Shropshire Council's government bus funding has been branded an 'insult' by Liberal Democrat councillors.

The authority is set to receive £4 million out of a national allocation of £1 billion, making it the 53rd lowest of 73 allocations.

This comes despite Shropshire having lost more miles of bus routes than any other county in England between 2015 and 2023.

That is a decline of 63 per cent compared to 19 per cent across Great Britain.

On Sunday, November 17 the Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP, claimed that "every region in England will benefit from the funding – but particularly those areas which have been historically underserved, like rural areas and small towns."

She also told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that funding for rural areas would be 'unprecedented.'

Despite this, the breakdown of funding confirmed by the Department of Transport on Monday, November 18 showed that it is not the case.

Shropshire Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan has outlined the need for £73.5 million of funding across three years to transform the county’s bus network.

However, the authority is cutting £62.5 million from its budget this year and the Labour government has granted £1.4 million in capital funding and £2.5 million for revenue for the 2025/26 financial year.

 

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said: "This funding is a long way short of what is needed and will not deliver a step change in service for those in our communities who need a better bus service.

"The new government promised a new formula based on ‘need, deprivation and bus mileage’ to end the postcode lottery, but it hasn’t come up with any new answers.

"Bus services plummeted under the Conservatives and I’m worried that Labour also just don’t understand the needs of rural areas."

Councillor Rob Wilson, Copthorne, Liberal Democrat, shadow portfolio holder for climate, environment and transport, added: "It’s an insult to the residents of Shropshire who rely on bus services to access education and employment.

"Business groups have been calling for improved provision to drive growth, this is a long way short of the funding required to deliver.

"Shropshire Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan set out a £73.5m vision for buses in the county, the money allocated by the Government today won’t touch the sides."