Don’t overlook county areas in bus strategy, says CCN

Council leaders have urged the government to not overlook counties in its forthcoming bus investment strategy, as a new report lays bare the scale of decline in public transport in rural and remote areas.

Published by the County Councils Network (CCN) and the County All-Party Parliamentary Group, the new report finds that services in counties are operating at minimum levels following years of funding reductions. The analysis reveals there were 97 million fewer bus journeys in 2019 across 36 counties compared to a decade ago due to a £348 million funding gap.

Councils subsidise bus routes that are not commercially viable for operators but have found it hard to maintain subsidies due to cuts in funding. Between 2009 and 2019, council and central government funding for bus routes declined by £233 million, some 30 per cent, in the 36 county areas. At the same time, costs in that period are estimated to have increased by £115 million due to population increases. This creates a funding gap of £348 million.

The two organisations say that only a fair share of resource will bridge this funding shortfall, and have therefore called for the gap to be filled and for further long-term investment into the 2020s from the government’s £4 billion National Buses Strategy, due to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Looking at the issue regionally, the report finds that county areas in the North West saw a decline of -39.5 per cent in funding for bus routes, whilst counties in the South West saw a decline of -36.9 per cent, followed by county areas in the East Midlands (-32.5 per cent) and the West Midlands (-31.2 per cent). Equally, annual journeys in North West counties in 2019 declined by 25.1 million (-29.7 per cent) and the East Midlands 21.1 million (-17.9 per cent). Over the same period, counties in the West Midlands saw a reduction of 17 million (-26.6 per cent), and counties in the North East a reduction of 10.9 million (-15.1 per cent).

Peter Aldous, chairman of the County All-Party Parliamentary Group, said: “The inquiry that informed this report showed the devastating impact on rural and remote communities of services that councils could no longer afford to subsidise. Whilst passenger numbers have declined across England, services in counties are operating at minimum levels and any reduction in services hits those who are elderly and disadvantaged the hardest.

“A reduction in passenger numbers does not equate to a reduction in demand, and it is clear that there has been an increase in people who need these lifeline services but have seen their bus routes fade away over the last decade. With much focus on public transport in cities, we fear the needs of county and rural areas could be ignored.”

Barry Lewis, economic growth spokesperson for the County Councils Network, added: “To achieve the twin aims of levelling-up and economic recovery from Coronavirus, county areas need good public transport links: for their elderly, for their disadvantaged residents, and for the employment prospects of young people particularly. This will be so crucial to the period of recovery we must all work hard at. This is why the government’s National Bus Strategy must not overlook county areas.”