Have your say on subsidised bus journeys (Staffordshire County Council)

Staffordshire County Council is asking for your views on the bus journeys it currently subsidises in Staffordshire.

All bus journeys in our county are operated by either private bus companies or by voluntary and community groups and over 90% are not subsidised by the county council.  The rest are subsidised by the county council, and therefore the tax payer, by as much as £10 every time a passenger boards the bus.

By 2020/21 Staffordshire County Council's government grant will fall to zero, so only critical county council services will be funded by local council tax and business rates.

Staffordshire County Council need to protect those services that we have a legal duty to provide (such as adult social care and looking after children in care) so the decision was made last year to review the amount we can pay towards bus travel.

Many councils have stopped subsidising bus travel altogether - Staffordshire County Council is not doing that.  Although there will be less money to subsidise bus journeys next year, £1.3 million will still be available.

Staffordshire County Council want your views on their proposed options and about local voluntary and community schemes in your area through a public consultation.

This consultation only affects public bus and Dial-A-Ride journeys which are subsidised by taxpayers and not those run by operators on a fully commercial basis.

Any changes to subsidised bus journeys will take place from April 2018.