The totals paid by the Department to bus operators in Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) since 2000-01 have been as follows:
London England (excluding London) Total 2000-01 47.40 253.90 301.30 2001-02 55.90 248.40 304.30 2002-03 65.90 251.30 317.20 2003-04 80.30 261.20 341.50 2004-05 90.70 268.10 358.80 2005-06 95.30 274.20 369.50 2006-07 96.60 283.90 380.50
BSOG is paid direct to bus operators. Routes and operators cross local government boundaries and it is not possible to make sufficiently accurate estimates of the split of expenditure between local authority or passenger transport executive areas or regions, other than for London for which figures are given in the table.
Bus Service Operators Grant rates are related to the fuel duty levied on the fuel concerned. The current rates, increased with effect from 7 December 2006, by fuel type.
Pence per litre Ultra low sulphur diesel 139.21 Diesel 39.21 Sulphur free diesel 39.21 Ultra low sulphur petrol 36.83 Unleaded petrol 36.83 Sulphur free petrol 36.83 Biodiesel 28.35 Gas 210.81 1 This rate also applies to a 95 per cent. / 5 per cent. diesel/biodiesel blend 2 Pence per kilogram
The main grant by which the Department supports rural bus services is the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant. The following table shows the latest information provided by each local authority on the number of services supported by the grant (figures showing the position as at March 2007 will be available later this year).
The Department has also provided funding to projects successful in Rural Bus Challenge competitions held between 1998 and 2003. A total of £110 million was awarded to 301 projects. The majority of these are now continuing after their period of funding from the Challenge scheme. Details of the annual awards are on the Department’s website.
Local authorities also support rural bus services from their own resources, including Revenue Support Grant.
Local authority Services supported 2005-06 Bath and NE Somerset 11 Bedfordshire 14 Blackburn with Darwen 3 Bracknell Forest 2 Brighton and Hove City 1 Bristol City 3 Buckinghamshire 44 Cambridgeshire 21 Cheshire 25 Cornwall 53 Cumbria 55 Darlington 3 Derbyshire 76 Devon 47 Dorset 29 Durham 50 East Riding of Yorkshire 78 East Sussex 28 Essex 30 Gloucestershire 80 Greater Manchester 17 Halton 1 Hampshire 31 Hartlepool 5 Herefordshire 26 Hertfordshire 14 Isle of Wight 16 Kent 80 Lancashire 27 Leicestershire 25 Lincolnshire 133 Medway 7 Merseyside 3 Middlesbrough 1 Milton Keynes 6 Norfolk 114 NE Lincolnshire 2 North Lincolnshire 27 North Somerset 13 North Yorkshire 83 Northamptonshire 39 Northumberland 62 Nottinghamshire 30 Oxfordshire 21 Peterborough City 7 Plymouth City 5 Borough of Poole 1— Redcar and Cleveland 5 Rutland 5 Shropshire 34 Somerset 49 South Gloucestershire 18 South Yorkshire 25 Stockton-on-Tees 2 Stoke-on-Trent City 3 Staffordshire 56 Swindon Borough 4 Suffolk 72 Surrey 27 Telford and The Wrekin 5 Thurrock 1 Torbay Borough 2 Tyne and Wear 4 Warrington 3 Warwickshire 52 West Berkshire 9 West Midlands 6 West Sussex 21 West Yorkshire 53 Wiltshire 40 Windsor and Maidenhead 2 Wokingham 2 Worcestershire 53 City of York 7 Total 2,004 1 Data for borough of Poole included in Dorset figure. Note: Figures for Buckinghamshire and Durham are estimated based on previous years returns.