The Bus Emergency Scheme (BES) revenue support mechanism in Wales has been granted an “initial extension” of three months beyond its planned end date. It will now run to around the end of June after discussions that included the Welsh Government and operators and their representatives. Terms and conditions will remain as now.
Announcement of the extension came as suggested on Friday 10 February. It notes that BES was scheduled to cease at the end of March, although initial word of its extension into 2023 – made by the Welsh Government in June 2022 – stated that BES would run until the end of the current financial year, which is 5 April.
In the brief statement on the further extension that is credited to all parties involved, including the Welsh Government, trade bodies the Coach and Bus Association Cymru and the Confederation of Passenger Transport along with the Welsh Local Government Association, it is underlined that a need exists for the bus industry in Wales “to start to transition away from emergency style funding.”
That follows Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters’ words to the Senedd two days earlier on 8 February. Mr Waters said that the Welsh Government’s financial position is “very, very, very challenging,” adding that revenue support for the bus industry must end “sooner rather than later.”
An earlier suggestion that no further funding would be forthcoming had generated an angry response from members of the bus industry in Wales. It is understood that in December 2022, the Welsh Government was advised by the sector that a ‘hard’ end to support at or around the end of the current financial year would lead to significant service cuts.
In his words to the Senedd on 8 February, Mr Waters said that the Bus Emergency Scheme is “ossifying” the bus network in Wales. He claims that the industry there agrees that a new look at, and rationalisation of, provision is required.
Mr Waters adds that the Welsh Government has acted “far more generously” in supporting bus services in the country than has been the case in England. He says that ministers in Wales have spent £150 million since March 2020 in “saving the bus industry.”
Bus Recovery Grant in England is set to end on 31 March, with talks still ongoing around securing support beyond that point. Uncertainty in both England and Wales led the Traffic Commissioners (TCs) on 9 February to indicate that they will accept the position as a justifiable reason for operators in those countries to submit short-notice service registration changes. That dispensation reduces the notice period to 28 days
Although the TCs said at the same time that they would review that position after any decisions on further support were made, the latest statement from the Welsh Government and others notes that what is termed a “deregistration window” of 28 days “means that there is no need for operators to make decisions on their future network in the very immediate future.”
In conclusion, the stakeholders represented by the joint statement on the Bus Emergency Scheme say that they “will continue to work closely together and with other partners – including Transport for Wales – to build a strong and sustainable bus network for Wales.”
