Staffordshire: Funding to 'prop up' threatened bus services

The council said its one-off support payment would potentially be worth more than £900,000

Bus services could be axed in Staffordshire unless more people use them, says the council confirming a support package of almost £1m.

According to the authority, many commercial services have been running at a loss for some time and are under threat.

It says its one-off payment is to support "vulnerable" routes while operators try to rebuild local support.

The sum covers the next 12 months.

"Around 95% of bus services in Staffordshire are entirely commercial and many of these have been running at a loss for some time," said David Williams, the county council cabinet member for highways and transport.

"This one-off intervention is intended to tide operators over the difficult times while they attract passengers back and to also ensure people can still get to work, school, or college especially when the cost of living is so high."

The funding will potentially be worth more than £900,000, on top of £8m the authority says it spends each year in the sector. The government is also subsiding operators around the country until March 2023.

"The reality is that if people do not start using the services again, when this support ends they will be much reduced, or simply stop running," Mr Williams said.

The services so far "propped up" by the funding run across the county and include cross-border routes into Derbyshire.

Previously, routes under threat have been saved by using money from housing developers to improve community facilities and by moving about 2,000 pupils entitled to home-to-school transport from bespoke buses to public services, the authority said.