Nottingham won't be focus of new £40 million bus fund as cash targets rural areas in 'great need'

A new £40 million fund to boost buses across the East Midlands will be targeted at rural areas in "great need" of better services rather than cities. Claire Ward, the East Midlands Mayor, says there is "always more" that can be done to enhance buses in Nottingham and Derby - but that it is the rural parts of the counties in greatest need of better buses.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh confirmed on Monday (November 18) that the East Midlands Combined County Authority, the devolved authority covering Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire headed up by Claire Ward, will receive £40.6 million of the new bus fund. The money is to be spent across the financial year beginning in April 2025.

The government is investing £955 million overall in bus services across the country, with the money designed to enhance popular routes, protect rural services and increase bus use for shopping, socialising and commuting. Labour says its investment will prevent service reductions on at-risk routes and improve reliability across the country.

Asked how the £40 million allocation for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire would be spent, Claire Ward told Nottinghamshire Live: "Nottingham already has a fantastic bus service in Nottingham City Transport (NCT) and therefore we need to think about the other areas of the region where, particularly in rural communities, the access to jobs is more limited because of the bus services.

"We need to focus on some of those and I'll be working with bus companies to think about the enhanced partnerships that we can deliver for better buses. I think there is a great need in the rural communities, whether it be in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire.

"Many of those communities just don't have services that allow people to get to jobs, get to hospitals, get to the skills that they need. We know that obviously there's always more that can be done in the cities to support that, and maybe for the rural communities in some cases it will be access to those cities. But joining up rural communities, towns and villages and providing a service is absolutely key."

NCT has been a private company since the 1980s, although Nottingham City Council remains the operator's majority shareholder. During the East Midlands Mayor election campaign, Claire Ward said she would not want to bring all Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire buses under public control.

The then mayoral candidate said at the time: "Because we already have it in the city, it's not a simple solution across the rest of the region because we don't want to break what we've already got here." As well as the East Midlands Combined County Authority, Leicester City Council and Lincolnshire County Council were among the other recipients of funding in the region - with £88 million being allocated for the East Midlands overall.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: "The value of regular and reliable bus services cannot be understated. For far too long, the East Midlands has been suffering from unreliable services with buses hugely delayed, or not even turning up at all.

"This funding kickstarts the bus revolution to bring an end to the postcode lottery of bus services, drive economic growth and make sure people have proper access to jobs and opportunities. We've already committed over £150 million to extend the bus fare cap and keep fares low and this nearly £1 billion of further funding will mean local routes are protected, reliability is improved and the passenger is put first."