Josh MacAlister MP and Cumberland’s Labour council have today backed the Labour Government’s transformative plans to deliver better buses across Cumberland by providing £5 million in funding next year.
The investment has been designated to enhance popular routes, protect and create new rural services and increase bus use for shopping, socialising and commuting. It will help prevent service reductions on at-risk routes and improve punctuality, to bring an end to the current postcode lottery of unreliable services.
Totalling £955 million across England, the funding represents a record level of recent investment for bus improvements for the majority of areas, alongside once in a generation reform to deliver London-style bus services to every corner of the country.
Under the Conservatives, bus services in England outside London collapsed, with thousands of bus services cut, and almost 300 million fewer miles driven by buses per year, since 2010. Across Cumbria alone, bus miles declined by 20%.
As part of this investment, the way funding is allocated has been reformed. The reforms will allocate funding based on need and will end the Conservative’s wasteful system of competitive bidding for funding, which wastes resources and delays decisions.
This funding announcement comes alongside the Government’s plans to deliver the biggest overhaul to the country’s bus services in a generation, and call time on four decades of failed deregulation.
The Labour Government is expanding the power to take back control of local bus services to every community, and is speeding up the process of delivering public control of buses by removing barriers to bus franchising and public ownership.
The funding announcement is the latest stop on the Government’s journey to better buses, with a new Buses Bill to be introduced to Parliament in the coming months.
Cllr Denise Rollo, Cabinet Member for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places on Cumberland Council, said:
“I am delighted that the Transport Secretary has confirmed over £5 million of new bus funding across our council area.
“People across Cumberland are tired of unreliable, infrequent bus services holding them back from opportunities after a decade of neglect of our local bus services.
“This new Government has a plan to deliver better buses across the country, and this funding boost is another crucial stop on that journey.”
Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:
“Buses are the lifeblood of communities, but the system is broken. Too often, passengers in West Cumbria are left waiting hours for buses that don’t turn up – and some rural areas have been cut off altogether.
“That’s why the new Government is reforming funding to deliver better buses across the country and end the postcode lottery of bus services. We’re set to feel the benefit of that here in West Cumbria and I’m excited about the changes we can now make with this extra resource.
“By delivering better buses, we’ll ensure people have proper access to jobs and opportunities and can access health services and leisure facilities. I look forward to working with Denise and the council to ensure our area feels the maximum benefit.”
Josh MacAlister MP 