Labour pledges extra support for public transport

LABOUR in South Gloucestershire is promising voters extra support for home insulation and subsidised bus routes if they take power in the upcoming local election.

The party is currently the third largest party on the council and could play an influential role if the Conservatives lose their narrow majority of five seats. The Labour group’s current leader, Cllr Pat Rooney, is stepping down at this election after 30 years on the council. The group’s deputy leader, Councillor Ian Boulton, pledged to support renters to cut heating bills.

“We have five key pledges: working with landlords to make rental properties warmer and cheaper for tenants to maintain; increasing our transport levy to improve bus services; continue our campaign for a minor injuries unit at Cossham Hospital and extra community beds at Frenchay Hospital; having a high level and dedicated lead member for climate change action; and working with a future Labour government to bring back our successful children’s care.”

A major issue for the district and the wider West of England region in these elections are the buses. Passengers have been left stranded after a shortage of drivers, and inflation leading to many subsidised routes getting cut. Labour would increase the council’s transport levy, which goes towards subsidising unprofitable bus routes, which many people rely on.

“We’ve committed to increase the bus transport levy that subsidises local buses,” he said. “That would protect existing bus services.”

One solution many people are now proposing for the region’s bus crisis is franchising. Bus franchising would see the bus network brought back under public control, and is how the buses are run in London. Franchising is also being explored in many other parts of England. Cllr Boulton said one problem with this would be a lack of income to pay for the changes.

“It would depend on the funding,” he said. “This is the difference between here and up in Greater Manchester, they have a different funding scheme there that allows for that, which we don’t have.”

A Clean Air Zone for polluted parts of South Gloucestershire would not be up for discussion, Cllr Boulton said. Instead, one option to improve air quality could be looking at wood-burning stoves.

One pledge the Conservatives are campaigning on is keeping parking free in council-owned car parks. This is in stark contrast to in Bristol, where parking charges are either being introduced or increased in many car parks. But in South Gloucestershire, Labour are also promising to keep car parking free.