West of England Combined Authority underspend to be held in reserves

A spare £786,000 of unspent public money will go towards reserves rather than protecting local bus services, council leaders have said.

Despite many bus services facing closure, the unspent money from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) will be held in savings.

Leaders criticised the move adding the money would have given "a great deal of reassurance" to the bus network.

Last month council leaders agreed a deal to save several bus routes.

West of England mayor Dan Norris, whose regional authority will put the cash in reserves, suggested other councils could spend their own spare money on buses, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

South Gloucestershire Council leader Toby Savage called for the cash surplus to be spent on supporting buses and protecting rural routes in a meeting on 1 July, but his motion was voted down.

"WECA needs to strain every sinew to protect bus services," he said.

"We agreed at our previous extraordinary meeting that we would leave no stone unturned as we sought to provide the maximum possible resources to be able to support our bus network in the face of very significant challenges."

Council leader for Bath and North East Somerset, Kevin Guy, added: "We're putting £700,000 into a reserve pot for a rainy day, when we've got real issues to deal with today with rural connectivity and buses."

Several rural bus services in the West of England are at risk of closure because the income raised through fares is far less than the operational costs, resulting in a heavy burden on the taxpayer.

Last month at an emergency meeting, Mr Norris and the three council leaders that make up WECA - Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council - thrashed out a last minute deal to find extra funding.

But speaking on 1 July, Mr Norris said WECA has fewer reserves than each of the region's three councils.

He added: "The economy is in the worst place for 40 years, so we have a greater duty than ever before to ensure we keep reasonable reserves to cover the growing risks."

Each of the three West of England councils contribute millions of pounds per year for WECA's transport budget. North Somerset Council also contributes.

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