The Scottish Government’s draft budget includes a new Bus Infrastructure Fund, but the value of this fund is unquantified

 
The launch of the £500m Bus Partnership Fund in 2019. Only £26.9m was spent

 
BY Rhodri Clark

The Scottish Government’s draft budget for 2025/26 restores capital funding for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and heralds a new Bus Infrastructure Fund.

This year’s budget did not include capital allocations for the Bus Partnership Fund and SPT, which is modernising the Glasgow Subway and making improvements to public transport interchanges. The government had announced the BPF four years ago, pledging to spend over £500m in bus priority infrastructure. However, the fund was paused at the beginning of this year, with only £26.9m spent.

Notes on the proposed budget for next year explain that the BPF and the Community Bus Fund will be replaced by a new Bus Infrastructure Fund. The BIF comes under the heading of “Support for Active and Sustainable Travel”, funding for which is proposed to fall by 11.1% next year despite the addition of BIF to the previous activities covered.

The value of the BIF is unquantified as yet. A Transport Scotland spokesman told Passenger Transport that allocations between the BIF and other modes which come under the support for active and sustainable travel will depend on business cases, value for money and deliverability. The BIF represented an evolution of the support for bus infrastructure, he said.

Local authorities will not have to go back to square one on their frozen BPF schemes. “The Bus Infrastructure Fund, proposed for 2025-26, focusses on delivering bus priority and supporting infrastructure measures to tackle the negative impact of congestion,” said the spokesman. “We can build on the good work undertaken through the Bus Partnership Fund – making buses more attractive through quicker journeys for passengers and for operators to reinvest potential savings to provide further service improvements.

“This fund will be an important part of our work with operators and local authorities to improve bus services and in getting people out of their cars and onto public transport.”

The transition to zero-emission buses will continue, with £22m confirmed for the second year of the Scottish Zero-Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2), he added.

The “travel strategy and innovation” heading has a proposed increase from £10.9m this year to £34.2m next year.
It includes numerous activities but the increased funding is driven by the profile of payments of capital grant funding for SPT’s Subway modernisation.

There is also a renewed general capital grant to SPT. “This grant, combined with funding from their constituent local authorities, funds delivery of capital projects which contribute to the National Transport Strategy and the maintenance and renewal of existing transport infrastructure in the region,” explain the notes to the draft budget.

This fund will be an important part of our work with operators and local authorities to improve bus services

This element of the budget was unfunded in 2024/25 “due to prioritisation of reduced capital budgets” but will be “reintroduced to provide funding for contractual and essential spend, necessary for the safe running of SPT’s transport operations”.

Although the Subway’s new trains are now in service, more infrastructure work remains to be done in the £288m modernisation programme.

The draft budget allocates £1,538m to rail services, a 10.6% reduction on this year. This funding supports ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services. The reduction relates to fleet lease renewals and “has no practical impact on operational delivery”. An increased revenue allocation reflects higher operating costs, including pay settlements and the UK Government’s changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.

Rail capital funding is proposed to increase by 38.2% to £158.6m to meet commitments on rail enhancements and maintenance, including in 2025/26 East Kilbride and Fife electrification works and preparations for replacement of ScotRail’s oldest trains.

The budget also proposes an increase in capital funding for trunk roads, by 32.8% to £157.5m. This reflects continuation of the £3.7bn A9 dualling programme between Perth and Inverness, and of improvements to the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness and the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

DON’T MISS OUT – GET YOUR COPY! – click here to subscribe!