Government’s ‘reckless’ spending cut on public transport could make South Yorkshire’s bus services ‘fall off a cliff edge’

In a statement from Mayor Dan Jarvis, co-signed by the four council leaders in the county, they say ministers have added ‘fuel to the fire by reneging on a promise’ to invest £3bn in improving services, diverting much of it to pay for emergency Covid support.

They said failure to provide support will cause South Yorkshire’s bus services ‘to fall off a cliff edge’ in a few weeks’ time.

The leaders said the decision will ‘call into question the worth’ of newly negotiated Enhanced Partnership and ‘reinforce the case’ for examining franchising as an alternative.

The Department for Transport and the Treasury have been contacted for comment.

Leaders are also calling for central government to ‘fully fund’ proposals in the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Bus Service Improvement Plan.

They say operators ‘need to look beyond their most immediate bottom line’ and to help SYMCA ‘deliver a fare cap, free travel for under 18s, and millions of pounds of investment in new green buses and route improvements’.

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The statement to government was signed by South Yorkshire mayor Dan Jarvis, Doncaster Council mayor Ros Jones, Sheffield Council leader Terry Fox, Barnsley Council leader Sir Steve Houghton and Rotherham Council leader Chris Read.

They said: “We are deeply concerned that the government’s failure to extend financial support for local public transport will very soon lead to devastating consequences for South Yorkshire’s bus system, sentencing passengers to fare rises and service cuts.

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“This directly undermines the transformational change government and operators say they want – hamstringing efforts to get people back on the buses and instead recklessly locking in the damage Covid has done. Rather than levelling up places like South Yorkshire, they are letting us down.

“The government made the ‘central aim’ of their National Bus Strategy ‘to get overall patronage back to its pre-Covid level, and then to exceed it.’ In practice, they are recklessly pulling the rug from under the recovery, and with it the contribution buses could make to supporting our economies, cutting carbon emissions and promoting inclusion.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “These claims are demonstrably false, given this Government will have invested more than £3bn into bus services by 2025, with £570 million going specifically to South Yorkshire to transform local networks.

“It is for local authorities to decide how they spend this money, and we’re supporting them as we build back from the pandemic.”