Rural buses affecting young people's wellbeing
Somerset Bus Partnership provided evidence to the government's transport select committee for its report on how buses connect communities.It said funding for buses in Somerset needs to be increased by more than £2m just to be brought in line with the rest of the South West.The report said Somerset Council spent £8.3m on bus services from 2022-23 - the lowest amount per person in the South West. The average spend by other councils in the region was £13.85m."We're looking to work with the council to try to improve it and encourage people to use the buses to address the problem," Mr Travis said."Two thirds of the councillors when they were elected said they should increase substantially the support for buses, but they just can not afford to do it."The council is under a lot of financial pressure - they're in a financial emergency."
Somerset Council has said providing passenger transport services in rural areas is becoming increasingly difficult."While recent funding awards are incredibly welcome, the prevailing conditions are such that the level of intervention needed to make improvements to services so that they attract new users is substantially greater than has been received to date."The government said it aims to publish a new national policy for to help improve the bus networks across england by February 2027.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
.png%3Ftrim%3D0%2C0%2C0%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ministers spent £2.4m fighting to keep huge Afghan data breach a secret
Ministers spent £2.4m in legal fees fighting to keep a catastrophic Ministry of Defence data leak secret for two years through the use of an unprecedented superinjunction, it has emerged. The MoD leak, in February 2022, exposed the details of thousands of Afghans who said they were in danger from the Taliban because of their links to UK forces and now wanted to escape to Britain. The breach was only discovered in August 2023 when part of the leaked database was posted online, prompting a top-secret government operation that saw 16,000 affected Afghans brought to safety in the UK. The whole operation was kept secret from the public through the use of a superinjunction brought contramundum, Latin for against the world. Now, freedom of information data shared with The New York Times has revealed that the government spent £2.4m in legal fees fighting to keep the scheme secret. The hidden resettlement scheme, the fact the data the data was leaked, and the injunction itself were only revealed after a court battle lasting almost two years in which media organisations - including The Independent – fought to lift the order. The government admitted after the superinjunction was lifted that information crucial to its overturning was available last year. The unprecedented gagging order was finally lifted in July after a review commissioned by Defence Secretary John Healey found that the threat of danger to those on the list was not significant. In a written response to a High Court judge's demands for further investigation on why the order could not be lifted sooner, a senior government official admitted that a large amount of the information allowing publication of the breach was already known to the Ministry of Defence. High Court judge Mr Justice Chamberlain had previously decided to lift the superinjunction in May 2024, partly because he felt that the secrecy was preventing Afghans from being able to take steps to help themselves, as the order meant the 18,700 Afghans affected could not be told their information had been compromised. However, the government appealed this decision in a bid to keep the order in place, and those affected by the breach only learned they had been exposed when the superinjunction was lifted. Figures for the legal costs of defending the order come as Afghans promised a new life in the UK have been detained in Pakistan police raids. A former Afghan interpreter who was exposed in the MoD breach has been detained after having his offer of relocation to the UK revoked. A former Afghan special forces commando and his family have also been detained and taken to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to a family member who managed to avoid arrest. The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tories and Reform decry two-tier justice as suspended Labour councillor cleared
Conservative and Reform politicians have decried what they call 'two-tier justice' after a suspended Labour councillor who called for far-right activists' throats to be cut was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder. Ricky Jones, 58, faced trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court accused of the offence after he described demonstrators as 'disgusting Nazi fascists' at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. He was cleared on Friday. Nigel Farage and shadow home secretary Chris Philp both pointed to the idea of 'two-tier justice' in relation to the case. Mr Philp compared the case to that of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed after she posted a tweet calling for 'mass deportation' and 'set fire to all the f****** hotels' on the day of the Southport attacks last year. In a post on X, Mr Philp said: 'The development of two tier justice is becoming increasingly alarming.' Ex-Reform chairman Zia Yusuf also referred to Connolly's case, and said that 'two tier justice in this country is out of control'. Connolly pleaded guilty last year to a charge of inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X, which meant she did not face a trial. In Jones' case, a jury deliberated for just over half an hour before they found him not guilty. A video showing Jones addressing crowds on Hoe Street in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year went viral on social media after the protest, which had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau. The suspended councillor said in the clip: 'They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd. Jurors deliberated for just over 30 minutes and found him not guilty on Friday. Jones, who wore a navy blue suit with a white shirt and pale pink tie in the dock, was seen mouthing 'thank-you' at the jurors. Family and supporters hugged each other before Jones, who declined to comment on the verdict, was driven out of the court grounds in a car. The 58-year-old, who at the time was also employed as a full-time official for the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) union, was arrested on August 8 last year and interviewed at Brixton police station that night. Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019, was suspended by Labour the day after the incident. It is understood that a party investigation remains ongoing, and its outcome will decide what happens to his membership. A spokesperson for the party said at the time that his behaviour 'was completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated'. Giving evidence in his trial, Jones said his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them. Before he made the comment, jurors were shown video where he said to crowds: 'You've got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays. 'They don't give a shit about who they hurt.' He told the court he was 'appalled' by political violence, adding: 'I've always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully.'
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Bioethanol plant deems lack of Government support an ‘act of economic self-harm'
The UK's largest bioethanol plant has described a Government decision not to offer direct funding to the industry as 'a flagrant act of economic self-harm' which will force it to close. Vivergo Fuels, near Hull, warned earlier this year that it was in imminent danger of closure as crisis talks continued with the Government. This followed the end of the 19% tariff on American bioethanol imports as part of the recent UK-US trade deal. On Friday, the Government said: 'This Government will always take decisions in the national interest. 'That's why we negotiated a landmark deal with the US which protected hundreds of thousands of jobs in sectors like auto and aerospace. 'We have worked closely with the companies since June to understand the financial challenges they have faced over the past decade, and have taken the difficult decision not to offer direct funding as it would not provide value for the taxpayer or solve the long-term problems the industry faces. 'We recognise this is a difficult time for the workers and their families and we will work with trade unions, local partners and the companies to support them through this process. 'We also continue to work up proposals that ensure the resilience of our CO2 supply in the long-term in consultation with the sector.' Ben Hackett, managing director of Vivergo Fuels, said: 'The Government's failure to back Vivergo has forced us to cease operations and move to closure immediately. 'This is a flagrant act of economic self-harm that will have far-reaching consequences. 'This is a massive blow to Hull and the Humber. 'We have fought from day one to support our workers and we are truly sorry that this is not the outcome any of us wanted. 'This decision by ministers will have a huge impact on our region and the thousands of livelihoods in the supply chain that rely on Vivergo, from farmers to hauliers and engineers.' Mr Hackett said the industry has faced 'unfair regulations' for years that favoured overseas producers, and the recent US-UK trade deal pushed the sector 'to the point of collapse'. He said: 'We did everything we possibly could to avoid closure, but in the end it was the Government that decided the British bioethanol sector was something that could be traded away with little regard for the impact it would have on ordinary hard-working people. 'We did not go down without a fight and I hope that the noise we generated over the past three months will make the Government think twice before it decides to sign away whole industries as part of future trade negotiations.' A spokesman for Associated British Foods, which owns Vivergo, said: 'It is deeply regrettable that the Government has chosen not to support a key national asset. 'We have been left with no choice but to announce the closure of Vivergo and we have informed our people. 'We have been fighting for months to keep this plant open. 'We initiated and led talks with Government in good faith. We presented a clear plan to restore Vivergo to profitability within two years under policy levers already aligned with the Government's own green industrial strategy.' The spokesman said the Government had 'thrown away billions in potential growth in the Humber and a sovereign capability in clean fuels that had the chance to lead the world'. The bioethanol industry, which also includes the Ensus plant on Teesside, has argued the trade deal, coupled with regulatory constraints, has made it impossible to compete with heavily subsidised American products. Vivergo said the Hull plant, which employs about 160 people, can produce up to 420 million litres of bioethanol from wheat sourced from thousands of UK farms. It has described bioethanol production as 'a key national strategic asset' which helps reduce emissions from petrol and is expected to be a key component in sustainable aircraft fuel in the future. The firm recently signed a £1.25 billion memorandum of understanding with Meld Energy to anchor a 'world-class' sustainable aviation fuel facility at the site. But Meld Energy said earlier this month uncertainly over the bioethanol industry was putting this plan in jeopardy. The Vivergo plant is also the UK's largest single production site for animal feed, and the company says it indirectly supports about 4,000 jobs in the Humber and Lincolnshire region. Vivergo has said it buys more than a million tonnes of British wheat each year from more than 4,000 farms, and has purchased from 12,000 individual farms over the past decade. But it took its last wheat shipment earlier this month.
