Labour join ‘back our buses’ call Government asked for more cash
ROCHDALE Labour have backed a Greater Manchester-wide campaign claiming the region has been ‘short changed’ by the government over transport reforms.
They’re calling for a £120 million ‘shortfall’ to be made up after money offered to the region for its ambitious plans for a franchised bus service fell short of what leaders actually asked for.
Earlier this month Andy Burnham admitted he could no longer guarantee £1.50 hopper fares after the region was given only half of the money requested from the government from its ‘bus service improvement plans’ pot.
And councillors from Greater Manchester’s ten councils - including Rochdale’s transport committee representative Coun Phil Burke - are now calling on the government to ‘Back Our Buses’ with more money.
“For all the government’s claims about ‘levelling up’ transport in Greater Manchester to back our vision for a London style public transport network - when it came to coughing up the funding we need, Greater Manchester was short changed,” they say in a joint statement.
“Our Labour Mayor, Andy Burnham, and Labour councillors asked for £218million to support our ambitious plans for cheaper bus fares, more frequent services and 24hr services on key routes. We got less than half that.”
A sum of £94.8m will be paid to Greater Manchester over three years for ongoing costs to run the bus network - but that’s less than half of what is needed to guarantee a ‘London-style’ bus network with hopper fares, new routes and ‘24-hour services’. Single journeys at £2 for adults and £1 for children look set to go ahead however.
“We’re not going to be in a position to do everything that we wanted to do,” Mr Burnham said last week. “However, we are going to be in a position to improve services.”
The mayor later tweeted that the cash is ‘a vote of confidence’ in plans for the Bee Network.
“We’re grateful for the Government support and, while not everything we asked for, it should still allow us to improve buses as they go back under public control. Regulated services will start on 17 September 2023,” he wrote.
The group of Labour councillors say delivering better services will ‘no doubt’ be made more difficult by the government’s ‘refusal to fully fund our vision’. They have launched a petition calling on the Conservatives to ‘back our buses’.
Greater Manchester did relatively well in its bid for ‘bus service improvement plans’ funding. Liverpool City Region asked for £667million - and got just £12.3million. While South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis said “we’ve been shafted” after his area lodged a £474m bid - but got nothing.
The Department for Transport said that the 31 areas to receive funding ‘to level up their local bus services’ have been chosen and ‘just under twothirds’ of England’s population outside London will benefit.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Buses are the most popular way of getting around in this country - but for too long people outside of London have had a raw deal.
“The investment we’re making today to ramp up the bus revolution will drive down fares at a time when people’s finances are tight and help connect communities across England.”