£12m cut from revenue support grant
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
.EVENUE support for buses nd Underground train serices will be reduced by the rovernment from £103m to 91m in 1976, the second cut ack from the original planned xpenditure of £123m. About 58m will be cut from the ads programme and highway iaintenance.
A circular issued by the Department of the Environment last week warns that rises in bus fares will be inevitable — but many transport authorities have anticipated this and already applied for substantial increases.
The DoE circular tells local authorities that the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance decided that the local authority expenditure in 1975-76 was likely to exceed by about two per cent the level set in the rate support grant. This meant there was no room for any increases in 1976/77 and so the planned increases would have to be drastically, curtailed.
The circular points out that since Transport Policies and Programmes for 1976/77 have already been submitted, authorities should before the end of this month discuss with the DoE regional offices how these can be amended.
More detailed advice from the DoE on how the cuts should be applied is expected to follow the rate support grant settlement in December.