Labour’s parliamentary candidate for South Dorset, Simon Bowkett, has accused Richard Drax MP of “empty posturing” for securing a Parliamentary debate on rural bus services, while staying silent on Dorset County Council’s proposed £850,000 cuts to local bus subsidies¹.
Mr Drax used an “adjournment debate” – an open-ended debate with no vote at the end of it – to raise the issue of rural bus services in the House of Commons.
Labour’s PPC for South Dorset, Simon Bowkett, said:
“I have been talking to people across South Dorset, and in areas like Portland, Swanage and rural Purbeck the decimation of the local bus network has come up again and again as a major local concern.
While I welcome Mr Drax’s apparent concern on this issue, I would urge him to move away from gesture politics in Westminster and to use his platform to bring real change right here in Dorset.
Since his government came to power in 2010 local authority bus subsidies across shire counties and unitary authorities have been cut by 23% in real terms, and in Dorset the County Council – led by councillors from Mr Drax’s own party – has agreed budget cuts to our local bus subsidies of £850,000 – leaving Dorset’s bus subsidy budget at £2.15 million, half the average subsidy of over £4 million for other shire county councils.”
A Transport Select Committee report in August 2011 warned that cuts to council budgets by central government, combined with changes to other support mechanisms such as Bus Service Operators Grant and concessionary fares, had led to some local authorities withdrawing subsidised bus services “with inadequate or no consultation”, and affecting “some of the most vulnerable people in society, including the elderly”.²
Hilary Benn MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:
“It couldn’t be clearer to local residents that vital front-line services are disappearing dramatically as cuts to councils intensify.
“David Cameron’s government needs to get a grip and ensure that elderly and disabled residents are able to get the bus to their local villages and towns and are not left stranded at home.”
Gordon Marsden MP, Shadow Buses Minister, said:
“Bus services in rural areas like Dorset are crucial not just for older people, but also young people trying to get to work or college.
“Buses are a lifeline for people in towns and villages and Tory cuts on this scale damage the rural economy as well as individuals’ life chances.”
¹Dorset County Council agreed cuts of £850,000 to bus subsidies at its Cabinet meeting, 4 December 2013. https://www.dorsetforyou.com/bus-service-revision
²Source: House of Commons Library and Transport Select Committee
More info:
- FOI requests were sent by Hilary Benn MP to all 27 shire county councils and 55 unitary authorities to measure average cuts to local bus subsidies. 23 county councils responded and 53 unitary authorities responded.
- The survey asked: “Would you please tell me how much your council spent in pounds sterling on subsidising local bus services in FY 2010/11, FY 2011/12, FY 2012/13 and FY 2013/14.”
- Conversion of data from cash-terms to real-terms was carried out by the House of Commons Library to provide 2013/14 prices, with the 2010/11 prices adjusted using the GDP deflator and OBR-consistent forecasts published by HM Treasury.
- Shire counties have cut their subsidies by 23% in real terms from an average of £5.62 million in 2010/11 to £4.34 million in 2013/14.
- Unitary authorities have cut their subsidies by 24% in real terms from an average of £1.20 million in 2010/11 to £0.91 million in 2013/14.
- The Transport Select Committee Report on Bus Services After the Spending Review, released in August 2011, can be found at https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/750/750.pdf
It stated:
“Buses are the most available and frequently used mode of public transport in England.
Two-thirds of all passenger journeys are made by bus: there were 4.6bn bus passenger journeys in England in 2009–10 (2.4bn outside of London), compared to 1.3bn rail and 1.1bn London Underground journeys. A quarter of UK households do not have access to a car, including one in ten households in rural areas…
“Outside London, bus operators choose the routes and levels of service that they wish to provide on a commercial basis. Local authorities then determine where the gaps are and can choose to provide support for services to fill these gaps. Around 80% of bus services outside London are operated on a commercial basis.
“The remaining 20% are operated with support from local authorities, generally secured through a system of competitive tendering. Such services typically comprise routes at times of the day or week, or in areas, where usage is low—often services on evenings, Sundays and routes in rural areas…
“We were given direct examples of how reduced or withdrawn local bus services had made people more socially isolated, in some cases removing the only bus link between their village and the nearest town. Elderly people described how withdrawn services had reduced their access to hospitals and health facilities, social activities, and opportunities for shopping. Several could not drive nor afford taxis on a regular basis. People could no longer visit or assist sick relatives as frequently. Commuters described the difficulties they now faced to return home from work in the evening following the curtailment of their local bus service after 7pm. We were given examples of younger people changing their employment due to bus service reductions and withdrawals, or no longer being able to socialise, play sports or access educational facilities in neighbouring towns, reducing their independence. A parent told us how the proposed withdrawal of her local bus service would make it very difficult to take her young children to playgroup. Bus reductions were said to impact on local tourism.”
- The House of Commons Library briefing paper on bus subsidies can be found at www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn01522.pdf
It states:
“Since the 2010 General Election concerns have been expressed about whether local authorities would be able to sustain their previous levels of spending on subsidised bus services. This is because these types of service are funded out of general local authority budgets, and Government funding to councils has decreased by 27 per cent, in real terms, since 2010/11. Campaigners have pointed to service reductions that have occurred as the result of budget cuts, while the Government has insisted that local authorities now have more autonomy to make choices about how they spend their budgets and it is up to them to prioritise services for their areas.
“In its August 2011 report the Transport Select Committee concluded that reductions in local authority budgets, combined with changes to other support mechanism such as BSOG and concessionary fares, had led to some local authorities withdrawing subsidised bus services ‘with inadequate or no consultation’, affecting ‘some of the most vulnerable people in society, including the elderly’.”
