Ending the Network Support Grant Plus (NSG+) revenue support mechanism for bus services in Scotland after 9 October will cause “inevitable” timetable cuts and increases to fares, one operator there has said.
NSG+ has supported the recovery of Scotland’s bus network. Upon its cessation, operators will revert to standard NSG payments, which represent a significant reduction from NSG+. The latter stream was first intended to end earlier this year, but it was extended to October in recognition that rebuilding work was still underway.
An end to NSG+ looks certain after operators previously in receipt of NSG+ were notified of new NSG payments for the period that starts on 10 October. When NSG+ was extended to October, the bus industry in Scotland warned that “difficult decisions” would be necessary for services beyond its end date.
Speaking to routeone, the operator concerned says that while it is attempting to minimise changes, “I suspect I will not be the only business looking at cuts and the inevitable rise in fares to try to fill some of the gap in funding.” It is understood that both the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) and large bus companies in Scotland have been lobbying for a further extension to NSG+ to mitigate the short-term risk of service cuts.
The operator has highlighted how the decision not to extend NSG+ sits uneasily with other policies around increasing bus use, including free travel for residents of Scotland that are under 22 years of age and major funding towards priority measures.
Estimates are understood to have suggested that £45m would be required to keep NSG+ in place for the remainder of FY2022/23. The Scottish Government recently withdrew £37m from its concessionary fares budget. Had that money been reallocated to NSG+, “it would have gone a long way to keeping services running until spring,” the operator continues.
A report on the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee meeting of 27 September notes that CPT had written to the Committee and included in its submission an outline of the risks of ending NSG+. Committee member Monica Lennon MSP described the landscape as “pretty bleak.”
At the same meeting, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport Michael Matheson said that exploring additional revenue support for buses forms part of an emergency budget review, and that the Scottish Government was as of that date “looking at whether further provision can be made for bus services through the support grant.” Results of the emergency budget review are expected in week commencing 24 October.
Mr Matheson acknowledged the “challenges” to communities of bus service withdrawals, and the importance of buses in the overall public transport landscape. However, he added that there is a desire at Scottish Government level for “bus services to be sustainable.”
