TAXPAYERS in West Yorkshire are paying £2.5 million a month to subsidise bus journeys that are not being made.

During the Covid 19 Pandemic Local Transport Authorities have been asked to maintain the amount of money they provide to bus operators to provide subsidised journeys - such as those provider to elderly passengers.

It is part of a national push to keep bus operators afloat despite passenger numbers currently at just 45 per cent of normal levels.

But West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the local Transport Authority says this is “not a satisfactory way of deploying public funding” - as the number of passengers requiring such concessionary fares has plummeted.

On Thursday members of the Combined Authority’s Transport Committee will be given an update on how bus services are recovering from the pandemic.

The Government is currently running the COVID-19 Bus Services Subsidy Grant - which provides funding support to operate bus services at pre COVID-19 service levels despite the significant reduction in fare revenue.

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A report to the Transport Committee says: "As part of this arrangement, Government has asked Local Transport Authorities to continue to pay for concessionary fares at the level operating prior to the pandemic.

“In the case of West Yorkshire, use of the senior/ disabled free bus pass in July 2020 was 38 per cent of the levels observed in July 2019 yet payment has been made assuming the 2019 number of journeys.

“This means the Combined Authority is paying around £2.5 million per month for journeys which are not being made.

“Whilst this funding is necessary to sustain 100 per cent service levels at 45 per cent of fares revenue, it is not a satisfactory way of deploying public funding.

"The Chair of the Transport Committee has written to the Secretary of State expressing concern that this is not a sustainable method of funding bus services and an alternative locally accountable approach should be taken. Government have acknowledged these concerns and have advised its intentions to review bus funding and governance models in a forthcoming review of bus policy expected to start in the Autumn."

The report raises concerns about how bus services will cope once funding is no longer provided by the Government.

It says: "The reduced demand and consequential loss of revenue arising from COVID19 will have a significant impact on the financial stability of local bus services.

"At present this is mitigated by emergency funding however when this ends there is a risk that operators may shrink networks to maintain their trading viability. In the longer term, there may be long-lasting behavioural change and change in working patterns, with potentially more people working from home, which could further reduce bus demand and may change some of the geographical focus on the bus network."

Members will hear that by September, bus services will be back operating at 100 per cent of normal service mileage. However, overall patronage is just 45 per cent of pre-Covid levels.