Bus Funding
Polly Billington Excerpts(1 day, 23 hours ago)
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Louise Haigh
Colleges and large employers that use shift workers are two of the institutions that often raise with me their frustration about local bus services. The problem with the current system is that nobody has the ability to require operators to run services according to timetables or shift timings. The move to franchising will allow local areas to design such services and ensure that buses run when shifts finish or colleges open or close. The new funding formula model will ensure that rural areas get the funding they deserve.
Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I welcome the £124 million settlement for the south-east and the £23 million settlement for Kent, which represents the biggest proportion of any allocation in the south-east. It is striking that in the past 14 years there have been 20% fewer bus miles in Kent because of the last Tory Government. Will she join me in challenging Tory-run Kent county council to use this money and the powers offered to it by this Labour Government to make better buses services for places such as East Thanet?
Louise Haigh
My hon. Friend is a true champion for the people of Kent, and this is a record investment in them and their bus services. The area was badly underfunded by the previous Government and Kent lost out repeatedly in the bus service improvement process. The funding will help to deliver better bus services, but if Kent county council chooses to avail itself of the powers that will come its way as a result of next month’s better buses Bill, then that will be the moment when it can deliver a public transport network and better bus services that serve all Kent constituents.
Bus Franchising
Polly Billington Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)
As has been said, the past 14 years of Conservative Government have left local bus services, especially those in coastal communities, in a shocking state. In East Thanet, the 33, 34, 9 and 8A bus services have all been drastically cut, meaning that in certain areas of Broadstairs and Ramsgate there is no bus service at all within easy reach, and no one in either town has access to a bus to Canterbury outside commuter times. Conservative-run Kent county council must take up the powers that are being offered by this Government to serve disadvantaged communities such as that in East Thanet.
Simon Lightwood
Buses matter to millions of people, but 14 years of the Tories’ broken bus system have led to countless communities being failed and a spiral of decline in bus services. I hope all local transport authorities consider the range of options available to them to take back control of their buses and shape services for the communities that they serve.