MPs on the Transport Committee have urged the government to take a range of reforms to prevent further decline in bus service provision

Cadbury: ‘Ministers should go further to get bums back on seats’

 
A new report by the Transport Select Committee has called on the government to adopt a national ambition for a minimum level of public transport connectivity in England by the end of this parliament in order to prevent further bus service cuts.

The report also recommends that ministers:

  • Ringfence a portion of local funding so that there is a practical requirement to continue running socially necessary services;
  • Set five-year settlements for revenue and capital funding;
  • Consider piloting a free bus pass for under-22s, as already provided in Scotland;
  • Expand the Department for Transport’s Bus Centre of Excellence to provide targeted support to local authorities that may look to adopt franchising; and
  • Consider introducing a rural weighting into its revised Bus Service Improvement Plan funding formula to reflect the higher per-passenger costs.

Committee chair Ruth Cadbury MP commented: “The DfT should change the way funding is provided to ensure councils and bus firms would be committed to running socially necessary services, and, on that basis, should also adopt an ambition for all councils to develop and maintain a minimum level of public transport connectivity. To achieve this the sector will need greater financial certainty, which is why we say the government should announce funding in five-year blocks.

Cadbury added: “While the government’s Bus Services Bill contains positive ideas, the Transport Committee’s report says ministers should go further to get bums back on seats.”

 
REACTION: Perceptions of decline are ‘far too gloomy’

This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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