Bus Funding
Debate between Alice Macdonald and Louise Haigh(1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Louise Haigh
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Under the current system, money has been thrown hand over fist at operators, which have cherry-picked the most commercially viable routes, leaving local authorities to step in to subsidise the lifeline routes that people rely on. The benefit of areas being able to move to a franchised system, or indeed to set up their own publicly owned bus company, is that they can cross-subsidise properly across routes, and ensure that public money is spent in the best way and that we design routes and networks that really work for local communities.
Alice Macdonald (Norwich North) (Lab/Co-op)
On Friday I met members of the 17th Norwich scout group as part of UK Parliament Week, and they had lots of questions on transport. They are particular concerned about the reliability and availability of buses. Could the Secretary of State expand on how today’s announcement will support young people and how we can ensure that their voices are heard in this important conversation?
Louise Haigh
It is particularly important that we encourage young people on to buses, so that they can develop better behaviours and carry on using buses throughout their adult lives. I am delighted that we can confirm an additional £1.2 million in revenue funding for Norfolk. That revenue funding will be available to Norfolk to enable it to add additional services and improve the reliability and frequency of its local buses.