Status: Complete

Make the Union minibusses affordable for societies

My society, Conservation Volunteers, used to take the minibus to go to tasks in the New Forest and all around Southampton.

Since the price was raised, we've had to cut down on tasks in the New Forest and people who've wanted to go to tasks have changed their mind upon finding out they'd have to take a train


Responses

Hi Corin,

Thanks for your idea. I've had a chat with our Facilities Manager, who oversees our minibus fleet, and he confirmed that we haven't raised the cost of hiring a minibus through us since he's been here (around 3 years). The price that has gone up is the cost of putting another vehicle on our insurance, which has gone up by £1/£2, which is due to the fact that insurance overall has got more expensive. We're fortunate that as a Union we have a permit, which means that we can put drivers over the age of 21 on our insurance fairly easily (unlike many hire companies). Although we acknowledge that it might be possible to hire cheaper from elsewhere, our minibuses are less than 2 years old, are regularly cleaned and serviced, and generally are much nicer to drive! In short, if we made them even cheaper to hire, we wouldn't be able to cover the costs of having them or be able to have the flexibility that our insurance offers etc. 

I hope this offers some clarity!

Flora, Union President

Friday 1st Dec 2017 12:33pm

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