‘IN 2025 THERE’LL BE NO £14M’
Fears for bus services in city after that
COUNCIL leaders fear that government funding for cheaper bus fares in Stoke-on-trent will reach a ‘cliff edge’ in just two-and-a-half years.
Stoke-on-trent City Council is set to receive £31.7 million of government cash for its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which the authority has developed in partnership with local operators.
The money includes £14.3 million of revenue funding up to 2025, which will be mostly used to subsidise cheaper fares, including a flat £3.50 all-day ticket across multiple operators.
But with no indication of further revenue funding beyond 2025, council chiefs are concerned that passengers numbers may not have recovered sufficiently to ensure the service’s sustainability without the extra revenue funding – meaning further cuts to routes could be implemented.
Even before the pandemic struck a major blow to public transport, Stoke-on-trent had seen one of the fastest declines in bus use in the country.
The number of bus passenger journeys in Stoke-on-trent fell from 15.6 million in 2009/10 to 8.6 million in 2019/20.
Council leaders and bus operators hope that the BSIP will help reverse this decline.
Along with simpler and cheaper fares, the plan includes schemes for increasing capacity on the road network, an upgraded traffic control system, improvements to bus stops and better services.
But Dan Jellyman, cabinet member for regeneration and transport, below, told the housing, development and growth scrutiny committee, that it would be ‘unrealistic’ to expect bus services to no longer need government revenue support beyond 2025.
He said: “The risk of this is that the funding only goes to 2025 – which is my concern. So we will be able to help bus services in the city with around £14 million over the next two-and-a-half years, and then, at the moment, there’s just a cliff, where after 2025 there will be no more £14 million.
“It could be that if you don’t get your bus passenger numbers up to the equivalent of £14 million, you start to see bus services being cut again, because the money runs out.
“We’re raising this with our MPS, as I think this is a real weakness of this – the money is great, but at the moment there is that cliff edge in 2025.
“I think it’s unrealistic to expect bus services to get enough passengers in the next two years to effectively make £14 million – because they’re making losses at the moment.
“But saying that, having £14 million is great. My concern is what happens in two years.”
In addition to the £14.3 million of revenue funding, the council is also set to be allocated £17.3 million of
capital funding for the BSIP.
Now that the government has announced the indicative funding, the council is required to submit a draft Enhanced Bus Partnership Plan by the end of June.
Once the plan is approved, the council will enter into a legal partnership with the bus operators, which will allow the government funding to be paid.