The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has announced a further £254m in funding for bus services, in return for which bus companies are expected to move towards restoring normal service levels as soon as possible.
Since March, bus operators have been running 50% of their previous services and collecting about 10% of their normal revenue. Buses throughout the country, including Lancaster, have been carrying loadings well down in single figures with many operating completely empty. This has only been made possible by large amounts of public funding, including a special £1-per-kilometre "Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant" of £167m split between bus operators in England, outside London.
Since March, bus operators have been running 50% of their previous services and collecting about 10% of their normal revenue. Buses throughout the country, including Lancaster, have been carrying loadings well down in single figures with many operating completely empty. This has only been made possible by large amounts of public funding, including a special £1-per-kilometre "Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant" of £167m split between bus operators in England, outside London.
That funding runs up until 12th June, but in a letter to operators sent ahead of today's announcement and seen by the Bus Users' Group, the Department for Transport (DfT) asks them to take steps to expand their operations "as quickly as possible".
Operators are being asked to liase with county councils to determine which services should be improved, but the letter is clear in stating that the intention is to help operators retrun to pre-Covid-19 service levels.
One good reason to return to previous service levels is the application of social-distancing rules to buses, which leave them with only a quarter of their usual capacity. As more people begin travelling after lockdown restrictions are eased steps must be taken to minimise the risk of key workers not being able to board a bus. The BUG however feels that, whatever the situiation may be in London or other large cities, Lancaster's buses are a long way from reaching even their newly-restricted capacity.
The DfT letter, however, gives a hint that the government may have another motive for wanting services increased. Most bus companies have taken advantage of the "furlough" scheme, whereby the government pays 80% of the wages of staff unable to work due to the pandemic. This includes bus drivers not needed when only half the normal services are running. But the letter asks operators to take action "as quickly as possible by, for example, withdrawing affected staff from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furloughing) with immediate effect". The BUG wonders whether the Treasury (which pays for furloughing) has won a battle with the DfT (which pays the Bus Service Support Grant) over who will be to blame for "overspending" when this is all over. Ominously, the DfT's letter states that the additional funding will be subject to review between the Treasury and the Department for Transport every four weeks.
Many operators nationwide have announced increases to services from 1st June but we have seen no announcements from local operators yet and a request to Stagecoach for details of any enhancements being planned has not yet been answered.
County Council Plans More Supported Routes
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| Could Sunday buses to Kirkby Lonsdale be set for a come-back? |
In a separate move, Lancashire County Council is understood to have sought tenders for a significant number of additional bus services throughout the county, including a Sunday service between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale.
Earlier this year, the Council received a grant of £750k+ from the government to expand services and, co-incidentally, increased its own bus support budget by a similar amount. The government subsequently asked councils to use the money to keep existing services running during the pandemic, but it appears that the county council has been quietly going about the business of spending its own extra funding.
The BUG responded to a consultation excercise earlier this year on how the money should be spent (although we hadn't been invited to) but despite asking politely, we have been unable to find out any more about which services might be included in the tendering excercise. Although it is our money that is being spent there appears to be nothing on the the procurement section of the county's website either. Nor is it clear when any new services might be started, although it would seem illogical to begin additional services at a time when a reduced service is running on existing routes.
We will let you know when we find out anything more.
