Welsh Govt plans to axe ‘essential’ bus service funding would be ‘catastrophic’ says Plaid MS

Welsh Government plans to axe a scheme put in place to fund bus services during the Covid-19 pandemic would be “catastrophic” according to a Plaid Cymru MS.

The funding for bus services was put in place when the pandemic led to passenger numbers plummeting but was recently extended on a temporary basis until June 2023.

Although passenger numbers still haven’t recovered to their pre-Covid levels, the Welsh Government has confirmed its intention to scrap the Bus Emergency Scheme.

Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd, who represents north Wales in the Senedd, took aim at Lee Waters after the Deputy Minister for Climate Change defended the move and warned the cuts will leave the poorest and most vulnerable people isolated.

Ending the scheme would see £2.2m cut from Arriva’s bus services in north Wales and it has been estimated that it will put 330 jobs at risk.

Mr Gruffydd said that pulling this “essential” funding would be “catastrophic” for people in north Wales who rely on bus services.

He also argued that it “doesn’t make sense” to scrap road building projects and cut funding for bus services at the same time.

Plaid Cymru is calling on the Government to extend the emergency scheme for at least 18 months, to provide certainty and give providers the time to plan ahead.

During a debate in the Senedd, Mr Waters defended the decision to axe the scheme, claiming that austerity “has really put the kibosh on the whole thing”.

He also suggested that “the list of challenges is clear” but that “the list of solutions is less clear”.

Disappointed

Speaking after the debate, Llyr Gruffydd MS said: “I am disappointed that the Welsh Government is refusing to reverse its decision to do away with the Bus Emergency Scheme.

“This move is for bad the environment, bad for jobs and disastrous for public transport.

“These catastrophic cuts to bus services will decimate what is, for many people, in North Wales, the only form of public transport they have.

“Three quarters of all public transport journeys in Wales are made by bus, but buses get a fraction of the investment currently earmarked by the Government for rail.

“Cutting that funding further at a time of falling passenger numbers and rising costs will decimate the bus network.

“It will disproportionately disadvantage women, children and young people, the elderly, the disabled, workers on low incomes, and rural communities.

“Cutting subsidy to bus transport in the middle of a full blown cost-of-living crisis is among the most regressive acts this Labour Welsh Government has ever proposed.

“In its roads review, the Welsh Government announced that it was scrapping a number of road building projects, and apparently heralded its commitment to a historic shift in policy and priority from roads to public transport.

“Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for it to cut vital funding for bus services at this time. I urge them to protect the existing bus network while that better, fairer, greener transport network is built.”