The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will receive approximately £655m less than it requested from the Government's scheme to improve bus services.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced yesterday (April 4) that it has allocated approximately £1.2bn to 31 areas across England in an attempt to "level up" bus services and deliver on their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP). The areas have been selected because of their “ambition to repeat the success achieved in London”, the DfT says.
In its plans, published last year, the Liverpool City Region sought £667.4m investment from the Government to improve affordability and reliability on its bus network. The city region's plan involved widespread reform, cheaper fares, more green bus routes and an enhanced network with new routes and the integration of Halton.
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Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram has made clear his ambition to bring the region's bus services into public control and the LCR's bid asked for flexible funding to support set up costs for the region’s preferred option of Franchising or Enhanced Partnership. This is a key tenet of Mayor Rotheram 's vision for an interconnected, London-style public transport system in the region.
However, £12.3m was allocated to Liverpool City Region in yesterday's announcement - £655.1m less than the bid asked for.
Announcing the package yesterday, 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.”
Liverpool City Region is among the places to have received considerably less money than they bid for, while a number of areas, including Cheshire West and Chester, were unsuccessful in their bids. The Government said that unsuccessful bids had not shown "sufficient ambition".
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said: “The initial offer on the table from the Department of Transport is very disappointing for us. We were tasked by the government to submit an ambitious bid to transform our region’s bus network. We more than rose to that challenge, drawing up plans that would help make our buses more affordable, more frequent and more reliable.
“We are still in negotiations with government officials to convince them to provide the appropriate support that we need to deliver on their own stated ambitions to ‘level up’ the country. While we have won the argument for London-style transport systems, we are still fighting to win London-style funding to make our plan a reality.”
Reacting to the announcement, Labour ’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, said: “The Tories have admitted vast swathes of the country won’t see a single penny to improve their shockingly bad bus services. The Conservatives have slashed the funding promised, and dramatically downgraded the ambitions of many local communities. Far from bus transformation, many will continue to see managed decline.”
Additionally, Weaver Vale's Labour MP Mike Amesbury responded to the news saying: "On the very same day that the X1 bus service that gets my constituents from Runcorn to Liverpool for work, education and leisure has ceased." MP Travel, which ran and cancelled the service, cited a driver shortage, fuel costs and low passenger numbers when it announced its intention to pull the X1 in early March.
Though Liverpool City Region Combined Authority received considerably less funding for its bus plans than hoped, it was successful in its bid for £710m for major transport infrastructure projects last year. The funding was initially announced as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's October 2021 budget, but Mayor Rotheram received confirmation of the funding on Friday (April 1).
He said that it would be injected straight into the region's transport network but reiterated his wish for the Government to: "Put its money where its mouth is when it comes to Bus Service Improvement Plan allocations."
The DfT declined to comment on the city region's allocation.
