Terry Jermy MP has today backed the Labour Government’s transformative plans to deliver better buses across England by investing nearly a billion pounds, including £16m in funding in Norfolk County Council in additional funding. This makes it the fourth largest investment for the package in England.
Jeremy MP, said, “This is what a Labour government does, it invests in people’s communities, ensuring that there is better access to services, jobs and opportunities for the people of South West Norfolk. This is the fourth highest investment across any area of England and is welcome news after 14 years of Tory neglect.”
The investment has been designated to enhance popular routes, protect 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’s regions outside London collapsed, with thousands of bus services cut, and almost 300 million fewer miles driven by buses per year, since 2010.
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.
Terry Jeremy, Member of Parliament spoke of his delight for this key investment. “The Transport Secretary has confirmed a billion for buses across England which is fantastic for every generation of my constituents. People across South West Norfolk 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.”
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said, “Buses are the lifeblood of communities, but the system is broken. Too often, passengers are left waiting hours for buses that don’t turn up – and some have been cut off altogether.
“That’s why we’re reforming funding to deliver better buses across the country and end the postcode lottery of bus services.
“And it’s why we’re providing over £1bn of funding to keep fares down, protect local routes and deliver more reliable services.
“This is part of our wider plan to put passengers first and give every community the power to take back control of their bus services through franchising or public ownership.
“By delivering better buses, we’ll ensure people have proper access to jobs and opportunities – powering economic growth in every corner of the country.”
