Ride' journeys for visits outside the boundaries of Solihull, and has been suspended from 19th November because Centro has cut around £200,000 of the charity's annual grant.

Lorely Burt MP said "The popular cross-boundary scheme is part of the Ring and Ride service that offers a lifeline to so many, with just under 2,000,000 journeys provided across the West Midlands Metropolitan area last year.

"It simply doesn't make sense to cut funding and force the suspension of this service now when it has been operating so successfully over the past three years.

"Disabled people's travel needs cannot be limited by artificial boundaries, and so I will be writing to both the Chief Executive of WMSNT and to CENTRO to press for a new commitment for both parties to work together to reintroduce the cross-border service so valued by many Solihull residents."