Coalition of charities urge Chancellor to show public transport some love in forthcoming Budget

14 February 2023

Michael Solomon Williams from Campaign for Better Transport handing in the joint letter along with a Valentine’s Card at Downing St.

The letter, which has been signed by Bus Users UK, Campaign for Better Transport, Clean Cities Campaign, Client Earth, CPRE the countryside charity, Cycling UK, Greener Vision, Greenpeace UK, Institute for Public Policy Research, Intergenerational Foundation, Living Streets, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Possible, Transport Action Network and Urban Transport Group, calls on the Chancellor to use next month’s Budget to protect passengers from the current funding squeeze and the cost-of-living crisis that is threatening public transport services.

Campaign for Better Transport delivered the joint letter, along with a Valentine’s Day card, to the Chancellor to 11 Downing Street today.

Paul Tuohy, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The impact that inadequate public transport has on the economy, on businesses and on communities, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis, is profound. It means people losing access to education and jobs, missing hospital appointments, suffering poor health outcomes and being disconnected from family and friends. Investing in public transport and active travel is therefore one of the best ways to achieve economic growth, levelling-up and net zero, and get value for money for taxpayers.”

Jonathan Bray, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said: “Cuts to bus services have consequences for those with the least as it’s the bus that provides access to opportunity for education, work, healthcare and shopping.  Stopping the decline in bus networks is also fundamental to the wider aspirations that Government has for decarbonising transport, levelling up and for economic growth. The Government has, rightly, recognised the need for a longer-term funding package for London and is continuing to protect public transport services there. We now need a deal for bus services outside London that will put them on a more secure long-term footing rather than staggering from one funding cliff edge, and round of service cuts, to another.”

Public transport has been hit hard by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. Bus services across Great Britain have declined by seven per cent since the pandemic began, with over a thousand services lost in the past year alone. Meanwhile, rail services have been plagued by service reductions, industrial action, widespread delays and cancellations, as well as an upcoming fare increase.

To help prevent further cuts to services and ensure there is a public transport network fit for the future, the group is urging the Chancellor to reprioritise investment away from costly carbon-intensive projects, like roadbuilding, towards low-carbon, clean and healthy transport provision as the best way to achieve economic growth, levelling-up and net zero. The letter calls on the Chancellor to:

• End the costly cut to road fuel duty, thereby raising £5 billion to invest into the bus and rail network
• Reform rail fares as a matter of urgency
• Boost investment in active travel to help meet the Government’s own targets for increased walking and cycling
• Guarantee an enhanced funding package for local buses to prevent imminent cuts to services
• Accelerate long-term reform of local transport funding to give local areas greater power over funding and investment decisions
• Ringfence local authority bus funding and transfer responsibility for allocating funds to the Department for Transport (rather than shared with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
• Ensure taxpayer value for money on rail by protecting capital spending whilst making savings on the Government’s and Network Rail’s own excess costs.

ENDS

For further information please contact the press office on 07984 773 468 (calls only no texts) or communications@bettertransport.org.uk

Notes to Editors

1. A copy of the letter is available here.
2. The letter has been signed by Dawn Badminton-Capps, Director for England, Bus Users UK; Paul Tuohy, CEO, Campaign for Better Transport; Oliver Lord, UK Head of Campaigns, Clean Cities Campaign; Kyle Lishak, Head of UK, Client Earth; Paul Miner, Acting Director of Campaigns & Policy, CPRE the countryside charity; Roger Geffen OBE, Policy Director, Cycling UK; Claire Haigh, Founder & CEO, Greener Vision; Doug Parr, Policy Director, Greenpeace UK; Luke Murphy, Head of Fair Transition Unit, Institute for Public Policy Research; Liz Emerson, Co-Founder and CEO, Intergenerational Foundation; Stephen Edwards, CEO, Living Streets; Richard Burge, Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Leo Murray, Director, Possible; Chris Todd, Founder & Director, Transport Action Network; and Jonathan Bray, Director, Urban Transport Group.
3. Bus cut figures taken from the Department for Transport Annual Bus Statistics 2022.
4. Almost one in 10 local bus services axed over last year in Great Britain
5. Campaign for Better Transport revealed the impact of inadequate public transport in its reports Transport deserts: The absence of transport choice in England’s small towns and Connecting communities: improving transport to get ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods back on track.
6. Campaign for Better Transport operates in England and Wales. Campaign for Better Transport’s vision is for all communities to have access to high quality, sustainable transport that meets their needs, improves quality of life and protects the environment. Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust is a registered charity (1101929).