The Department for Transport has announced £955m for bus services next financial year.
Ministers allocated £712m to improve bus services in 2025-2026, in the form of Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) capital and revenue funding, which is now paid on a formula basis, rather than under competitive bidding.
There was also £243m for the Bus Service Operators Grant which is paid to operators, rather than local transport authorities.
According to the County Councils Network (CCN) the cash allocations show a shift towards more rural county authorities.
The CCN also welcomed the move away from competitive bidding process and distributing funding based on need.
Cllr Peter Thornton, CCN spokesperson for transport and infrastructure said: ‘The CCN have long argued that there needs to be a fairer approach to allocating long-term investment in local bus services, moving away from a prioritisation of urban areas.
‘Under the previous government, CCN analysis showed that county and rural unitary authorities received just 33% of the funding allocated through the first rounds of BSIP funding, despite these areas witnessing the largest reduction in bus services over the past decade.'
He added: ‘We are therefore pleased that the government have listened to our calls. As a result, county and rural unitary authorities, alongside combined authorities in these areas, will receive 55% (£372m) of the new funding allocated for 2025/26. This is a significant improvement on previous rounds of BSIP funding and will help councils support local bus services in their areas.’
In the latest round of duning, Kent secured £12m capital and £10m revenue cash and Lancashire has a total of £25m.
Combined authorities have also received significant sums of revenue funding, although many receive their capital funding through a separate funding stream – the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.
West Yorkshire CA will get £34m revenue funding, the West of England £13.5m, the West Midlands £37m, the North East £24m, South Yorkshire £16m, Liverpool City Region £21m, Greater and Manchester £44m.
The East Midlands Combined Authority will get £21m capital funding and £19m revenue funding.
In general, capital funding provides cash for infrastructure and revenue supports services.
Rebecca Fuller, assistant director at the Urban Transport Group, which represents city region transport authorities, said: ‘This funding will help to protect services and keep fares low for passengers who rely on the bus to get to work, college or hospital appointments.
‘Crucially, it provides a bridge to the Spending Review, where we hope to lock in a longer-term revenue and capital funding settlement for local transport.’
Last month local authorities were promised £925m ‘to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities’ - though this has now been increased by a further £30m.
