The UK Government has today announced a 3 billion GBP funding package to support bus services across England.
The funding can be used for a range of measures, including fare reductions, new routes, zero-emission vehicles and improvements to stops and interchanges.
However, government funding, such as that under the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme, has previously been used to purchase buses from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and Yutong, thus using UK funds to support overseas manufacturers rather than domestic companies.
At a time when the UK economy is under pressure to strengthen domestic industries, the case for building buses in Britain and Northern Ireland remains highly significant. Manufacturing sustains thousands of skilled jobs, while underpinning regional supply chains and engineering expertise.
Commenting on the announcement by the Department for Transport, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:The funding is excellent news, but the government should be mandating that councils using the funds to buy new buses are obligated to buy them from UK manufacturers.
The UK bus-making industry is second to none and supports thousands of vital jobs. The government and local authorities should be doing all they can to support this key component of the UK’s manufacturing sector.
Notably, the UK is home to two major bus builders: Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis.
