(Southend West) (Con): What
steps he is taking to support bus services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport ( ): Using the savings from
HS2, we will extend the £2 bus fare right across England until
the end of December 2024. This means that the Government have
committed over £600 million to cap bus fares. We have also
announced that the Government will continue to provide increased
financial support to community transport operators, to help them
protect key services by uplifting their bus service operator
grant by 60%.
: I thank the Minister for that
reply, and for his recent visit to Southend West. He is very
aware that last year, elderly residents were left stranded,
literally overnight, when First
Bus withdrew the No. 21 service, cutting them off
from Southend Hospital, from Leigh Broadway and from many
community groups. Despite successfully working with First
Bus to reroute the No. 3 bus, this is not good
enough; it only runs once every two hours. Will he meet me
and First
Bus to make sure that Southend City gets the best
bus services possible?
Mr Holden: I was delighted to visit my hon. Friend, and also my
hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir ). I would be very happy to
meet her and representatives from First
Bus Her work to champion her constituents’ local
transport needs is second to none. I was delighted to see that
that additional piece of bus funding of almost £1 million from
central Government to Southend to help protect and enhance local
bus services is going through, but I will happily meet her to see
how we can best ensure that it is spent in a way that protects
her residents.
