English bus services under threat from cuts

10 Aug 11
Bus services are likely to fall victim to council cuts next year, MPs on the influential transport select committee warned today.

By Vivienne Russell | 11 August 2011

Bus services are likely to fall victim to council cuts next year, MPs on the influential transport select committee warned today.

Rural bus

In a review of English bus services outside London the committee drew attention to the number that have already been withdrawn and warned that fares were set to increase well above the rate of inflation in some areas.

Committee chair Louise Ellman said: ‘We know that over 70% of local authorities have moved rapidly to reduce funding for supported bus services, forcing most operators to withdraw services or push up fares – or both – as the English bus industry adjusts to the greatest financial challenge it has faced for a generation.’

Ellman added that it was mainly rural, evening and Sunday services that were affected. ‘In some cases, whole sections of the bus network have been scaled back with little or no proper consultation,’ she said.

The MPs call on the Local Government Association to disseminate information and good practice on providing cost-effective and flexible bus services. Councils and bus operators should also consult more widely when services are being changed.

Responding to the report, the Local Government Association said there was a need to break the cycle of fare increases and service reductions.

Roy Davis, chair of the LGA’s economy and transport board, said: ‘Putting councils and residents in the driving seat will help ensure all public money spent on buses is used to subsidise the running of vital services and not just to bolster the profits of routes which are already making money. It is encouraging that the transport select committee shares this view.

‘We believe the best way to promote greater competition in the bus industry would be to put communities in control of commissioning services. Other towns and cities should be able to make greater use of franchise arrangements similar to those in London.’

The committee also called for the concessionary travel scheme to be preserved and expanded so that elderly and disabled people can continue to enjoy free travel on a wider range of services, such as dial-a-ride buses.

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