In many of the surveys and evidence calls undertaken by the Rural Services Network transport frequently comes top of the list of things Members are most concerned about. Connecting rural residents with key services such as education, health, leisure, retail and employment is vital, yet many Hinterland readers document ongoing challenges around accessing transport to do so – from villages served by three buses a day to villages that receive one bus a week; and from viewing car ownership as essential (with the increased fuel and maintenance costs that this brings) to which it feels like to be dependent on relatives and neighbours with cars to “go anywhere”. This piece picks up on the funding reductions that local authorities are having to make which has led 40% of them to cut spending on buses over the past year. Research carried out by the Campaign for Better Transport has shown how the Government’s austerity programme has led 41% of local Councils in England to make cuts to bus services, with 10% of Councils slashing their budget by more than 10%.

Apparently, Council budgets are under increased pressure because of the national off peak bus travel scheme for the elderly, In November, the Local Government Association warned of a “financial time bomb” caused by a 27% fall in Government support for the scheme between 2010 and 2015. However, Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General, Age UK, said the elderly were still suffering the brunt of the cuts, despite the free bus travel scheme: “last year nearly 10 million older and disabled people owned concessionary bus passes and made an average of 109 bus journeys a year. But there is little point in having a bus pass if there are no buses to use”.

The Campaign for Better Transport research – ‘The crisis of bus provision in England: the second year of cuts to supported services – can be found here.

The cash will be used in part to plug the gap left when bus companies scrap scheduled services which they consider to be no longer commercially viable.

In many cases the services have been dropped after councils said they can no longer afford to subsidise them because of public spending cuts.

A study by the Campaign for Better Transport found that services were being cut by 70 per cent of councils across the country. The countryside was particularly badly hit.

In Cumbria, for example, £340,000 is being cut from the £1.7 million budget putting 19 services at risk.

This has got to be good news – I think there is oodles more people could do at the community level around rural transport.

I have often thought too many councils think “bus” when we talk of rural and community transport and I am sure there is scope for real innovation around this whole agenda.

It would be good to have a little more than £10 million in this new fund though.