Harrogate misses out on bus funding as £116 million bid for North Yorkshire is rejected
The county council bid for £116 million to invest in services across North Yorkshire, but the government has now announced it won’t get any funding
Harrogate has missed out on millions of pounds to transform bus services after a funding bid from North Yorkshire County Council was rejected by the government.
The county council bid for £116 million to invest in services across North Yorkshire, but the government has now announced it won’t get any funding.
Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, previously said while it was unlikely the county would get “anything near” the full amount it bid for from the Bus Back Better scheme, he was confident that some cash would come to North Yorkshire.
But he has since expressed his surprise and disappointment at yesterday’s announcement that North Yorkshire won’t get any financial support.
“We knew the Bus Back Better budget had been severely curtailed… but I expected to get some money, not nothing at all, so I’m very disappointed,” councillor Mackenzie said.
The government claimed areas that failed to get the cash had not shown “sufficient ambition”. In total, just 34 of 79 areas which applied were successful.
In Yorkshire, this included the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which submitted a bid for £168 million, but was given £70 million, while City of York Council wanted £48 million and got £17.4 million.
Councillor Mackenzie said he believed the plans for North Yorkshire were ambitious enough to win funding and that he was now keen to speak to government officials to understand their decision.
“I don’t think our plans lacked ambition,” he said. “They were worth £116 million over eight years – that doesn’t lack ambition or aspiration.
“Until such time we have spoken to ministers or senior civil servants, I can’t say exactly what was lacking from our submission.”
Councillor Mackenzie also said parts of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan could still go ahead without government support, including an expansion of the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which is being trialled in Ripon, Bedale and Masham.
He also said a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate was still possible, although questions remained about how a permanent service would be funded.
Councillor Mackenzie said: “The park and ride trial was not part of this funding, and the pilot itself will use the 36 service so it won’t be particularly expensive to find out whether it works or not.
“I’m very anxious that this trial scheme still goes ahead irrespective of today’s result.”
He added: “One of the things in our Bus Service Improvement Plan was to expand the on-demand response service, YorBus, and of course that pilot continues.
“If it continues to be successful, we will roll it out in other areas.
“We will also continue to work in close partnership with bus operators.”
The Bus Service Improvement Plan included £23 million for new bus lanes, £74 million for other infrastructure changes and £14 million for support for bus services.
Meanwhile, the county council and Harrogate Bus Company have been successful in a separate bid for £7.8 million to make the firm’s fleet all-electric with the delivery of 39 zero-emission buses
The project will cost almost £20 million in total, with more than £12 million being invested by Transdev – the parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.
It will see 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses bought over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.