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21
Sept 2022
Government awards North Yorkshire £336,000 bus grant
The government is set to award North Yorkshire County Council £336,000 for bus services just five months after rejecting a multi-million pound funding bid.
Ministers wrote to council officers to offer a grant to cover the costs of staffing in its enhanced partnership team, which helps to draw up funding bids and work with bus operators to improve services.
The move comes after the Department for Transport rejected a £116 million funding bid as part of the authority's Bus Service Improvement Plan for the county.
In a letter to council officials, the government said the grant would help it continue to work with bus companies.
It said:
Failed funding bid
The move comes after the county council failed in a bid for bus improvement funding back in April.
Ministers rejected a £116 million bid from the authority which would have funded new bus lanes, more affordable fares, real-time passenger information and a simpler ticketing system for services across North Yorkshire.
The government said it refused the scheme because it “lacked ambition”.
Read more:
- Harrogate park and ride ‘still possible’ despite £116m funding failure
- Harrogate park and ride plans could finally be revealed next year
Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for transport at the council, warned in July that bus services were “facing a potential cliff edge” due to loss of government subsidies.
Despite the failed bid, Cllr Duncan said previously that the council would continue with some of its plans for transport - such as a park and ride in the district.
He said:
The Stray Ferret approached North Yorkshire County Council to ask whether it felt the latest bus grant was sufficient, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
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