A broad coalition of unions and charities has called on Chancellor George Osborne to take urgent action in this month’s Budget to end the crisis in funding for buses.
Some 28 groups – including UNISON, the Campaign for Better Transport, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, Age UK, the National Union of Students and disability charity Transport for All- have written to the chancellor calling for an urgent review of funding for bus services in England after councils across the country announced dramatic reductions in support for buses as part of cost-cutting measures.
“People of all ages rely on buses,” said Martin Abrams of the Campaign for Better Transport. “But year-on-year cuts in support from local authorities mean many services are under threat, putting huge pressure on other transport and cutting people off from the places they need to get to.
“The government needs to take urgent action to stem the loss of services and to put buses on a sustainable long-term footing.”
He pointed out that “buses are essential for getting people to work and college, as a lifeline connecting communities and in helping people to live independently.
“Allowing so many bus services to disappear would be both an economic and a social disaster for communities across the country.”
The letter, signed by charities, unions and thinktanks, sets out the importance of buses and calls on the chancellor to:
- put in place emergency funding to ensure that jobseekers, isolated people, and economic growth are not disadvantaged by the pressures on local authority finance;
- carry out a comprehensive and prompt review of bus funding that takes into account the vital role buses play economically, socially and environmentally, with the aim of putting in place a long-term funding settlement.
The Campaign for Better Transport published its Buses in Crisis report in December last year, which found that 46% of local authorities cut support for buses in 2013.
Buses in Crisis Campaign for Better Transport report [PDF, external link]
