Liz Jarvis MP: “The Government must support affordable and reliable bus routes now”.
Liberal Democrat MP, Liz Jarvis, has demanded the Government be more ambitious during the 3rd Reading of the Bus Services Bill after Eastleigh suffers the lost of the 61 service. Last week, the 61 service that links Eastleigh to Winchester ran for the final time after being cut by Hampshire County Council, which Ms Jarvis said ‘will make life significantly harder for my constituents.’
Ms Jarvis supported amendments to the Bill to expand and clarify the definition of ‘socially necessary routes’ to include hospitals, schools and colleges, which would place greater pressure of local authorities to safeguard routes that access these services.
Ms Jarvis also criticised the removal of the Companion Bus Pass in Hampshire, and the restriction of free travel to between 9:30am and 11:00pm for elderly and disabled people, that she said would create fresh barriers for many of her constituents. She supported a Liberal Democrat amendment to remove time restrictions on disabled concessionary passes and extend free travel to carers – this was rejected by the Government and Opposition Conservative MPs.
Liz Jarvis, Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh, said:
“Our local bus provision has been decimated by Hampshire County Council over the last few years with the 61 route being only the latest example. The failure of the Government to take basic steps to strengthen this Bill will be a kick in the teeth for my constituents, who understandably hoped this Bill would mark the end of over a decade of decline under the last Conservative Government and not more of the same.
“Bus services are a lifeline for many vulnerable people in Eastleigh. Any further cuts, and a failure to address well-known existing issues with routes and bus passes, will make life significantly harder for my constituents. The Government should have used this Bill to show some ambition and address the growing need in communities across the country for proper, integrated public transport networks but instead they missed another opportunity”.