To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) for her assessment of how the use of North Coast Community Transport has increased; and (ii) to detail the support provided to it by her Department.

North Coast Community Transport (NCCT) is funded by my Department to deliver Dial-a-Lift (DAL) Scheme services. These services provide accessible, affordable transport options across rural communities to those people who are socially isolated and have difficulty accessing public transport. It also provides Disability Action Transport Scheme (DATS) services to the following urban towns within its operational area: Limavady, Ballymena and Coleraine/Ballymoney. My Department provides overall funding directly to Disability Action to deliver DATS and NCCT delivers services on its behalf.

Both DAL and DATS are demand driven services meaning usage will fluctuate each year. DAL service usage, if considered over the past five years since 2016/17, initially increased but has since 2019/20 reduced. A significant decrease occurred between 2019/20 and 2020/21 as a result of Covid. DATS usage has been steadily declining over the past 5 years.

I am very aware of the invaluable contribution both these services make towards enabling some of the most vulnerable people in our society to overcome barriers to social interaction and to access essential services. That is why I took a decision in March 2020, given the severe disruption to DAL and DATS services, to allow community transport operators to temporarily transition their services in order to provide extra flexibility and support. The community transport operators continued to deliver essential passenger journeys but were also able to provide non-passenger services including assisting the delivery of DfC food parcels, prepaid groceries and prescriptions. Transitioned services were also made available to non-members and for vaccination appointments at the start of 2021. Demand for community passenger transport is beginning to increase as restrictions are incrementally eased and public confidence about safety slowly returns.

I have ensured that funding levels have been maintained for these services despite the negative impacts of Covid. Over the 2021/22 financial year NCCT has received total funding from my Department, for DAL related services, of approximately £521, 000. The majority of which (£385,000) is provided for DAL services funded by the Rural Transport Fund. The remainder of the funding has been provided in relation to resource funding for personal protective equipment and blue/green infrastructure capital funding for the purchase of an electric vehicle and charging point as part of a trial which all community transport operators are taking part in. NCCT has also received approximately £167,000 through the Assisted Rural Transport Scheme (ARTS). ARTS is funded by DAERA but administered by my Department. In addition my Department provides approximately £2.1m annually directly to Disability Action who allocate that funding to a number of organisations, including NCCT, to deliver services on its behalf.

I remain committed to working hard to ensure my Department continues to support community transport and the important services that it delivers.