West Northants Community Transport: £101,000 Still Unspent

More than half of the money West Northamptonshire Council set aside to replace a collapsed community bus service has still not been given to anyone.

The council’s Community Funding Grants Panel awarded £72,000 to voluntary car schemes and other community transport organisations already running services. A further £101,000 has been retained, unallocated, along with the minibuses the collapsed operator left behind. That is 58% of the £173,000 pot, and it has been sitting there since the grant round closed in April.

The council set out the position in a statement on 18 August. It has not published anything further since. (West Northamptonshire Council)

What happened

Ability CIC ran community bus services in rural West Northamptonshire. The council confirmed on 20 March 2026 that the company had ceased trading and withdrawn its services, citing rising operating costs and the loss of essential facilities. Its August statement dates the closure to April 2026 and says Ability gave the council and its users 37 days’ notice.

The scale, in the council’s own figures:

• Ability delivered 25,000 to 28,000 passenger trips a year
• That is about 50 people a day making a return journey
• Against 12 million local bus trips a year across West Northamptonshire

The council was blunt that this is a small share of the total and important to the people who used it. Those are largely older and disabled residents in villages with no commercial bus. (West Northamptonshire Council, 20 March 2026)

Six days later the tone was confident. At least two transport providers and a parish council had expressed interest in taking on the minibuses, which Ability had itself acquired through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The council opened a grant round with a deadline of 10am on 24 April 2026. (West Northamptonshire Council, 26 March 2026)

Why the money is still sitting there

The August statement is the first full account of what went wrong, and it is candid.

The council had expected several organisations to come forward together and replace a substantial share of what Ability did. In its own words, this “did not materialise”. As applications came in, it found interest in covering the former Ability area was limited, and that no applicant had put forward a fully developed and financially robust proposal capable of replacing services at the old scale.

Then came the problem that has held everything up since: the council cannot get Ability’s operating data.

• It asked Ability directly. The response was constructive, but confirmed the data could not be shared.
• It tried other routes, through transport consultants and former Ability representatives.
• Data ownership, data protection and the rules on concessionary travel information all got in the way.
• Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire set up a task and finish group of interested providers, and the same missing data stopped that group working out what would be viable.

Without route and demand figures, the council decided it could not responsibly hand out the rest of the money. It says rushing funding and vehicles to providers who are not ready “could ultimately create further challenges and uncertainty”.

Parish councils that Ability used to serve are now being surveyed about what transport they need. Providers will be approached after that.

One number moved

The council gave the size of the pot twice in March, and the two figures do not match. The 20 March release said it would launch a £173,000 fund. The 26 March release called it £172,000.

The August figures settle it. £72,000 awarded plus £101,000 retained comes to £173,000.

What you can ring now

The council’s own community transport page lists the schemes still running. These are the numbers a resident can use today. Each scheme sets its own fares, and you pay the operator directly, not the council.

Two things stand out in that list. There are only two community minibus schemes left in the whole district, at Gayton and Tiffield and at Lilbourne, and the rest of the network is volunteers driving their own cars. And most of the voluntary car schemes charge an annual membership fee before you pay mileage, so you need to register before the day you need a lift.

Dial-a-Ride vehicles can normally take a wheelchair. Some schemes accept a concessionary bus pass towards the fare; the council says to ask the operator. (West Northamptonshire Council, community transport)

What it means for you

• If you used an Ability bus, it is not coming back. Nothing has replaced it, and the money meant to do so has not been allocated.
• Register with a scheme before you need it. Voluntary car schemes want an annual membership and a booking in advance, so signing up on the day of a hospital appointment will not work.
• Northampton residents have two options on that list: Door to Door on 01604 583553 for a wheelchair-accessible dial-a-ride, and the Volunteer Car Scheme on 01604 628234.
• If you are a parish councillor in a village Ability served, the council is surveying you now, and that survey decides where the remaining £101,000 goes.
• Offers of help and questions go to communitygrants@westnorthants.gov.uk, the address the council gave when it opened the process in March.

For getting around by other means, see Northampton train times to London and roadworks and travel.

Sources

• Update regarding community transport services in West Northants, West Northamptonshire Council, 18 August 2026. Source of the £72,000 and £101,000 figures, the 37 days’ notice, and the account of the missing operating data.
• Council takes swift action following closure of community transport provider, West Northamptonshire Council, 20 March 2026. Source of the passenger trip figures and the £173,000.
• Efforts to address community transport issues drive forward, West Northamptonshire Council, 26 March 2026. Source of the 24 April deadline, the interest in the minibuses and the £172,000 figure.
• Community transport, West Northamptonshire Council service page, read 2 September 2026. Source of the scheme list and telephone numbers.

Scheme details change. Ring the operator to check it still runs your area before you rely on it.