The £270 million government investment into bus services in the North of England announced today is part of the £955 million England-wide funding for FY 25/26 which was disclosed on 28 October, the Department for Transport has clarified.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer today publicised a package of £1.7 billion for funding of road, rail and bus in the North.
While bus is allocated around 15% of that figure, £415 million will go to improving rail services and £330 million will be put into road maintenance.
However, the £270 million for bus quoted today is not new funding. As previously reported, the overall £955 million for the whole of England includes £670 million to be issued to local transport authorities for Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) and £212 million paid to bus operators in the form of Bus Services Operators Grant. The BSIP money was allocated after calculating a combination of population, mileage and deprivation for each area.
Mr Starmer, in promoting the investment package on a visit to a factory in the North of England today, says: “The North is home to a wealth of talent and ingenuity. But for too long, it has been held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system which has stifled its potential.
“I lived in Leeds for years, I get that this has real-world impacts – missed appointments, children late to school, work meetings rescheduled – all leading to insecurity and instability for working people.
“My government won’t stand by and watch. We are rolling up our sleeves, and today’s downpayment for growth is a vote of confidence in the North’s world-beating industries. The film studios in Bradford, life sciences in Liverpool, the fintech industry in Leeds – it is time they had a government on their side to get the North motoring again.
“After years of false promises and under delivery, this government is delivering real change for the North. We are spending double as much on local transport in the North than the South, all done hand-in-hand with our mayors and local leaders.
“Through our Plan for Change, we are upgrading transport in the North, we are correcting years of unfairness that has gone before, and we are better linking our historic towns and cities. That means boosting living standards, putting more money in the pockets of working people, and restoring pride to communities.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander adds: “For too long, the North has been left behind and relied on a crumbling transport system that’s not fit to serve the great towns and cities it’s home to.
“The Government’s Plan for Change will end that and schemes like the TransPennine Route Upgrade will bolster the region’s neglected potential and make travelling between these historic Northern towns and cities quicker, easier and greener.”
