Arriva accused of holding councils to 'ransom' over bus cuts

Arriva North East says it cannot afford to run every service under the funding reduction for concessionary bus fares

A bus operator that is set to axe multiple services has been accused of holding councils to "ransom".

Arriva North East plans to make cuts and changes to 25 services in County Durham and Darlington from 9 July.

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said the firm had been offered "many millions of pounds" through subsidies.

However, the operator said proposed funding would not cover the continuing cost of running many services.

It has blamed a 28% cut in funding to the English National Concessionary Fares Scheme (ENCTS), which provides revenue reimbursement to cover free bus travel to ensure operators are not financially worse off.

But the Conservative mayor Mr Houchen claimed other bus operators had accepted the funding changes.

"We supported Arriva through Covid, we continued to subsidise their services," he said. "It's very sad to see Arriva haven't repaid that partnership working, it's just all take take.

"I believe they are trying to hold the combined authority and all five local authorities to ransom because they want more money. 

"They either accept the offer that's on the table or services will go, or we give them more council tax and they protect the services."

He added councils remained "hard-pushed" and services were "stretched", and authorities had worked "extremely hard to come to a resolution".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said residents had called for the firm to be stripped of its services, but Mr Houchen said councils had limited power.

Arriva said it had not accepted the offer as the proposed settlement did not meet "statutory requirements for reimbursement".

A spokesperson said it "appreciated the financial constraints" authorities were working under amid the cost-of-living crisis, but it could not afford to run every service.

"We know how important our bus network is to our customers and we would like to apologise for any disruption these alterations will cause," they added.