Heidi Alexander Defends £2 Bus Fare Cap as £454 Million Funding Plan Draws Fire
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 22
Heidi Alexander Defends £2 Bus Fare Cap as £454 Million Funding Plan Draws Fire
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 22
Summary
Heidi Alexander said she was “100% sure” England’s new £2 single-bus fare cap is fully funded, pushing back after ministers faced questions over how the policy will be paid for.
£454 million has been allocated for the cap from January, with about £400 million coming from shifting international climate finance investment into loans and the rest from Energy Security and Net Zero budget savings.
Alexander said the government is reprioritising spending while sticking to its fiscal rules, and also insisted a separate VAT cut on household electricity bills from 1 October is properly financed.
Funding doubts intensified after former cabinet minister Darren Jones called the package “unfunded” and said ministers would need to explain the costs at the budget; Conservative Mel Stride also challenged where the money would come from.
The fare cap, announced earlier by Prime Minister Andy Burnham as a cost-of-living measure, would cut the current £3 ceiling in England back to £2.