Councils warn over Buses Bill powers

The County Councils Network (CNN) has warned that the Bus Services Bill could leave rural areas at a disadvantage and facing the prospect of less sustainable transport.

Writing to Transport Minister Andrew Jones ahead of the Bill’s second reading in the House of Lords this week, the CNN claims that only giving the powers of franchising to those areas governed by mayors could leave many regions in England facing uncertainty on whether their bus services will improve.

Cllr Anne Western, CCN economic growth spokeswoman, said: “Due to austerity, cutbacks to bus services have had an impact on isolated communities that truly do see public transport as a lifeline.

“That’s why it is crucial for the government to pass on franchising powers to all councils, not simply areas that have chosen to be governed by a mayor. Rural communities arguably need sustainable bus services more than their urban counterparts, yet this policy favours the city, not the shire.”

A recent report by the Campaign for Better Transport, ‘Buses in Crisis’, claimed that since 2010 £78 million had been axed from local authority bus funding in England and Wales, resulting in over 2,400 bus services being reduced, altered or withdrawn.