One in four bus services in towns and cities face closure if specialist funding is withdrawn in Rachel Reeves’s Budget as feared.
The Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), introduced in 2022, is understood to be in the Chancellor’s sights as she seeks savings to fill a claimed £22bn “black hole” in public finances.
Launched under Boris Johnson’s “bus back better” plan to encourage people back onto public transport after Covid, the BSIP has become integral to the survival of many services, according to the Urban Transport Group, which campaigns on behalf of transport authorities in England.
Steve Warrener, the chairman, urged Ms Reeves to extend the BSIP, which is scheduled to expire in April, until a long-term plan to safeguard services can be developed as part of the Government’s spending review.
BSIP will provide £1.08bn of funding by the time it expires and the money is particularly vital in supporting early morning and late night services, which play a crucial role in helping city dwellers get to work but wouldn’t otherwise be viable without support.
Sunday buses would also face cutbacks, while almost two thirds of “socially necessary” routes that are fully funded by local authorities through BSIP grants could also cease, Urban Transport warned. These are routes that would not be commercially viable without support.
Mr Warrener said: “There is an imperative for the Chancellor to confirm core funding for the bus. Without it, the opportunity for our city regions to deliver economic growth and support the Government’s wider missions could be undermined.
“This Budget gives the Treasury a chance to demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding vital public transport services.”
A source with knowledge of the situation said there was growing concern among councils that Ms Reeves will scrap BSIP funding, together with the Bus Service Operators Grant, which allows local bus operators to claw back up to 80pc of the fuel duty they pay.
The Chancellor is also expected to announce that a £2 cap on bus fares across England will be phased out or eliminated when a current extension expires in December.
The South Yorkshire mayoral combined authority, which brings together Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley, is among the areas most reliant on BSIP funding. Bus services in the area benefitted from £7.8m this financial year on top of the £24m contributed directly by the combined authority, meaning roughly 25pc of total funding came from BSIP.
Urban Transport has warned that as many as one in four services could be at risk in areas such as South Yorkshire that are so dependent on BSIP. Across all the local areas that have received support from the scheme, one in ten services are at risk on average, the group said.
In an update on the funding in June, the authority warned that without it, “services may have to be withdrawn, depriving communities of public transport options and increasing transport-related social exclusion”.
BSIP funding has been awarded in three rounds, with 34 of the 79 authorities that submitted bids being granted money, according to Urban Transport.
Facing a risk that it would not receive BSIP funding last year, Oliver Copeland, South Yorkshire’s Labour Mayor, said the authority had “50 days to save our buses”.
The biggest recipients of BSIP have been the North East and North of Tyne combined authorities, which were jointly awarded £163m, and the West of England Combined Authority together with North Somerset council, which were handed £105m.
Greater Manchester, which owns and runs its buses and depots through the Bee Network, came next, while among individual towns and cities, Brighton, Portsmouth, Reading and Stoke have all received more than £25m.
The Treasury was contacted for comment.
