Bus service funding plummets by a third

A row has broken out over funding for bus services in the area with a union claiming it has reduced by almost a third in the last eight years.

Analysis from Trades Union Congress shows that spending on bus services in Greater Manchester has plummeted from £45m in 2010 to £32m last year.

Union chiefs said that this was down to Conservative cuts to local government funding.

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But Tory general election candidate for Leigh, James Grundy, said the system of taxpayers subsidising private firms was broken and that pouring extra money into these services wasn’t the answer.

The TUC said that cash spent on bus services in the North West as a whole has dropped from £92m to £61m over the same time period, yet in the meantime it said bus operators have continued to pay out dividends to shareholders despite the need for efficiency savings.

TUC regional secretary Jay McKenna said: “Local bus services are a vital lifeline for communities across the North West.

“People use them to get to work, see friends and family and take trips to town.

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“But Conservative cuts to local government have led to thousands of bus routes being cancelled or reduced.

“If that wasn’t bad enough, private bus operators have continued to pay out dividends as services have been cut back.

“Working families deserve a bus network fit for the 21st century.

“Not one run on the cheap for the benefit of shareholders.”

But Lowton councillor Grundy said it was clear that the system of vast taxpayer subsidies to the private firms who were running the bus companies in Greater Manchester wasn’t working.

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He said: “A fair amount was simply being added to their profit margins rather than improved services.

“I am surprised that the TUC is asking the taxpayer to stump up extra money to pour into the coffers of private bus companies like this.

“We will always need to subsidise some bus routes and as a public transport user myself, I fully support that, but we need to create a system that works, not simply pour more money into a broken system.”