Oxfordshire bus cuts: MP urges 'proactive' measures in face of bus cuts

A county council and bus companies should be "proactive" to roll out schemes to boost bus services rather than cut them back, an MP has said.

Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East, said some in the city face being left with one service an hour.

Oxfordshire County Council, Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Company unveiled the changes last week to "stabilise" services.

The county council said it had done all it could to maintain services.

Ms Dodds said she was especially "concerned" what impact the cuts would have on residents in Risinghurst, Florence Park and Littlemore, and that they could make life "really difficult" for some.

"I really want to see more action to support our bus network," she said.

"It's my understanding there's only one big workplace scheme [in Oxford] to encourage people to get onto the bus.

"If we saw more of that action maybe we could make more of these routes viable and keep them running.

"My view is we've got to be proactive. If we just stand back and say it's someone else's problem then the services will continue to deteriorate."

Tim Bearder, the council's cabinet member for highways management, said that the authority has done "absolutely everything" it can to maintain and improve services.

He said the authority was an "intermediary" between the two companies and government but was looking to secure more government funding to support them.

"What we can't do is plough money into commercial operations. That really is the government's job. We simply don't have the money as a medium-sized county council," he said.

Most of the changes will be rolled out on 2 January.

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