By Claire Wilde

Cuts to England’s bus network are costing the economy £2.6 billion a year, exclusive analysis for Channel 4 News shows.

Shrinking services over 12 years have led to the loss of thousands of jobs and a decline in spending in local economies, the report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says.

Last year, FactCheck revealed the extent of cuts to England’s buses between 2011 and 2023.

Miles clocked up by buses each year had fallen by 22 per cent, but when taking our growing population into account, this was a 28 per cent decline in the scale of bus provision per person.

Now, the new report reveals the real-world effects of this shrinking network.

The IPPR calculates an estimated 3,000 jobs have been lost directly from the local bus industry over this timeframe.

But when you also factor in the knock-on effects on local economies and supply chains, it estimates there are 39,000 fewer jobs.

England’s economy is an estimated £2.6 billion smaller overall, it found, due to the shrinking bus industry and reduced spending by passengers in local economies.

There’s also the hit to our roads through congestion, with an estimated 1.1 billion more miles driven by cars and taxis in 2023 than than if the bus network had kept pace with our growing population.

Marcus Johns, a senior research fellow at IPPR North, told Channel 4 News this was “the equivalent to driving between John O’Groats up in Scotland and Land’s End down in Cornwall over 1.3 million times a year”.

He said: “This affects people differently, so those without access to cars have seen a significant drop in the amount of travelling that they do, full stop.”

The richest tenth of council areas saw their bus networks shrink by 13 per cent, when adjusted for population size.

But the poorest tenth of council areas were hit far worse. They saw their bus network per head shrink by more than a third, 34 per cent.

Silviya Barrett from the charity Campaign for Better Transport said: “Bus cuts are harmful wherever they happen, but these disproportionate cuts to deprived areas are deeply concerning, not least because our own research into ‘left-behind neighbourhoods’ shows how poor transport connectivity exacerbates deprivation.”

The IPPR welcomed the government’s new Bus Services Bill, which the Department for Transport says will give all local councils the power to take over routes in their area.

It’s a power already being used in Greater Manchester, where the office of Mayor Andy Burnham has now taken full control of the local network in an attempt to boost passenger numbers.

But the IPPR warned councils would also need secure, long-term funding to make use of the powers.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said that after “decades of decline, we are fast-tracking the journey to better buses”, by giving the new powers to councils and investing £1 billion in services.

The Conservatives, who led the government during the period this research covers, were contacted for comment.

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