Bus Services: Blackburn

(asked on 5th July 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the reduction of local bus routes and services on social inclusion for the elderly in Blackburn.


Answered by
Nusrat Ghani Portrait
Nusrat Ghani
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
This question was answered on 10th July 2018

Buses play an essential role in connecting us to friends and family as well as to vital public services. Where there is not enough demand for a bus route to be commercially viable in its own right, all local authorities have powers to subsidise bus services which they consider socially necessary.

I fully appreciate that local authorities are making difficult choices as a result of ongoing financial pressures. Those authorities are best placed to decide how to provide supported bus services - reflecting local needs and within available budgets.

The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools local authorities need to improve local bus services. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.

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