Darren Paffey MP has today backed the Labour Government’s transformative plans to deliver better buses across Southampton by providing £4.6 Million in funding for Southampton’s Transport Authority.

The investment has been designated to enhance popular routes, protect rural services and increase bus use for shopping, socialising and commuting. It will help prevent service reductions on at-risk routes and improve punctuality, to bring an end to the current postcode lottery of unreliable services.

Totalling £955 million across England, the funding represents a record level of recent investment for bus improvements for the majority of areas, alongside once-in-a generation reform to deliver London-style bus services to every corner of the country.

Under the Conservatives, bus services in England’s regions outside London collapsed, with thousands of bus services cut, and almost 300 million fewer miles driven by buses per year, since 2010. Across the South East, alone, bus miles declined by 12%.

As part of this investment, the way funding is allocated has been reformed. The reforms will allocate funding based on need and will end the Conservative’s wasteful system of competitive bidding for funding, which wastes resources and delays decisions.

This funding announcement comes alongside the Government’s plans to deliver the biggest overhaul to the country’s bus services in a generation, and call time on four
decades of failed deregulation.

The Labour Government is expanding the power to take back control of local bus services to every community, and is speeding up the process of delivering public control of buses
by removing barriers to bus franchising and public ownership.

The funding announcement is the latest stop on the Government’s journey to better buses, with a new Buses Bill to be introduced to Parliament in the coming months.

Commenting on the announcement, Darren Paffey MP said:

“I am delighted that the Transport Secretary has confirmed £4.6 Million of new bus funding across my constituency.

“People across Southampton are tired of unreliable, infrequent bus services holding them back from opportunities after a decade of neglect of our local bus services.

“Which is why I have made ‘better buses’ a key campaign as the MP for Southampton Itchen.

“This new Government has a plan to deliver better buses across the country, and this funding boost is another crucial stop on that journey.

“I encourage everyone to sign my petition for better buses and let me know what bus routes they want to see improved in Southampton”

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said:

“Buses are the lifeblood of communities, but the system is broken. Too often, passengers are left waiting hours for buses that don’t turn up – and some have been cut off altogether.

“That’s why we’re reforming funding to deliver better buses across the country and end the postcode lottery of bus services.

“And it’s why we’re providing over £1bn of funding to keep fares down, protect local routes and deliver more reliable services.

“This is part of our wider plan to put passengers first and give every community the power to take back control of their bus services through franchising or public ownership.

“By delivering better buses, we’ll ensure people have proper access to jobs and opportunities – powering economic growth in every corner of the country.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors
• The Government has announced £1 billion of funding for bus services across England:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/1-billion-government-funding-boost-for-busservices-across-england-to-help-end-postcode-lottery
• Bus franchising is a system where operators bid for contracts to deliver services
planned by the local authority, instead of deciding for themselves where services go
and how they are run.
• Where bus franchising is in place, in London and Manchester, buses have thrived.
• More bus journeys are now taken in London than in the rest of the country combined:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march2023/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2023#passenger-journeys
• In Greater Manchester bus franchising has improved reliability and significantly
grown passenger numbers less than a year after bus franchising went live:
https://www.route-one.net/bus/focus-on-transparency-and-community-benefits-forgm-franchisingefforts/#:~:text=TfGM%20adds%20that%20patronage%20on,passengers%20being%
20carried%20each%20weekday