Save our buses – Tell George Osborne to save our buses in the spending review !
Save our buses – Tell George Osborne to save our buses in the spending review !
With the recent issues over the 394, a campaign that is being run by the Campaign for better transport, may be of interest.
The campaign is seeking to make people aware of the Government’s forthcoming spending review which is threatening the Bus Service Operators Grant.
The grant is funding that the Government gives to bus companies, to assist them in running services, and the campaign aims to tell the Chancellor that he must protect this vital funding!
From the Campaign for better transports website they advise :
The Chancellor is conducting a review of all government spending and wants to hear from you to help decide what to spend money on! It is down to all of us to tell him how important it is for people that the government continues to support bus services across the country.
Campaign for Better Transport is increasingly concerned that the government’s Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) is severely threatened with being cut entirely in this review, when new spending plans are announced on 25 November 2015.
This will mean a loss of £345 million in funding for services that are already in crisis from cuts in local council funding.
Bus operators rely on BSOG to be able to run their services, and any cut to it would have a devastating effect on buses with the potential of whole networks disappearing leaving many people cut off completely. Not only would this be bad for people, it would also be disastrous for the economy.
With local authorities’ budgets for supporting buses already being drastically squeezed all over the country, a cut to BSOG could be the death knell for local public transport in many areas.
It’s vital that The Chancellor keeps funding for our bus services – pteg research shows that if BSOG is cut it could mean 10% of bus services will be cut and fares increase by 10% overnight.
We have drafted a response to the Chancellor for you to send which makes the case for protecting BSOG. We would however ask that you personalise this and explain why buses are important to you, what the situation is in your area, and why the government must protect this vital mode of public transport from any further cuts.
Please click here to go to the Campaign for Better Transport’s website and fill in your request to the Chancellor
