Lib Dems victory as Tories U-turn on bus cuts - but fears for the future (Grantham and Stamford Liberal Democrats)

Grantham and Stamford Liberal Democrats <info@granthamstamfordlibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems victory as Tories U-turn on bus cuts - but fears for the future

January 20, 2012 11:22 AM
Originally published by Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats are celebrating victory after the Tories staged a dramatic U-turn over their decision to axe 100 per cent of subsidised bus services across the county.

Lib Dems, who had fought a sustained campaign against the cuts for a year, have welcomed the move to invest £1.5 million - just over half the bus subsidies cash - into bus transport.

But they have expressed their concerns about the alternative transport project which they fear could still lead to services being lost in the future.

The money will be handed over the next three years to provide subsidised buses under a six month franchise scheme with operators through a project called Cambridgeshire Future Transport

Liberal Democrats fear, however, that when the initial funding support ends Cambridgeshire Tories will withdraw the money leaving operators with services which might be lost because they are unprofitable.

They have called for a commitment to continue the financial support, if it is needed, to ensure services survive.

The Cambridgeshire Future Transport project has already suffered its first failure after a £120,000 pilot service in Duxford, launched before Christmas, was boycotted by residents in protest at losing their subsidised buses.

Susan van de Ven, Lib Dem County Council Shadow Cabinet Member for Transport said:

"This partial u-turn is a big victory for the Lib Dems and good news for local bus users. The Tories have finally relented and accepted the principle that you cannot provide socially necessary rural transport for nothing.

"Abating 50 per cent of the cuts is a big improvement on the 100 per cent cut that was planned which was the worst in the country.

"This will allow some of the bus services the Tories still intend to cut to be replaced with some form of alternative; it is just a shame they didn't listen to the public's concern and reinstate more of the funding.

"But we are extremely concerned that Cambridgeshire Future Transport is not the best way to deliver these services; in one year it has delivered almost nothing.

"Money spent on the failed pilot in Duxford could have paid for three new mini buses for Cambridge Dial-a-Ride or other community transport providers. And we want guarantees that the Tories will not pull the plug on funding after the initial period of support leaving services in danger of collapse.

"Tories are walking a tight-rope in terms of the council's legal position. They are willing to cut 100 per cent of bus subsidies after barely evading a judicial review. Their 'ingenious' new idea is no more than the Emperor's New Clothes. Cambridgeshire cannot afford to play games with lifeline transport and scarce public money."

A recent consultation by Cambridgeshire County Council on bus subsidies showed that 37 per cent of residents have no other means of transport and only three per cent of residents supported bus service cuts.