CCN Response: Allocation of funding for Local Bus Services

Yesterday, the government announced £1 billion government funding for bus services across England. This includes a new approach to allocating £670m of funding to support Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) in England.

Responding to the announcement, the County Councils Network (CCN) welcomed the additional funding, and in particular the new way to allocating resources between urban and rural areas.

Cllr Peter Thornton, CCN Spokesperson for Transport and Infrastructure said:

“The County Councils Network (CCN) have long argued that there needs to be a fairer approach to allocating long-term investment in local bus services, moving away from a prioritisation of urban areas. Under the previous government, CCN analysis showed that county and rural unitary authorities received just 33% of the funding allocated through the first rounds of Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) funding, despite these areas witnessing the largest reduction in bus services over the past decade.

“We are therefore pleased that the government have listened to our calls, moving away from competitive bidding process and distributing funding based on need. As a result, county and rural unitary authorities, alongside combined authorities in these areas, will receive 55% (£372m) of the new funding allocated for 2025/26. This is a significant improvement on previous rounds of BSIP funding and will help councils support local bus services in their areas.

“CCN now look forward to engaging with the details of the new Buses Bill, including plans to make it easier for county authorities to adopt the franchising model and ending the ban on local authority-run bus companies. However, our research has shown that these models are not a panacea to reviving bus services in county areas. Franchising is complex, and the nature of county bus services with the networks and number of buses operating at a relatively small scale may not always be conducive to introducing it.”

Notes to editor

• The County Councils Network (CCN) is the national voice for England’s county councils. It represents 23 county councils and 13 county unitary authorities. Collectively, they represent 25 million people, or 47% of the country’s population. For more information click here.
• The previous research mentioned in this press release was published in 2023 by CCN and SYSTRA. The report can be downloaded here.