STUNNING blow has been alt South Yorkshire CounCouncil by the
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Department Transport. The County's -ansport Supplementary rant for 1977/78 is slashed Dm last year's E51/2 million, to 30,000.
This is the main news to ime out of the allocation of a duced total grant of £205m. ist year it stood at £265m. The savage reduction in ant, anticipated by South orkshire, is aimed at punishg the Council for holding out 1 Government demands that Lere should be an end to all w fares policies.
South Yorkshire is alone in !fying the Government, and spokesman for the Council Id CM the County would be icking to its guns.
Although the total hand out down £140m from 1976/77, ther metropolitan areas have ot been hit nearly so hard as outh Yorkshire. The Greater ondon allocation has rapped from £82m to £80m both at November 1975 rices) while Tyne and Wear as dropped from £31m to 21m.
But South Yorkshire has its Am ideas on how to continue s policy of low fares: "We ave been making plans to irry this shortfall of TSG and now looks as though we -tall have to put 2p on the ttes" said a Council spokesIan.
The lack of grant for South 'orkshire has drawn an xtremely angry reaction from le Association of Metropoliin Authorities.
"Far beyond not accepting xpenditure that Si:m.1th Yorkhire proposed on revenue upport, and calculating their rant on a lower figure, you ave imposed a substantial ,enalty in the form of a eduction thus reducing their ;rant well below what it would Lave been if they had made a ares increase" said AMA hairman Sir Robert Thomas n a letter to Transport /Iinister William Rodgers.
"The individual authority hould be free to vary expenliture at the margin, without ieing subject to punitive Go-' rernment action" said Sir Ro)ert. He demanded that Mr todgers should never impose ;uch penalties again in the uture.