Bus services in West Yorkshire a potted history of events.
In March 2021, the government published a new National Bus Strategy which sets out their vision to dramatically improve bus services in England, reversing the shift in journeys away from public transport as a result from Covid-19 and encourage passengers back to bus.
To help achieve this strategy, West Yorkshire Combined Authority have worked closely with bus operators to develop a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). Our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) provides the opportunity to transform the local bus service for the people of West Yorkshire.
The Government has allocated £3 billion towards improving bus services throughout England. To deliver on the ambition of our BSIP and level up our local bus system, we need to secure a proportion of the £3 billion made available from The Government in their National Bus Strategy.
Cue a report from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA).
One of the leading causes of worklessness, is the inability to get to work by bus, train or car. For those people who rely on these services, they are an employment lifeline and the Mayor agrees.
The combined Authorities view, “Buses are vital to West Yorkshire, its people, its businesses and its economy. Each week people in West Yorkshire make over 3.5 million journeys on local bus services, making them the most highly used form of public transport. Those journeys link them to jobs, education, training, shopping and vital health services. Buses also provide essential connections with friends and family, for days and evenings out.
If we are going to achieve the ambitious levels of inclusive economic growth we have set for West Yorkshire and the City Region, an improved bus system is vital.”
The Corporate Scrutiny Committee met on Friday, November 17th to look at spending across the whole of West Yorkshire. It’s a topic that’s close to my heart, given recent cuts services, and resident complaints.
I asked for the thinking behind the following decision, reported to the Corporate Scrutiny team:
“Could you explain the rationale behind the recent refunds to councils of the unspent transport levy, given that the Mayor has pledged to improve bus services? These services underpin West Yorkshire’s businesses and economy. There have been cuts to bus services and many residents have raised this as a cause for concern, surely business and the economy must take priority.”
The answer, “This is a one-off opportunity arising from a unique set of circumstances that enables the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to support the local authorities in a timely way as they progress their medium-term financial strategies. Provisions within the Transport Act 1968 provide for the refund of transport levy reserves to the constituent authorities.” This is the answer given in the report, no additional detail was provided.
I was questioning the pros and cons considered that underpin the decision. This is to ensure transparency and accountability of the decision-making process and its conclusion.
The meeting webcast is here: https://westyorks-ca.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/828752
Here are the extracts from the public report.
2.25 The Combined Authority has the legal powers to set a transport levy to meet its transport costs, with the costs of the levy being funded by each constituent local authority based on population. The transport levy has been at £97.9m for a number of years.
2.26 The West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund (WY+TF) was established as part of the City Deal forerunner to the Mayoral Combined Authority and required a £230 million local contribution to match Government’s £770 million. An annual contribution of £5.6 million is being transferred from the annual levy into this reserve each year to create a revenue sum that can meet the borrowing costs that are required to support the capital sum required of £230 million. The reserve was established to enable effective management of the borrowing costs of the WY+TF and to avoid the need for sudden increases and fluctuations in levy funding.
2.27 The predecessor organisation to the Combined Authority, the Passenger Transport Authority (PTA), agreed that the creation of this reserve would be the means by which the PTA and now the Combined Authority would manage the timing issues of delivery of the WY+TF and the funding available. The intent was to deliver at pace and potentially ahead of the pace of government funding. In reality competing priorities, and the need to meet other funding deadlines, has meant the expenditure against profile is lower than originally envisaged. The earmarked reserve created has reached a higher level than anticipated, as current programme delivery costs have until now been met by the annual government funding of £30 million per annum, and no drawdown has been required.
2.29 A reforecast profile of expected capital spend on the WY+TF and the resultant drawdown of the reserve required to support borrowing costs from 2024/25 onwards highlights that the current reserve could be rebased, with the continuing contributions in future years providing sufficient funding to meet expected borrowing costs in the short to medium term.
2.31 Recognising the critical funding pressures facing the five West Yorkshire local authorities, the Combined Authority approved the repayment of the £51.148 million to them as unspent transport levy. This is a one-off opportunity arising from a unique set of circumstances that enables the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to support the local authorities in a timely way as they progress their medium term financial strategies. Provisions within the Transport Act 1968 provide for the refund of transport levy reserves to the constituent authorities.
2.32 Refunds of transport levy have now been made as follows:
Council name | Population | Levy refund |
---|---|---|
Bradford | 546,400 | £11,884,363 |
Calderdale | 206,000 | £4,493,611 |
Kirklees | 433,300 | £9,424,404 |
Leeds | 812,000 | £17,661,242 |
Wakefield | 353,300 | £7,684,380 |
Totals | 2,351,600 | 51,148,000 |
There were a lot of gasps at the meeting, however, no one else questioned the decision. This was out of keeping in their role as public servants and public representatives, particularly in consideration of the level of complaints received regarding bus service cuts from the public.
I leave you to decide whether or not this is best use of the transport levy given service cuts in our areas.
Councillor Bob Felstead