West Lothian Council, which this week agreed subsidies for two doomed local bus services, will write to Scottish Transport Minister Kevin Stewart to ask him to reinstate funding for buses.
The Council Executive agreed the move in a meeting in which it agreed to fund two services affected by cuts due to be made by McGill’s Scotland East.
The Council Executive voted to award a subsidised contract to McGill’s to continue the 21 service between Blackridge and Bathgate via Armadale. It also agreed to part-fund Strathclyde Partnership for Transport to reinstate a service from Whitburn-Shotts, which would serve otherwise cut-off residents in Greenrigg.
McGill’s Scotland East recently confirmed changes to timetables set to come into effect on 8 May on commercially unviable services. The company had warned of cuts necessary across its Scotland operations following the ending of Network Support Grant Plus (NSG+) funding on 31 March.
The council also said it would look into the possibility of using of developer funding to re-establish any lost connection from Winchburgh to areas such as Livingston. A tender exercise is under way following’s McGill’s announcement it would replace its 600 service with one which excludes Winchburgh.
West Lothian Chief Executive Graham Hope will write to Mr Stewart to urge him to bring back NSG+, which the government in Holyrood set up to support operators in the light of patronage loss suffered during the pandemic.
Executive councillor for the environment and sustainability Tom Conn says: “The situation is very difficult for everyone, and this is not an issue that is limited to West Lothian. McGill’s network changes are in direct response to the ongoing challenges being experienced across Scotland’s commercial bus industry.
“I am pleased that our team are looking at finding a solution within existing financial resources to address the issues being felt by residents in the Greenrigg and Blackridge areas. The council’s strategy is to prioritise the limited funding that we do have for people that would otherwise have no travel choices.
“The council will also work to ensure that new contracts are progressed to ensure that the subsides public funding is amended to reflect the new commercial routes effectively.
“We will do what we can to alter our subsidised routes to better meet the revisions within the commercial routes, but that cannot not solve all the issues. McGill’s changes come at a time when the council is facing significant financial pressures due to a budget gap of over £39 million over the next five years. It would be unrealistic to suggest that the council could use public money to fund direct replacements for the cancelled commercial services.”
He adds: “It is clear that commercial operators simply cannot make some of their routes financially viable with current patronage numbers as they are.”
