Council figures on bus funding are wrong, will not be corrected until September
Cllr Michael Headley challenged the Mayor to correct inaccurate figures on bus grant and expenditure on buses. These figures were part of the Budget that the Mayor presented to the Council and agreed in February.
The Mayor passed on this question and the meeting heard that part of the corrections were being made this week (Wednesday 15th July) and the other part will be corrected for Council to agree in September.
Cllr Headley commented,
“This is beyond belief. When bus routes are being cut and the administration are kicking any hope residents have of a resolution into the long grass, it is crucial that there's transparency on where the government funding for buses is actually going.
The budget presented to Full Council is something like £750k out. I can’t tell how much it is out by, because it is so obviously wrong, and we need the correct figure!
It is a large amount of money, hugely important to get correct. We all need to see what the administration is doing with the bus funding. And this comes after the previous reallocation of £300,000 of bus funding to balance the council's budget.
The Government provided us with an additional Bus Service Improvement grant to support bus services.
Whilst the commercial bus companies have their own businesses to run in our Borough, we must never forget that the Council has substantial funding available to support bus services. Residents continue to contact me about the effect the damaging bus cuts are having on their lives and we will not rest until a reliable bus service is returned.”