Labour warns of “looming bus crisis” as Ministers missing in action

Labour has accused the government of being “missing in action” as a wave of bus service cuts are set to hit communities across the country over the summer.

In a letter to the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, Labour’s Louise Haigh warns that from the end of July bus services will be slashed without certainty from ministers.

As parliament rises for recess today, Labour have warned a loss of services will “be a betrayal of the promises this government made to improve bus services.”

In 2020 the government pledged “great bus services…to everyone, everywhere”, before slashing their bus transformation funding by almost two thirds and leaving almost 60% of local communities without any funding to improve bus services.

And with Covid Recovery Funding now set to expire at the end of September, communities are facing a wave of bus service cuts. South Yorkshire will begin reducing 1/3 of services from this Sunday (24 July), and operators in the North East will be reducing services.

The Shadow Transport Secretary has urged the government to:

• Come out of hiding on the immediate crisis – and give local leaders clarity on the status of emergency funding due to expire at the end of September.

• Learn lessons from the £2 fares being implemented by Labour mayors – fare reductions in Great Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire will slash the cost of travel and are designed to increase passengers numbers to provide buses with a sustainable future.

• Come clean on wider long-term funding cut for the Bus Back Better strategy – over half of communities are seeing no funding whatsoever from the strategy, leaving the Prime Minister’s pledge to “transform” bus services in tatters.

Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, said: 

“While communities face a wave of devastating bus cuts, the Tories have checked out. They are more focussed on their own careers than the country.

“Communities and local leaders need certainty in the face of this looming bus crisis, but Ministers are missing in action.

“Any reduction in services will be devastating for the millions of passengers who depend on buses, and would represent a straightforward betrayal of the promises this government made to communities.

"The Tories should be learning the lessons from Labour mayors across the country who are bringing fares down and fighting to improve services to tackle the cost of living and climate crisis.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• Copy of the letter to Transport Secretary, Rt. Hon Grant Shapps MP from Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh MP:

21 July 2022

Dear Secretary of State,

In April 2020 you pledged to make public transport the “natural first choice” saying the scale of the challenge to reach net-zero demanded a ‘step-change in both the breadth and scale of ambition”.

Yet from 24 July, swathes of the country will begin to services being slashed. In South Yorkshire alone, a third of services are at risk.

These cuts would be devastating for the millions of passengers who depend on buses, and would represent a straightforward betrayal of the promises you made to communities.

With prices at the pump at record highs, affordable public transport is essential to tackle the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.

As you know due to the six-week notice period on bus route closures, the end of July is when local authorities are beginning a wave of bus service cuts as a result of Covid Bus Recovery funding expiring at the end of September.

Communities urgently need certainty in the short and long-term. That is why I am urging you to:

• Come out of hiding on the immediate crisis – and give local leaders clarity on the status of emergency funding due to expire on at the end of September.

• Learn lessons from the cheaper fares being implemented by Labour mayors –fares have risen by 40% since the Conservatives came to power pricing people off public transport. You should learn the lessons of fare reductions in Labour-run Great Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire which will slash the cost of travel and are designed to increase passengers numbers to provide buses with a sustainable future.

• Come clean on wider long-term funding for the Bus Back Better strategy –with over half of communities seeing no funding whatsoever from the strategy, leaving the Prime Minister’s pledge to “transform” bus services in tatters.

Compounding this crisis are the broken promises of your government. Despite pledging “great bus services for everyone, everywhere” in April, Ministers revealed communities will see just 1/3 of the £3bn bus transformation funding promised to communities, with just £1.08bn made available. Over half of Local Transport Authorities saw no investment, leaving out vast swathes of the country.  

It is time to come clean on the cuts to transformation funding and tackle the looming bus crisis.

Yours sincerely,

Louise Haigh MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

• Bus services nationwide are facing a wave of cuts as funding pressures mount and emergency funding ends.

o   West Yorkshire have warned 10% of the network is at risk: https://www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/all-news-and-blogs/travel-investment-on-the-agenda-as-funding-is-approved/

o   From the 24 July, the North-East is facing a wave of bus cuts:https://www.nexus.org.uk/consultation/item/nexus-rescue-package-bus-services-gateshead-south-tyneside-and-sunderland#:~:text=13%20June%202022-,Nexus%20rescue%20package%20for%20bus%20services%20in%20Gateshead%2C%20South%20Tyneside,effect%20from%2024%20July%202022.

o   From 24 July, South Yorkshire will begin to see a third of services slashed:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61970305

• Writing in the Bus Back Better strategy’s foreword last March, Boris Johnson claimed he ‘loved buses’ and the £3 billion would be used to “transform” services, making them faster, cheaper and more reliable.

• Now, their bus plans lie in tatters and England’s already underserved communities risk missing out further.

• 79 Local Transport Authorities in every community across the country put in bids for the £3bn bus transformation funding:

• In April, Ministers revealed communities will see just 1/3 of the £3bn bus transformation funding promised to communities, with just £1.08bn made available.

• And just fewer than half of Local Transport Authorities will see investment, leaving out vast swathes of the country https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/local-tories-lash-out-boris-26641195.amp

• In a leaked letter in January, a senior official confirmed that the transformation funding budget had shrunk and “prioritisation was now inevitable, as the scale of the ambition greatly exceeds the amount”https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/23/boris-johnsons-bus-back-better-red-wall-levelling-up-treasury-cuts-funding

• One third of bus services could be cut within weeks, local leaders warn:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61970305