Happy New Year. 2025 will see interesting times in terms of Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation. None of this will impact directly on Parish Councils but I will have more to report at your next meeting.
In the interim I can report there is more money to improve local bus services in Norfolk. Following NCC’s previous bid and subsequent award by the Department for Transport (DfT) of £49.5m for the 3 year period 2022-2025, where they were only one of 36 Council’s nationally to receive this funding and Norfolk’s award was the highest of any non-metropolitan authority, we have now received a further allocation of £15.9m for 2025-2026 to improve local bus transport. The funding allocation is split £7.4m capital and £8.5m revenue.
With the original allocation NCC worked closely with bus operators and delivered:
- Introduced new services, added evening and Sunday services and increased frequency of many bus routes around the county;
- Built new improved waiting areas – gold stops and travel hubs;
- Introduced more real-time information screens at stops and added a QR board at every stop which can be scanned to show scheduled and real-time information;
- Lowered fares with a £1.50 fare cap in King’s Lynn, Thetford and Gt Yarmouth and with a 25% discount on weekly, monthly and group tickets;
- Introduced bus priority measures like bus lanes and junction improvements.
All of the above, combined with other elements such as Transforming Cities delivery, delivery of 70 Zero Emission buses, and the DfT’s bus fare caps, has achieved a 16% increase in passenger journeys over the last year in Norfolk and has increased passenger satisfaction to 87% (from 78% in 2023).
This further £15.9m allocation allows NCC to do more, being mindful that it is only a year’s allocation so anything would need to be delivered by March 2026 and any revenue funded initiatives like new bus services would either need to be financially sustainable after March 2026 or would need to end (unless other funding can be found from elsewhere).
Along with working closely with the bus operators through our existing Enhanced Partnership, NCC are also keen to seek your views on what you see as priorities for the people of Norfolk in terms of encouraging them to use our local bus services and to make it easy for them to do so – is it evening services, better waiting areas, more bus priority measures for example? NCC doesn’t promise that everything requested can be delivered but your ideas will help build NCC’s delivery plan that needs to go to the DfT by the end of March 2025.
All ideas to come back to niki.park@norfolk.gov.uk by the end of January 2025 please. Thank you.
County Councillor Jim Moriarty
Gayton and Nar Valley – Norfolk County Council
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