Government bus service funding for FY2024-25 in Scotland and Wales has broadly been protected by those nations’ respective devolved administrations in their draft budgets, both of which were published on 19 December.
In Wales, the 2024-25 allocation is £123.3 million. In Scotland, it is £429.7 million. Both totals capture support for services and concessionary reimbursement, and in Scotland a recurring small amount for a smartcard programme is also included.
Expenditure lines published alongside the draft Welsh budget show that 2023-24’s separate allocations of bus support, concessionary reimbursement, and the youth discounted travel scheme, will come together under a common bus support heading in 2024-25.
While the 2024-25 draft allocation under that revision represents around a 0.1% fall in bus service support in Wales, it comes against a drop of circa 4% in the overall climate change budget, within which bus services sit.
Such a position has thus been seen as a positive outcome, particularly in light of comments by made Finance Minister Rebecca Evans. She says that the Welsh Government made some “difficult” decisions to “radically redesign our spending plans to focus on the services which matter most to the people of Wales.” Some choices were “painful,” she adds.
It is understood that bringing three previous budget lines under a common bus support heading for 2024-25 has no motive other than presentation, and that nothing should be read into the amalgamation.
£429.7 million of central bus service funding in Scotland during 2024-25 is £4 million up on 2023-24. However, there are changes to specific allocations; while the concessionary fares total will rise by £11.1 million to £370.4 million, the sum for supporting services will fall by £7 million to £55.5 million. £3.9 million for the smartcard programme stays constant.
The overall transport, net-zero and just transition budget in Scotland will increase in 2024-25, although the allocation to rail sees a drop. There is a rise of over 25% in trunk road spending; most other segments see a fall.
Bus services in Wales faced a torrid time in 2023, with various threats of reductions relating to recovery funding, some of which came to pass. The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) Cymru has thus welcomed the Welsh Government’s decision to broadly maintain revenue funding for the sector in 2024-25.
CPT Cymru Director Aaron Hill says the settlement provides “much-needed certainty for bus services in Wales.” He adds that while recent months have seen strong patronage growth, had funding not been maintained then “many services would have ceased from April 2024,” after the end of the current Bus Transition Fund round.
Continues Mr Hill: “It will be challenging to protect all services in the context of increasing costs, but operators will now work closely with local authorities and the Welsh Government to safeguard the best possible network for passengers.”
