FIRSTGROUP PLC
STATEMENT RE:
UK GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR BUS INDUSTRY
FirstGroup plc (‘FirstGroup’ or ‘the Group’) welcomes the
announcement by the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) of a bus
recovery funding package to support the provision of vital services
by regional bus operators in England as pandemic restrictions ease.
The new funding of £226.5m over six months will reinforce
delivery of local bus services across England as passenger numbers rebuild. The
funding package will support the industry’s transition away from
the COVID-19 Bus Service Support Grant (‘CBSSG’) programme, which
has been in place since May 2020 and
will formally come to end on 1 September with the introduction of
the new package.
In keeping with the industry, passenger volumes in First Bus
have seen an encouraging increase in recent weeks, particularly
since certain restrictions on travel began to ease from April.
In March, FirstGroup welcomed the publication of the National
Bus Strategy in England, which
provides a clear framework and substantial funding for bus
operators and local government to work together to increase bus
use, reduce urban congestion and accelerate the transition to zero
emissions. First Bus has already built close and effective
relationships with many local transport authorities across the UK,
and continues to work to develop the Bus Service Improvement Plans
and future statutory partnerships with stakeholders that will
deliver on the full potential of the National Bus Strategy, and the
similar strategies in place in the other nations of the UK.
Commenting on today’s announcement,
First Bus Managing Director Janette
Bell said:
“We welcome today’s announcement by UK Government of a bus
recovery funding package for England which will ensure that an effective
bus network can be provided for customers as the economy and the
communities we serve emerge from the pandemic.
"We will continue to build on the successful partnerships we
have created with local authorities to meet our customers’ needs by
developing joint plans for further improvements and innovation over
the coming months. It is vital that Government continues to work
together with us to encourage more people onto buses in order to
deliver economic revival, improve air quality and meet the UK’s net
zero ambitions.”
Contacts at FirstGroup:
Faisal Tabbah, Head of Investor
Relations
Stuart Butchers, Group Head of Communications
corporate.comms@firstgroup.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7725 3354
Contacts at Brunswick PR:
Andrew Porter / Simone Selzer, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI):
549300DEJZCPWA4HKM93. Classification as per DTR 6 Annex 1R:
3.1.
About FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc (LSE: FGP.L) is a leading provider of transport
services in the UK and North
America. With £7.8bn in revenue in the year to 31 March 2020 and around 100,000 employees, we
transported 2.1bn passengers. Whether for business, education,
health, social or recreation – we get our customers where they want
to be, when they want to be there. We create solutions that reduce
complexity, making travel smoother and life easier. We provide easy
and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting
people and communities. Visit our website at
www.firstgroupplc.com and follow us @firstgroupplc on
Twitter.
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. Making journeys
easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator
to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and
our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus
operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art
buses across our key networks. We work proactively with our local
authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality,
tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are
focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a
low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero-emission
bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel
buses after December 2022. We also
operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.