Slough Borough Council: Organisations step in to save bus services

Slough is one of three English councils which has been given permission to increase council tax above the 4.99% cap

Organisations have stepped in to save most of a town's bus services after a cash-strapped council withdrew funding.

Heathrow Airport, Buckinghamshire Council and operators First and Thames Valley Buses have put forward funds which will allow buses in Slough to continue to run.

Slough Borough Council had withdrawn its funding for the services to help achieve a £22.4m savings target.

The authority effectively declared bankruptcy in 2021.

Routes 4, 5, 6, 63 and 68 were set to be affected by the lack of funding, but most of the existing level of service will be retained from 2 April.

There will be routing and timetable changes to routes 2, 4, 5 and 6, as well as timetable changes on Sundays to routes 3 and X74, and an increase in the frequency of route 7 from Mondays to Fridays.

A small number of bus stops will also no longer be served and fewer buses will run on some routes, but there will be alternative stops a short distance away, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Most of the existing level of Slough's bus service will be retained

Further details are yet to be revealed.

Slough Borough Council will only continue to support route 12, which is funded by a government grant until March 2024.

A decision on the future of the route is expected to be made next year.

Mohammed Nazir, cabinet member for transport in Slough, said the council managed to ensure most existing bus services would be retained or improved, despite the authority's need to save money.

"In the small number of locations where buses will no longer run there are alternatives nearby," he added.

Commissioners were appointed by the government in 2021 to oversee the recovery of Slough Borough Council after the authority racked up a £760m borrowing debt and a £357m deficit.