Hampshire County Council bus and community transport funding slashed with services to reduce

The local authority has agreed to recommendations to reduce bus and community transport spending to keep the service afloat. Cost savings of £800,000 will be achieved in the next financial year – April 1, 2023 – but some services may be revised, combined, and withdrawn altogether.

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Councillor Edward Heron, executive lead member for transport and environment strategy, approved the cuts to meet an overall £80m budget shortfall and said reduced government funding left them with ‘no option’. He added: ‘Decisions like this are always difficult but with reduced government funding for public services and the absence of support for bus services and improvements in Hampshire, we really are left with no option.

‘I can see that a lot of work has gone into the recommendations to identify where the savings can be made and how, in many cases, the impact can be mitigated.

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‘The fact remains that we cannot continue to fund bus services that are not commercially viable because passenger numbers are so low. Neither can we be responsible for helping bus operators absorb rising operating costs.’

The recommendations were approved under the County Council’s 2023 Savings Programme. Currently, 10 per cent of commercial bus journeys are subsidised by the local authority – costing over £2m or £6.29 per passenger on average.

The county council covers Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Winchester and East Hampshire among other areas. Community group transport services will see slight fare increases to keep them operating. Some funded benefits, such as bus passes for older and disabled residents, will remain.