PM urged to look at fairer funding for rural public transport in Shropshire

Shropshire Council is calling for fairer funding to support vital transport services.

The local authority has written to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging better investment in rural public transport following a recent review of 21 bus services across the county.

To maintain those services in their existing form would have required the council to find an extra  £1.25 million of funding a year.

Services that will be withdrawn include the Meole Brace Park & Ride in Shrewsbury.

Earlier this year, Mr Burnham visited the town to hear about the success of the night bus initiative.

The former Mayor of Greater Manchester told the the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he hoped the scheme would be made permanent.

“It takes some doing to bring everybody together and bring a big change through – it’s a hallmark of a truly effective MP,” said Mr Burnham.

Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox with the Shropshire Star’s free newsletter

“We’ve got to make the argument for that investment in buses. It’s not right that you finish your shift at 1am and then you have to lose two hours of your wages because you’ve got to get an Uber because there’s no other alternative.”

In their letter to Mr Burnham, Shropshire Council leader, Heather Kidd, and Rob Wilson, the portfolio holder for transport and regeneration, said that, while the ambition, strategy, and local commitment is there, what is increasingly absent is the revenue funding needed to turn that ambition into reality.

“Without a fairer approach to rural funding, councils such as Shropshire will increasingly be forced into choosing between protecting existing lifeline services and investing in the improvements that Government rightly wants to see delivered,” said Councillors Kidd and Wilson.

“This is not a sustainable position for communities, businesses or local economies.

“Whilst we recognise that Combined Mayoral Authorities are the preferred channel for increased funding, it remains that our geography makes this challenging, as highlighted by the initial work on Spatial Development Strategies.

“We therefore urge your Government to review the distribution of local bus revenue support to ensure that rural counties are treated fairly and that funding formulae properly recognise the additional costs of serving dispersed populations.

“If rural authorities are to deliver on the national objectives of economic growth, social mobility, environmental sustainability and integrated transport, they must be provided with the resources necessary to do so.

“Shropshire stands ready to work constructively with your Government to deliver better outcomes for residents. We simply ask for the funding framework that allows us to match our ambition with delivery.”